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Scam alert from Paypal

(7 Posts)
Greatnan Wed 17-Apr-13 23:20:49

I couldn't understand how my daughter's address in Yorkshire had been linked to my French credit card, but then I remembered that I had never closed my ebay account in England. Paypal have agreed to reimburse the money taken from my account, but they say it could take up to 30 days which is very annoying as I have had to transfer money from my deposit account.
I have now closed my ebay account, cancelled my Mastercard (they will post me a new one), asked for my current account number to be changed, and changed all my passwords. It has left me quite shaken, as you will all understand. Still, it is good to know that Paypal does monitor all activity and alerted me that something was suspicious.

FlicketyB Wed 17-Apr-13 19:20:59

The problem is spammers are getting better and better at producing emails that seem genuine.

When we were last in France we received an email seemingly from our electricity supplier saying that the bank had returned our DD unpaid and to contact them. We did a quick check and found bill and bank statement, but then realised we were just at the window when the next bill was due, so suddenly got worried that that had bounced.

As all the bill was in French we felt we would not notice any grammatical errors, so we went down to the bank with laptop, bank statement and bill and flashed up the computer and showed the clerk the email. He checked it and told us it was spam, or rather it was 'pourriel' the French word for spam, the French word for email being 'courriel'. Makes both words memorable

Greatnan Wed 17-Apr-13 17:56:30

You made me nervous for a time, Bags, but I checked their emails against one they had sent me about a genuine transaction last month and they matched! They have now emailed me to say they have decided the case in my favour, which I thought was a bit rich, seeing that I had been scammed!

Bags Wed 17-Apr-13 17:27:56

Glad it was detected, gn.

Greatnan Wed 17-Apr-13 17:16:45

When I tried to access my Paypal account, it asked for my full card number. Needless to say, I didn't give it. I don't see how the original emails could be part of a scam though, as I did not give them any information and the seller confirmed that the buyers had tried to arrange to pick up the phones from his home in Birmingham.

Bags Wed 17-Apr-13 17:08:43

I get scam emails purporting to be from Paypal quite often. I check my account for anything suspicious. There has never been anything. Then I delete the email without clicking on anything in it.

Greatnan Wed 17-Apr-13 16:05:17

I received two emails from Paypal today to say they had detected suspicious activity on my account. Somebody had ordered two iphones from two different suppliers and the delivery address was that of my daughter in England - I have not lived there for over two years. My heart sank, because I know she tried to hack into my gmail account last year.
However, I contacted the seller and he said the buyer had been hassling him to let him pick up the phone from his house. The seller lives too far away for it to be connected with my daughter and grandchildren.
Paypal are refunding the costs and I have changed my password.
It is good to know that Paypal keep an eye on every transaction and let you know if something is suspicious, but they give you only 45 days to dispute an item. That could be tricky if you were away from home without your computer.
I have heard of gangs who can divert mail to another address, but it seems this was a fairly amateur thief who just wanted to pick up the phone in person.