Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
A Madison County resident has reported an attempted scam from a caller pretending to be a customer service rep from PayPal.
“They certainly sound legitimate when you’re talking to them,” said the resident.
The caller told him his account would be limited as to how much he could spend because of “some recent activity on his account.”
Then, the caller wanted the callee to “verify” his name and his account number.
One problem with that…the callee doesn’t have a PayPal account!
The call came from the number (888) 221-1161. The legitimate PayPal Customer Service number is (800) 212-3852.
Yes, the scammers are at it again, trying to trick people into giving up their personal information and account numbers and, as the resident noted, they certainly do sound official; they can get you talking before you realize it.
As it turns out, this phony PayPal scam has been around long enough for the legitimate PayPal service to put up a website detailing how to recognize the phonies and what to do if you get a fake call, or more frequently, a fake email from a scammer.
Never give out your name. If it is a legitimate call, they’ll know who they want to speak to and ask for that person by first and last name, or by the name of their business. If a caller asks you to “verify” your name, that is a red flag. Hang up.
If a caller asks you to “verify” your PayPal account number, that’s another red flag – a big one. Hang up immediately.
Just as your bank, investment firm, insurance company, etc. would never call you and ask you to “verify” your account number (i.e., tell them what it is so they “know they’re talking to the right person,”) PayPal would never do this either. These are calls from scammers trying to get you to reveal your personal information so they can hack into your account.
Another scam plaguing PayPal users is the phony email that tries to get you to click on a link, open an attachment or go to a spoof website that will capture your personal information or install malware on your computer to make the phishing operation easier.
Here’s how to spot phonies:
Move your mouse over the link without clicking on it, to see what the true destination is.
Look for the generic or impersonal greeting: “Dear User” or “Dear (insert your email address).” PayPal uses your first and last name or the name of your business.
Look for requests to click on unknown links or attachments.
Look for an alarmist sense of urgency. Wordage such as “your account has been suspended” and requests to enter passwords on any page that is not the PayPal Login page are things to watch out for.
Any alarming information about your account in general is designed to get you to ignore the red flags and fall for the scam. Anything the message claims about your account can be verified or disproved by logging into your own account and checking to see what’s going on.
If you come across any suspicious PayPal emails you believe are fake, forward them to spoof@paypal.com, then delete them, don't open them. For a more detailed report on spotting scammers, including a short video on the subject, go to www.paypal.com/selfhelp/article/FAQ2340.