That PayPal alert email could just be a phishing scheme

Date:
Fri, 17 Jun 2022 15:42:53 +0000

Description:
Payment provider PayPal is being impersonated again, and the scheme seems to be working.

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A newly discovered phishing campaign sees cybercriminals impersonating PayPal as they try to scare victims into giving away sensitive information.

Cybersecurity researchers from email security company Avanan recently spotted a new campaign that has so far been, relatively successful due to the fact that it doesnt carry any links.

Usually, phishing works by redirecting people to malicious websites, via
links shared in an email . In this campaign, however, there are no links present in the emails, which renders most email security solutions useless.

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It starts in a similar fashion to all other campaigns - the victim will get
an email, claiming to be from PayPal, saying theyve purchased $500 worth of Dogecoin, and that if they want to cancel the order, they should call the number provided further below.

While we dont know what happens should a victim actually call that number, there are two possibilities. Either the attackers try and persuade the
victims into giving away sensitive information (for example, PayPal login data, or credit card info), or they cancel the pending Dogecoin order and go about their day.

In the latter scenario, what the attackers walk away with is the victims
phone number, which can then be used to mount a more serious attack.

Just one successful attack can lead to dozens of other ones, the researchers said. Read more

Watch out - that PayPal email could be a phishing attack

Watch out for this devious PayPal phishing campaign

A nasty new PayPal phishing campaign is doing the rounds

The phone number listed in the email is located in Hawaii, the researchers have found, but chances are, its just a routing number, and the actual threat actors are located elsewhere.

Major companies, such as PayPal, or Microsoft, are often impersonated by threat actors trying to scam people. To stay safe, it is important to always double-check the email address of the sender, make sure the email doesnt have any suspicious typos or spelling errors, and make sure not to click any
links, or download any attachments.

The attachments are most likely viruses or other forms of malware .

Most major companies have instant messaging customer support, as well as social media accounts, which can be used to verify whether or not theyd
really sent out the email or not.

Via: Tom's Guide



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/that-paypal-alert-email-could-just-be-a-phishin g-scheme/


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