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As you probably know, PayPal users have always been a top target of scammers. There’s a dangerous new (and very convincing) PayPal related scam making the rounds right now that could be landing in your email inbox at any minute.
Most PayPal related scams are phishing attempts designed to trick you into handing over your PayPal login info (and therefore access to your account), but this one is a bit different because it’s trying to trick you into handing over your personal and banking info directly.
Here’s a screenshot so you’ll know what to look for in your email:
Pretty convincing, right? They even spoofed a real PayPal email address in the Sender field.
If you were to call the phone number listed in the email you wouldn’t end up talking to a PayPal rep. Instead, you would be talking to a scammer who would try to talk you into handing over your personal info (so they could steal your identity) and your banking info (so they could clean out your account).
My advice for dealing with emails like this is always the same: Ignore the email and sign into your PayPal account directly at the official PayPal website or via the official PayPal app. If there’s something with your account that requires your attention you’ll be notified about it as soon as you sign in.
Truth be told, it’s best to simply ignore ALL PayPal related emails unless you know for a fact that it’s in response to something that you knew was going to happen (a notice concerning a purchase you just made for example).
Bonus tip: The Internet is a very dangerous place if you don’t know what to look for. The info you need can be found right here. (#ad)