BBB Alerts Internauts about Fresh Phishing E-mails Masquerading as PayPal

USA's Better Business Bureau is cautioning users of PayPal about one advanced phishing scam that cyber-criminals have launched to target the website's visitors, published Khon2.com dated April 30, 2012.

An e-commerce company for worldwide usage, PayPal reportedly facilitates the processes of money transfer and payment by consumers through the Internet.

To work effectively, the mentioned scam requests consumers for confirming personal information regarding their PayPal accounts.

BBB, Hawaii office's Timothy Caminos described the phishing e-mail as apparently being sent from one true e-mail id of PayPal. But a closer glance showed that rather than having PayPal.com in the e-mail address' suffix it had PayPal.corn, according to Caminos. Khon2.com reported this.

The text of the e-mail, moreover, tells users to follow the embedded web-link in order that their account remains active.

But, Caminos stated that incase anyone did click the web-link he'd be led onto a site that in reality would install a virus onto his PC. In addition, the clicking would even enable cyber-thieves towards acquiring admission into the affected person's financial account details, which happened to accompany his PayPal account, Caminos warned.

Worryingly according to BBB officials, it's because of the above stated kinds of phishing campaigns that have resulted in an increase in malicious content online. Their argument gets the backing of data, which Symantec the security company lately announced within its 2011 yearly Security Threat Report. In that Symantec shows an over 81% rise in malicious programs during 2011 since 2010, with a 41% rise in the aggregate malicious software variants.

However, the possibilities of getting victimized with such phishing e-mail frauds can be lessened if according to PayPal and its posting on its authorized Internet site, the e-mail recipients send the phishing e-mails wholly at the id, spoof@paypal.com followed with erasing the dubious electronic mails permanently.

Eventually, it can be said that while cyber-crooks haven't attacked PayPal only this time, there've been several occasions when users of PayPal were even victimized. During November 2011, one phishing scam that targeted PayPal involved e-mails that masquerading as the online payment service alerted Internauts about e-mail id changes of their accounts.

Related article: BBA Outlines Steps To Ward Off Online Fraud

» SPAMfighter News - 5/9/2012