FYI - I got a funny e-mail this morning to an account I use for collecting SPAM. It looked like it was from Paypal and had all sorts of links and information. The first link is to a web page to give all of your personal information:

http://210.78.22.113/verify.html

I say we all log onto the site and drop tons of fake information on them.......

Here is what Paypal has to say....

Protect Your PayPal Account

Recently, PayPal members have reported suspicious-looking emails and fake websites. These fraudulent emails may address you with the salutation "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member." These emails are not from PayPal. PayPal will only address you by your first and last name, or the business name associated with the account.

Use the following tips to protect your PayPal account:
Safely access the PayPal website or your PayPal account by opening up a new web browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: https://www.paypal.com/


Never give out the following information in an email:


First name, last name, business name


Email and password combination


Credit card, bank account, and PIN number


Social security and driver's license number


Do not download attachments, software updates, or any application to your computer via a link you received in an email. PayPal will not ask you to download anything for your account to work.


Choose a unique password and change it every 30-60 days.
If you think you have received a fraudulent email, please forward the entire email to spoof@paypal.com and then delete it.

I got one yesterday from Yahoo Auctions that said someone had hijacked my account and unless I click on their link and fill out the required info, they would suspend my account. WTF? I clicked on the link, and way down at the bottom they asked for my visa card pin # I contacted Yahoo and they said it was definately a scam.

Here's another scam I got from my ex sister-in-law last night....


Not sure who this originated from...

My husband was called on Wednesday from "VISA" and I was called on Thursday from "MasterCard".

It worked like this:

Person calling says, "This is name and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card issued by name bank. Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona?

When you say "No", the caller continues with, "then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the >$500 >purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"

You say "yes", the caller continues," I will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 800 number listed on your card 1-800-VISA and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control # (then gives you a 6 digit number). Do you need me to read it again?"

Caller then "needs to verify you are in possession of your card. Turn card over. There are 7 numbers: first 4 are 'numbers', the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are in possession of the card. These are the numbers you use to make internet purchases to prove you have the card.

"Read me the 3 numbers".

Then caller says, "That is correct. I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions? Don't hesitate to call back if you do."

You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA security department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 WAS put on our card. Long story made short, we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA card and they are reissuing us a new number.

What the scam wants is the 3-digit PIN number. By the time you get your statement, you think the credit is coming, and then it's harder to actually file a fraud report. The real VISA officials reinforced that they will never ask for anything on the card that they already know. What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from "Jason Richardson of MasterCard" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up. We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily, and to tell friends, relatives and coworkers.

I got onje like that about a year ago, before I knew it was a scam... I made the mistake of clicking on it... but never did anything... then this past Dec, about 9 months after that... I got a call from my bank... asking if I had tried to make a 5000$ purchase along with a 2000 purchase, and 2 900 purchases... it took 2 months for it to all get straight... I felt dumb!

I since closed my bank account and paypal(reopened later under differnet name, but with no bank account tied to it.)

thankfully it's all over!

I use a bank account/credit card that I ONLY use for paypal and online stuff, and there's never any money in it.
Opened it just for that purpose. They can scam it all they want...they wont get nuthin!!
Bob O

that's me now... 1 credit card with a $500 limit... my wife calls the credit card my "914 spending account"

Damn. Me too. Just last month. No phone call. No clue... But when I opened my c/c statement there were TWO charges of close to $5,000.- each - for the same item. Purchased two days in a row... I reported it & filled out he fraud papers. How'd they do that???

with me... they had gotten my password. they logged in, changed the default email(1 notification) then charged 4 payments to the same person within seconds of each other... the bank called me later in the day, but it was too late.. I called paypal, who started an investigation and refunded the money... I had to keep calling the bank everytime a delayed transaction would try to hit... I switched banks because they didn't even try to stop the transactions, and were very rude about it... it was a PITA ordeal.

...and that's why the prices keep going up. I had to go thru a lot of crap to resolve. Were ALL paying for fraud protection - weather you know it or not. - Ohhh Well, we still have our teeners, and you can't scam that. Cheers.
Gary

best advice

Never click on an email link to one of the "companies" that you run any financials through. I've had fakes from Ebay, Paypal, Bank One, and Citibank .

The phone call is a new one, I'll have to keep my eyes out for that one. Wish we could spam-bomb their servers somehow. Fight fire with fire! bloody theives making things difficult

There's been an interesting one reported in the news recently in Indiana where someone is apparently calling people, at random, claiming to be from AT&T concerning a past due amount on their bill. They say its some trivial amount, like $20 or $30 and offer to take payment over the phone to clear it up before their phone is shut off.

From what the news reports say, they've been picking a lot of bad phone numbers to call since a majority of them have not been AT&T customers, which is luckily tipping off the occassional bright target, but they've still gotten away with thousands of dollars from the people that have just given them the credit card number to keep their phone from being cut off.

Last I knew, the authorities were still chasing their tails.

The easier we make it to spend our money (ie. credit cards/online transactions and the like) the easier it is for the crook to take advantage of.

My wife worked at a bank before staying home to care for the kids and the best suggestion of the bank is to open a special account only used for online payments as mentioned above, and only keep enough in the account to afford the purchases you make when you make them and keep it empty otherwise.