Weird email from PayPal, scam?

[ThePinkBunny]

don't click on links in emails! type in the web address directly in the browser.

[RaiNz]

[ QUOTE ]
Since you don't have a PayPal account, I think it is likely a scam email. When you hit on the link it is probable the site installed spyware or a keylogger on your machine. Never click on a link sent to you through email.

Run a spyware sweep with Ad-aware or equivalent (or better) and install Process Guard and/or Advnaced Anti Keylogger from spydex.com. You may want to change all your passwords as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that Anti Keylogger legit?

[richrf]

Anti-keylogger will detect potential keyloggers, but will not prevent installation. ProcessGuard 3.0 prevents the installation of keyloggers by detecting any program that requests permission to acquire "global hooks" (e.g. screen and/or keyboard hooks). PG also prevents the installation of the insidious rootkits which are very difficult to detect.

Both are good programs. My preference is PG. There is also a new product called RegDefense which protects against unwanted registry entries. Since both products are proactive, they are, in my opinion, better than other types of detection tools that allow installation and then try to detect them.

Also, Kaspersky anti-virus protects against many common keyloggers.

As for the PayPal phishing attempts, an easy way to spot it is by moving the mouse over the url - without clicking on it! You can then view the complete url at the bottom of the screen. What you will see is some bogus IP address (a set of numbers), that precede the "paypal" .com name. This is the real address that the message is being sent to and it is _not_ paypal.com.

[jon593]

it is a scam paypals address starts with https as it is a secure site

[AncientPC]

It's a spoof. You can tell by one of two things:

1) Reading the e-mail headers, most often spoofed e-mails come from open relay mail servers and not actually from paypal.com.

2) When you hover your mouse over the link, it actually points to a random site (e.g. http://123.456.789.456) or something that looks like Paypal (e.g. http://cgi-paypal.com/form/).

Always be on the safe side and type in the address directly:
https://www.paypal.com/ and log in. If you have any pending messages, you can find it after logging in.

[beernutz]

Looks like phishing to me.

[ QUOTE ]
Dear XXXXXXXX@hotmail.com
,


We recently noticed one or more attempts to log in to your PayPal account
from a different IP address.


If you recently accessed your account while traveling, the unusual log in
attempts may have been initiated by you. However, if you did not initiate
the log ins, please visit PayPal as soon as possible to check-up your
account information:



http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run


Thanks for your patience.


Sincerely,
PayPal


----------------------------------------------------------------


Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be
answered.

Edit: This came from Service@paypal.com


As im retared I clicked the URL. So was this just some virus email, since I for sure havent tried to log in to my PayPal account(didint even know I have one)

[/ QUOTE ]

[GrannyMae]

VERY simple to tell the spoofs.

when paypal sends letters (which they never send these types), it is addressed to you as your full name.

if it says 'dear member, or dear paypal user, or dear (email addy)', it is a spoof and if you click the link you will likely get a keylogger.

[richrf]

The site may have tried to install a trojan or worm on your machine. Do you have all of the lastest Windows updates? What anti-virus/anti-trojan are you using? Any other types of protection?

If you are deficient, you may want to go to:

Mcafree Free Online Scan Service

and click on the Free Scan. Unfortuately, it requires IE, but McAfee, along with Kaspersky, has the most comprehensive AV/AT available. If you observe any odd behavior, there are other ATs that are available for free trial (such as TDS-3) that might be able to detect any malware that may have been installed on your machine.

I have lots of stuff on my machine nowadays, and no one product is enough. It is amazing what is going on on the Internet. Did you hear about Paris Hilton's T-Mobile being hacked? Amazing.

[karokari]

Yes I have now ran the anti-keylogger software, f-secure virus scan and ad-aware virus scan and nothing came up. So maybe I was just lucky this time, but wont try suspicious links in future [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Also as I said, I use the firefox and zone alarm, so maybe that gives decent protection.

Thx for everyone who gave tips and helped me!

[Mobed]

[ QUOTE ]
If they dont address you by name (not "Dear valued customer" or "Dear xxxxx@hotmail.com"), its a false e-mail.

[/ QUOTE ]

^^