There’s nothing new in the world of phishing, really. The latest scam to hit my inbox (multiple times) is trying to ferret out user’s PayPal details in the guise of an update of account information.
It’s not terribly subtle stuff, stating that account information needs to be updated, and if it isn’t — and this is always the key psychological motivator with any of these kinds of scams, be they PayPal, more regular banking or even social media account scams — then there’s the threat of having your account suspended.
This kind of thing rotates around endlessly, because the strike rate only needs to be minute for it to pay off. In all sorts of ways this isn’t a “news” story, save for the fact that if they’re still getting around, it means that they’re still working. Don’t fall for them, people!
So, what, sort of like an Uber for pies? I could get behind that.
The version I’ve been getting even ticks the “comically inept” box, as it refers to itself as “PayPaI”, probably to try to get around spam filters. That’s a capital “i”, in case your browser font doesn’t make it obvious at first.
Errors like those are easy red flags, but remember, if you’re at all concerned about this kind of email notification, the best thing to do is ignore any and all links within emails, fire up the service via a completely fresh browser instance and check your notifications there. If there’s a genuine issue to be resolved, your financial provider will let you know there. The alternative is handing over your details, including potentially your credit card details, to the scammers. Which, in case it isn’t yet sinking in, you really don’t want to do.