Be Scam Aware - PayPal "phishing" scam

The Trading Standards team is warning consumers and small businesses, especially those subscribed with PayPal, to be aware of a potential email phishing scam.

We have been forwarded a suspicious email (see below) recently received by a concerned consumer. At first glance, the email appears to be genuine and confirms the payment for a subscription to Skype, which the recipient may have no knowledge of and then start to query the transaction.

However, in reality no such a transaction has taken place, as the email is designed to get the recipient to click on an attached web-link in order to seek a “

refund”. Having followed this link, the recipient will then be asked to provide or “confirm” various bank / credit card and personal details.

This email has all the hallmarks of a phishing scam and our advice is, if you receive one of these emails, please act with caution.

Firstly, do not reply to the email, as this may alert the sender that your email address is currently active and you may be targeted by future email scams. Do not open any attached documents or click on web-links, as these may contain viruses that may harm your computer.

Finally, never provide your personal or bank account details without checking whether the email is genuine or if unsure of the sender’s intentions.

If you have doubts as to whether an email is actually from PayPal or not, report it by forwarding to

spoof@paypal.com and then delete the email from your computer.

From:

Paypal [mailto:sales@skype.com]

Sent:

01 September 2012 17:38

To:

customer@paypal.com

Subject:

You sent a payment of 39.00 GBP to Skype (sales@skype.com)

Dear PayPal member,

You made a payment of 39.00 GBP for the following items:

Skype 3 month subscription

-----------------------------------

Payment Details

-----------------------------------

Purchased From: Skype

Receipt ID: 2651-4842-4152-9227

Skype 3 month subscription

Quantity: 1

Price: 39.00 GBP

Subtotal: 39.00 GBP

If you haven't authorized this charge, please

Click Here and Open a Dispute to get a

full refund.

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This charge will appear on your credit card statement as "Skype Purchase".

Postage & Packing: The seller hasn.t provided any postage details yet.

Payment sent to

sales@skype.com

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Yours sincerely,

PayPal

Please do not reply to this email. Email sent to this address cannot be answered