Attempted Attacks on PayPal: Avira

Security researchers at the security firm Avira have notified netizens of a suspicious phishing attack by cyber crooks on the name of PayPal.

The enclosed message of this screwed attack claims to screen unscrupulous activity in the PayPal system as a regular security measure. The e-mail is a result of vigilant response due to which, victimized netizens are notified to provide requisite information.

To authenticate this candid effort, mention of a reference number: PP-259-187-991 is provided to the victims, stating the claim of unusual charges to a credit card related to the PayPal account of the victimized.

Further, victims are warned to immediately log onto the PayPal account and fill all the required steps as a part of this safety activity to retrieve their hacked account.

In an increased effort to authenticate the e-mail, phishers have also provided users with anti-phishing advice.

This malicious e-mail is posted in both English and French languages. Though the two versions of the e-mails are identical in all respect, the only distinguishable factor is that the English version includes a link to the phishing webpage, while the counterpart contains a button.

Avira claimed bots to have disbursed these e-mails globally.

Pertaining to the association of maliciousness with this scam, security experts advised users to be accustomed with the signs of phishing at the basic level. In most of the phishing scams, phishers enthrall victims and urge them to make a hasty decision as evident in the above-mentioned instance. In fact, genuine organizations, such as PayPal generally do not make personal queries through e-mails. A customer is required to query the related company on relevant numbers in case of emergence of significant doubts regarding the legitimacy of an e-mail.

In a nutshell, OpenDNS, a provider of DNS, web content filtering and anti-phishing services concluded that in 2010, PayPal was the most attacked brand. The firm also mentioned that PayPal surpassed its closed contender Facebook with nine-folded attacks. Statistically, the firm claimed PayPal to have accounted for 45.9% of phishing attacks, compared to Facebook's share of 5.3% during the same period.

Related article: Attempted Click Fraud Increases 34%

» SPAMfighter News - 2/5/2011