PayPal Service Account Phishing Scam
Posted By: Arcane ElitistAccording to paypal.com, over 150 million accounts have been registered with the e-commerce business since its coming to be in 1998. The service is used constantly, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week worldwide for a variety of activities, all of which concern the transfer of money and banking. It is not unusual for an entity possessing such a large conglomeration of private information and its users to be found in the crosshairs of malicious individuals with the intent of accomplishing successful identity theft and fraud. Earlier today, a blog post by Mikko of F-Secure brought to attention yet another fraudulent website praying upon PayPal users. The “old skool” site, as Mikko put it, was registered in Copenhagen and hosted in Denmark. All efforts are currently being made to shutdown the site, which is listed on the previously referenced blog post, and track down the perpetrator(s).
All users of PayPal should carefully monitor their bank accounts and PayPal accounts for any unusual purchases or transfers, especially if they believe they may have been affected by this or some other scam. Scams like this are not at all uncommon and PayPal users should always be cautious and fully aware of who and what exactly they’re dealing with.
It is essential that all users who conduct financial activity online do so from behind a hardware firewall router with a good Internet security suite or custom combination of Internet security software installed and properly configured. Regular spyware, adware, virus, and other security sweeps are also highly recommended. Also, it is very highly recommended that all online buyers, sellers, and bankers receive a FREE credit report from all three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, through the Federal Trade Commission every twelve or more months by printing, filling out, and mailing in this simple form form. For more information regarding this 100% FREE service provided by the FTC, click here. Users suspecting their computer to be insecure or compromised should not choose the online option for receiving their credit reports but use the aforementioned form instead.
