Possible Scam

chocksaway

Just got an email from payments@ppl.com saying that it is PayPal. They said I transfered 39GBP to Skype. The thing is I have never used Skype or PayPal. Anyone know if this is some sort of online scam?

jor el

Paypal's emails come from @paypal.com. It's an obvious scam, just ignore it.

chocksaway

ah thats grand! thanks! was wondering did someone steal my details or something! hopefully not!

User Friendly

chocksaway wrote: »

ah thats grand! thanks! was wondering did someone steal my details or something! hopefully not!

make sure you give that address to paypal,they have a fraud prevention email address.

chocksaway

User Friendly wrote: »

make sure you give that address to paypal,they have a fraud prevention email address.

yeah did that already! cheers!

chocksaway

Yeah PayPal emailed back saying it was attempted phishing. Thanks for the replies.

rubadub

chocksaway wrote: »

yeah did that already! cheers!

If you use gmail you can mark it as spam, then they can prevent it going to others inbox too, this is why you get so little spam in gmail (in your inbox anyways).

Other email suppliers might have similar report functions.

If you do report as spam in gmail it sometimes will have a "opt out of this subscription" or something, I never click this as I presume it verifies your email address is real to the spammer.

branie

I got the same message, and it's now deleted.

mickdw

Got it too. That will catch out a few Id say.

YourName

rubadub wrote: »

If you do report as spam in gmail it sometimes will have a "opt out of this subscription" or something, I never click this as I presume it verifies your email address is real to the spammer.

Never thought of that, is it true???

rubadub

YourName wrote: »

Never thought of that, is it true???

I think so, I never subscribed in the first place so why would they willingly unsubscribe me, I see no reason to hit the button. In most cases I can't even read the language, looks like arabic writing or something.

Just found this

http://www.equicktips.com/quick-tips-on-a-new-spam-free-email-account/

There are ways someone can know what email addresses are real:

1. They put an image in the email, when you open the file and access the image file you are actually accessing their computers and they know what email address it is (an important reason to have your images turned off when first opening an email).

2. They ask for an open confirmation be sent to you (you can also turn this off on your end making it so that you never send a confirmation to anyone when you open an email)

3. They put a link and if you click on the link then they know what email address the click came from.

4. If you try to unsubscribe from an email that is really just a piece of spam, they actually keep the email address in their records as a spamming email address.

Once they know your email is real the spammers shares your information with another company who also sends you spam and then the next thing you know you have a mountain of spam in your in box. Then you have to spend countless hours dealing with de-spamming to get to the real important stuff!

Also found this though
https://www.hover.com/help/about-spam

To Unsubscribe or not to Unsubscribe?

Five years ago if you asked us whether you should click on unsubscribe links, chances are the answer would be an unequivocal no! Conventional wisdom used to be that clicking on unsubscribe would let the spammer know your email address was valid, and this would result in even more spam.

Now, in 2011, advice is changing. In many countries, people that send solicitation email (spam) are required to abide by the same rules as telemarketers. Most bulk email is required to contain unsubscribe links, and if you unsubscribe they are required to stop sending you email.

Be cautious but open to unsubscribing. If you have provided your email address to a business, a website, or completed an online survey, then they may have signed you up for their newsletters. Unsubscribing is the best way to stop junk email in these cases. If you don’t recognize the sender, using Google to search for more information may help confirm whether the bulk email is coming from a legitimate business, and show you where they are located. If it’s an advertisement for a Nigerian Pharmacy, then it may be best not to use the unsubscribe link. Also, be patient. After unsubscribing, it may take a few days to take effect.

It does just say "many" countries. I think its just safer not to.