Phishing Scam: Fraudsters’ Dirty Trick

In today’s internet age, it seems that all e-commerce and payment portal websites are asking for your personal information. While giving your personal details to trusted sites like PayPal.com isn’t a problem, a lot of fraudsters are taking advantage of this trust. This is where phishing scams come into play. Phishing is a method where an internet fraudster tries to lure financial and personal information from unsuspecting internet users. This identity theft and fraud can come in different forms. Fortunately there are identity theft protection services that can help protect you.

One of the most sophisticated phishing tricks today is the “PayPal scam”. In this instance the fraudsters got almost all details accurate. It is easy for the victim to fall for the scam and reveal their personal details. This particular phishing scam is composed of the following:

• Customized E-mail – the scam starts with a fraudster sending the victim a fake PayPal email stating that they paid for a certain product. Inevitably, the victim’s first reaction would be “No, I didn’t” and click on the link to file a dispute. However, they will be redirected towards a fake PayPal website and reveal their username and password there.
• Real Product – in the email, a real product is listed to make it look legitimate. The products they use are actual products that are listed on eBay or other reputable websites.
• Near-Perfect URL – the fake PayPal and the real one has almost the same characters except for a few aspects that give them away. For example, the real PayPal URL is https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run while the fake one is https://www.paypal.com.dllsll2.us/icmd=_login-submit.htm. Notice that the real one uses PayPal.com as its domain while the fake one use PayPal.com.dllsll2.us.
• Legitimate Looking Page – the last step of the scam is the cincher. The phishing scam’s login webpage is almost similar to the real PayPal’s. It is important to be extremely careful when revealing your username, password, and other sensitive financial information.

Keep in mind that even if you receive a credible-looking email, it can be a phishing email. Legitimate companies don’t ask for sensitive information through email. If you’re unsure about whether the email you received is legitimate, contact the company directly and seek identity theft protection services to help protect you.