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I just received an email saying my PayPal account has been limited. I believe it's a phishing attempt, I never click links in any email I get regarding my paypal, I always go to the paypal site and log in from there.

It doesn't link to paypal.com but instead to: paypalservicces
I don't want to include the whole url as I don't want anyone to click it, I've only posted the suspicious part of the url.
The "serviCCes" seems pretty obvious that it's not a legit link.

Took a screenshot of the email, it's a really good fake imo.

Log into your PayPal account through the website as you would normally, not through any link on this page. Secondly forward the email to their fraud services if they have them.

'Limiting' your account is a thing though, happened to me when I sold too much stuff on eBay and had about £2000 go through it in a couple of months, they froze it for a period due to checking for 'money laundering' meaning I could put more in but take none out. Thanks PayPal. They weren't wiick about doing anything about it either, and there's no warning they can pull a stunt like this.

Most of those emails are from paypel, if you look closely.

It is obviously a phishing email.

No reputable company ever sends out emails telling you to rectify an issue by clicking on a link - ever.

Any doubts as to authenticity of emails like this then do exactly as you did by going to the main site and checking your account, never click on the link.

Hmm, sounds like I need to change my paypal info. I couldn't log into regular PayPal to send stuff, so I followed the prompts through PayPal itself. Maybe time to update my account info.

My Paypal account has been limited before, so definitely log on to PayPal and make sure everything is on the up and up. But yeah, don't click the email links.

I genuinely read that as "Papal Scam". I am now disappointed that the pope isn't scamming people for money... online.

 Soladrin wrote:
I am now disappointed that the pope isn't scamming people for money... online.

Well played.

Happy to say I changed my info and no money was scammed out of my account! I couldn't access regular PayPal funds when I signed into PayPal normally, so I think I was in the clear. But better to be sure.

The wording of that email is weird. If it is a real one then they need better writers. Yes though, that last part with the three steps really needs a fourth one "cha ching" given what its saying. The whole thing's too to the point with very little fluff not about wanting your details (the very last sentence is horrible at this) and how everything's doom and woe.

It doesn't take much for someone to steal a bit of formatting. However how many people would read this thing and just click the link immediately? All scammers need to do is have a semblance of being truthful, stress and a lack of information on the user's end does the rest. =P

I dont need my paypal account anymore, after giving all my spare money to that nice Nigerian prince all my worries will be over.

Yes, bank/paypal schemes are something that are going around, in the sense that something that has been around for about 10 years has been going around. If someone sends you a scary looking email that looks like it's "Action Required", don't do anything with the email. Look at the website for whatever the service is, and make sure that it has a valid certificate before you put in your username/password.

I mean, you probably can't prove the validity of the certificate, but you can within reason. Modern browsers make this trivial.

I feel like there should be a class you have to take on the internet or something for this stuff.

 daedalus wrote:
Yes, bank/paypal schemes are something that are going around, in the sense that something that has been around for about 10 years has been going around. If someone sends you a scary looking email that looks like it's "Action Required", don't do anything with the email. Look at the website for whatever the service is, and make sure that it has a valid certificate before you put in your username/password.

I mean, you probably can't prove the validity of the certificate, but you can within reason. Modern browsers make this trivial.

I feel like there should be a class you have to take on the internet or something for this stuff.

Computer Security's included as a part of school classes at least the Secondary School level now. Common sense will have to do for everyone past that level however. =P

when it comes to my bank account/PayPal account, I follow what I do with my old wow account. If I get a email, I log in, normally the issue is on the page.
If not, I call them.

It's a scam. I've received dozens of those emails. If you decide to check your account, do so manually and NEVER follow links in emails.

I've received one of these emails.

and I DON'T EVEN HAVE A PAYPAL ACCOUNT.

I tend to buy second hand stuff over a table at a bring&buy, in cash, in person.

If it's an online deal, CC only. Sometimes they use PayPal as an escrow agent for the CC transaction, but it's not the same as using a PP account to do it.

The buyer protection (and ability to do a transaction reversal up to 12 months AFTERWARDS) far exceeds PP's meagre efforts.
(and no, there are NO fees on my card, either. )

I get these, but usually only to addresses I know have been hacked. If the address is comes to corresponds with who sent it, I'll not look as hard. Buying a domain for email forwarding is worth its weight many times over.

Hovering over the link is the best way to tell if it is a fraud, but you'll have guessed that already.

As mentioned, don't press anything in an official email, no matter how official it looks.

Oh, and forward the email's source to the service's phishing email address, at Paypal in this case.
I don't know how often their scam-slapper teams get results, but it's worth a go.