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PayPal Phishing E-mail Centers on Skype TopUp Spending

Internet users are being cautioned of a spam mail, which tells the recipient that an amount of 69.99 GBP has been credited to his PayPal account and that the sum transferred to Skype TopUp, published softpedia on November 18, 2011.

Having a catchy caption, "Confirm your TopUp," the fraudulent electronic mail tells the recipient that he sent one 69.99 GBP amount to Skype (TopUp@******.com) through PayPal and so the e-mail is to appreciate his utilization of PayPal. The reader can view the transaction details by accessing his PayPal account, while the transaction's display within the account may happen after some moments, the e-mail concludes.

But PayPal actually didn't send the e-mail. Rather it's a phishing e-mail crafted for duping users into divulging personal information, including their financial details for the fraudsters to utilize maliciously. Indeed, there hasn't been any 69.99 GBP amount charged to their PayPal account to obtain a Skype TopUp.

The e-mail further states that the recipient may start an argument regarding the transaction as well as be fully refunded if he clicks on a given web-link. But, rather than show the details web-link, the user confronts another one that asserts it'll lead him onto a web-page, which will enable him to obtain the entire refund.

However, if he clicks on this web-link, it leads him onto a phishing site spoofing the real PayPal site where he's directed for logging in via his PayPal account's username and password. And once logged in, the user finds a form named "Refund Request-Identity Verification" that tells him to give numerous personal details, including the number of his credit card.

Meanwhile, by giving out the details, the unwitting end-user virtually divulges the info of his financial account and the data that sufficiently enough enables cyber-criminals for doing any amount of Internet-shopping, since when the information is posted, they collect it and utilize it for ID-theft or card fraud.

Thus, it's advisable that users exercise caution with dubious sender ids, web-links which lead onto unintended sites, file attachments, and of all an attempt at falsely hastening the user that are all typical of the above kind of scams.

Related article: Paypal – Web Hosting Services Need To Work Hard To Tackle Phishing

» SPAMfighter News - 11/24/2011

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