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PAYPAL FRAUD ALERT!


scott_fleming1

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There is presently underway a massive fraudulent PayPal spam

emailing asking for your hidden account info. PayPal does NOT ...

EVER ask you for your credit card and password info in an email. If

you look at the address of this scam email it does not start

with "PayPal".

 

Please report this to the FBI when it comes. Maybe if we make

enough noise they might actually do something about this crap. Just

type FBI into your search engine and go to your local office website.

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ALL the requests for account information; passwords; credit card info by Ebay and PayPal; after one has a valid account are scams; bullshit; spam; junkmail; fraudulent hucksters trying to con you........Just delent them.....If someone called your house and asked them for your credit card numbers; would you blindly give them out?.............I have been on Ebay for 5 years; and with Paypal for about 3 years.........ALL the requests are total bullshit; just spam; con artists that have nothing to do with Ebay or PayPal...........This has been happening for about 3 years now; then are getting better at the con job; their pages look official; but their links are not to paypal..................Most today are designed so they cannot be forwarded to PayPal or Ebay...We get several of these a day; along with fifty to eighty other spams on Nigerian princes with millions; becoming more sexy; viagra; mortgage rates; free vacations; loosing weight in days; yada yada....it all clogs up the works; spam is like the plague.....
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Sorry for the swearing; I'm would feel better if I could use the spam senders as target practice....Currently the process of weeding out the spam from regular Ebay emails consumes alot of time. One of my emails gets about 95% spam; and about 5% real mail; thus the email address is about useless....The latest spam we say this week has a subject title referencing an Ebay auction number; or paypal payment; but the subject matter shows copulation with a moving gif file...This is wrong to send a business this junk; but it seems here to stay. It just adds to a businesses expense of cleaning up dog poop; which it all is.......
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There are initiatives underway at the federal level to deal with spam, including fraudulent spam. Unfortunately, in the past there have been legal impediments relating to freedom of speech issues. The current initiatives will probably face legal challenges, so the outcome is uncertain.

 

The first step is to let your congressman and senator know how you fell about pending federal legislation (you can let them know on their web sites).

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I've also just received the PayPal scam from some jerk hidden

away in some dark corner of the bowels of the earth.

<p>

What I did was to copy the message in its entirety and paste it

onto a Word page. This includes all the relevant details from the

message itself.

<p>

I then sent it as an attachment to the Security department at

PayPal for them to handle. I received a reply back from PayPal in

a very short time saying that they would be instigating an

investigation into the situation.

<p>

I suggest everyone do the same...send a copy back to both

PayPal and Ebay. Likewise, send one to your internet service

provider. This is the only way we're ever going to rid the system

of these &^*&*E(&E*!

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So, how do these crooks get hold of the email address of people who use Paypal? Unless they are just spamming zillions of people in the hope that some of them are PayPal customers they must have obtained PayPal's customer list somehow. Not very secure for a company that handles other peoples money if so....
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The crux of the issue finally comes out. Ah, the double edged sword yet again! Do you want the feds to monitor our email (the honest have nothing to hide, anyway) and then try to destroy a server in East Bum-fool Cornholia?

 

How far do our rights extend? Should we be allowed, as individuals, to send email to whomever we wish? Should a corporation have the same rights as an individual (to send doo-doo to us in volume ad nauseum)? Does a government own the internet? Sorry, but very confused again. Will run from any flames and comments. tim

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The focus on SPAM is good, but a more important question is how do they get your email address. Unfortunately the default configuration for most versions of Windows operating systems and web browsers is to have security disabled. You can test your system by going to the GRC.COM web site and following the links to 'Shields Up!'. This site - developed by Steve Gibson - tests your system using the same techniques available to hackers/spam artists/etc and provides you with details of what is available. It also shows you how to close the doors.

 

The process of re-configuring your system to be more secure is not simple and takes several hours - but it is worthwhile. On average I receive about 1 piece of SPAM a day.

 

It is also worthwhile to review the settings in your web browser and email packages (I'm not aware of any sites providing instructions and recommendations on secure settings). Perhaps the most important thing to do with Internet Explorer is to disable ActiveX - which is the source of most IE security alerts. My approach was to disable pretty much everything, use the software and watch to see what failed - if it looked like functionality I needed I'd re-enable a single function in the security settings.

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Guys,

Just don't get too easy on PayPal. While this particular spam bussines is not PayPal direct, they'd built reputation of an on-line fraud all on their own (certainly by those who experienced MAJOR yet undeserved problems with PayPal service: i.e. blocked thousands of dollars for months with ZERO explanation). While all that happened prior to Ebay takeover I don't believe they've got it all square just yet. On the other hand I'll never bother to find that out.

 

Perhaps one of the former emplyees (or suferer) is trying to get back at PayPal or anyone related. It could be a prank of plain hacker's sort. Has anyone actually read of any activities in accounts revealed through this scam?

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Apart from stop using Microsoft products, by far the best thing you can do to avoid online nasties is to install anti-virus software and KEEP IT UP TO DATE (this is the bit so many people miss) at least daily - hourly if possible. Use Windows Update to ensure your email and Internet Explorer etc have all the latest security patches (but updating may take hours if you are not on a DSL, cable or similar broadband connection) at least weekly.

 

Also, if you are online for hours on end, or permanently connected, consider the use of a hardware firewall (many cable and DSL routers have one built in) or ZoneAlarm or similar software firewall. Use separate mail addresses for public places (such as photo.net) that you can just stop using and switch to another new one if the spam gets too annoying.

 

Until every country treats this stuff seriously (and that ain't gonna happen in your lifetime) you have to protect yourself. Possibly the best approach is: trust nothing you receive in e-mail and if whatever you read sounds too good to be true - it almost certainly is. These people feed on the gullible, the greedy and the stupid - is that going to be you?

 

Cheers,

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