Online e-commerce is expanding quickly, which also means that there are more opportunities for fraud and frauds.
As Internet users, it is our duty to adopt some security measures to protect our online transactions.
The security of our online payment information is one area where we need to assume accountability.
Online payment processors have come and gone, but one of them has remained and is now the target of scammers: Paypal.
While this may be concerning, you can protect your Paypal account from scammers by following a few very straightforward measures.
Don’t ever click on any of the links included in emails from “Paypal.”
Never click on any of the links in an email from Paypal, no matter how genuine it may appear to be.
To get directly to PayPal’s website from your browser, open a browser window and type paypal.com instead of clicking on any of the links.
As a general guideline, only log into the PayPal website if you manually type the address into the browser’s address bar.
Send the email to spoof(at)paypal.com so they can tell you if it was a genuine email from them or not if you receive one that appears official but is suspect.
Paypal will typically never send you an email instructing you to log into their site via a link in the email in order to avoid confusion.
How to Determine Whether an Email Is Genuine
There are several things you can look at that will give you a good idea if the email is authentic or not if you receive one from Paypal informing you that your account has been terminated or that there is some other urgent concern.
To achieve this, use the menu option in your mail application that enables you to view the email’s source code.
Find the link (you can easily do this by searching the page for the link text that takes you to PayPal).
The link should resemble something like this:
A link to the specified URL can be found at: / a > “link text you just searched for”
Here is an illustration of a forged link format.
PayPal can be accessed via http://ipox.xx.com.my/xxxxxx/xxxxx
Keep in mind that the actual domain name is “ipox.xx.com.my.”
PayPal.com is seen in the text, but it actually refers to a directory under “ipox.xx.com.my.”
When you click the email’s link, your browser will really go to “ipox.xx.com.my,” which looks very much like an official Paypal page but is in no way related to Paypal.
Users will mistakenly believe they are at PayPal since they see the Paypal login page and the URL paypal.com in their address bar, but they couldn’t be more mistaken!
When these unfortunate, unwary users enter their username and password, they receive a bogus message explaining why they are unable to access their account information, such as that the site is down for maintenance.
It’s too late at this point.
They divulged their true username and password to a phisher (scammer).
What Kinds of Messages Often Appear in Spam?
These fake phishing (scamming) mails can take many different shapes.
The standard “Your account will be deleted if you don’t log in right away” message is one form.
We have noticed strange activity on your account, and it has been suspended, according to another message.
“Receipt of your payment to SOMECOMPANYNAME” is yet another message, and this design appears to be more recent.
You’ll note that every one of these messages strikes at the core of how people behave and quickly puts us in an emotional state where we are less likely to utilize our brains and simply respond to the message.
We can help to combat this reaction whenever these or other communications occur if we commit tip #1, which states to never click on any links in an email that appears to be from Paypal, to memory.
What to Do If Your Paypal Account Information Was Entered Into One of These Phishing Sites.
You should immediately go to Paypal.com, log in, and reset your password if you were overcome by emotion and submitted your PayPal information before realizing it was a bogus scam website.
Additionally, keep an eye out for any fraudulent activity on your account.
Fill out the “unauthorized activity form” accessible in the “Protection Policies” section of the website’s support center as soon as you notice any activity.
Call the helpline right away to report the occurrence to a support specialist if you truly feel exposed.
We can make our online Paypal transactions safer by using the tips listed.
While there are certainly many exceptions, many of these online fraud situations occur from mistakes on the part of the user, and not the payment processing company, or merchant.
Online safety 101 should be a mandatory class for anyone entering the Internet world today, however using a good dose of common sense will take you quite far.