I posted this scam on the HelpMeBuildCredit WhatsApp status. It’s an email from PayPal, notifying the user of a fraudulent transaction on his account. The message asks the user to call the phone number to ask for a refund.

I asked my followers if anyone could spot the scam and almost no one was able to, besides two or three followers.  

This is how good the scammers have become, which is scary!

Here’s what the scam is

The scammer cancelled a request for money for this user. But before he did so, he changed his name in his account to this long message: “Your account has been accessed fraudulently, if you didn’t make this transaction of $288.88, Call us +1 (843) 776-1088 to cancel and claim refund.”
Instead of saying, for example, Chaim Geller cancelled a request, this request is using a scam message as a placeholder of the fake name.

A regular request

The scam

This is how the email is legit coming from PayPal but totally confusing the recipient of this message into thinking that the fraudulent transaction is genuine. So the user gets on the phone to call the phone number. 

The scammer tells the caller that they “need to verify the user’s identity” by asking for his social security number and other personal information, and thus steals the user’s identity. That’s how they catch their fish.

Here's how you can avoid being scammed

Keep your eyes open!

There are red flags that you can spot if you’re on the lookout.

Here are some signs indicating that this is a scam.

• This email is not written professionally. It also ends abruptly, restarting without a capital in the field where the name should be.
• In this case, the email was coming from PayPal, which was the hook you could’ve fallen for. But in general, always verify that the sender address is authentic.

You can also use this trick to identify a scammer. 

Report phishing

If you are a recipient of scams coming from PayPal, you can report the fraud to [email protected].