PayPal Account Hacked? PayPal Scams Abound!

Summary: This 3-minute article explores how hackers use fake PayPal emails and texts to trick users into compromising their cyber security via emails and texts. Learn how to spot them and avoid them. Contact DIGIGUARD CYBER SECURITY at 833-33-CYBER (833-332-9237) or visit www.DIGIGUARDsecurity.com to schedule a cyber risk analysis and discuss innovative solutions to ensure you have the best possible protection.

No one likes to be scammed. But the Internet has opened up a new world for cybercriminals dead set on breaching your private data. Furthermore, small business cyber security is no simple matter. If you are an SMB owner, you can’t risk your company’s hard-earned data. If you are a home user, you cannot risk the nightmare of your private data being compromised.

Although fake websites, known as “spoofing websites,” are commonly used for online scams, there are many other ways for cybercriminals to breach your data. For example, PayPal is a highly impersonated platform and hackers have come up with a plethora of techniques to fool PayPal users:

PayPal Scam Emails

• Phishing Emails – Hackers like to intimidate users into impulsive action with alarming headings to texts such as, “There is a problem with your account.” Usually, this type of PayPal scam email will present the recipient with a link to log in to their PayPal account. Unfortunately, the screen looks authentic and a frantic user might log in using their genuine PalPal credentials. Once tricked, cyber thieves will use those credentials to log in to the user’s real PayPal account.
• Prizes, Discounts and Promotional Offers – Hackers count on prompting impulsive actions by their unsuspecting targets. By offering the lure of financial remuneration or considerable discounts in a scam email, cyber thieves get users to enter credentials or answer a few questions to claim their prizes. Ironically, users get caught up in the excitement and might overlook flaws in the fake website they might otherwise have caught.
• “Money Has Been Deposited in Your PayPal Account” – Similar to the “Prizes. Discounts and Offers” scenario, this email alerts recipients that money has been added to their PayPal account. Again, the user clicks before thinking and is redirected to a fake PayPal website where they unwittingly share their Paypal credentials. In the short term, hackers will empty the account. In the long term, they will use your credentials in any way they can to breach your private data or steal your money.
• Surprise Inheritances and Other Large Windfalls – Again, the financial temptation is the key to this scam. The unsuspecting user gets an email announcing they have inherited (or won) a huge sum of money. However, to claim the prize, the recipient must first send a small sum of money via PayPal. Once the funds are sent, the hackers take the money and disappear into the cyber ether.
• PayPal Text Scams – Similar to fake PayPal email scams, the text scams will be designed to trick the recipient into responding to an alert, good or bad. A common PayPal text scam engages users by telling them their “account is under review.” These scams capitalize on impulsive responses.

SMBs and PayPal Payment Scams

Small to midsized businesses must be wary of PayPal scams as vendors. Cybercriminals use shipping to confuse deliveries and ask for refunds that aren’t due by:

• Using Their Own Shipper – One approach hackers use to scam businesses is to buy a product and request to use their own shipper. When a company agrees to the request, the cyberthief can redirect the shipment to another address, claim they never received it, and ask for a refund from PayPal.
• Buying Your Product With a Hacker PayPal account – When cybercriminals successfully hack a PayPal account, they will quickly try to use it for purchases. The SMB will ship the product as soon as they get the PayPal authorization (from the hacked account). The problem is that once PayPal discovers the hacked account, the vendor’s payment from that account is reversed and the SMB ends up having shipped a product they no longer have and no payment.
• Supplying Their Own Shipping Labels – The vulnerability is the same as using their own shipper. If it’s their label, the scammer has control and can redirect the delivery. Again, they claim they never received the product and PayPal refunds their money.
• Giving Fake Shipping Addresses – A similar scam to the above examples. By providing a fake address the first time, the hacker gains control of the shipment status when the order is rerouted. Because the new delivery address doesn’t match the original order, PayPal will likely grant a refund.

DIGIGUARD’s Innovative Solutions For Cyber Vulnerabilities

As your home or SMB grows, expands its network and adds more devices such as smart controls, wireless access and remote access, your network vulnerability grows, too. DIGIGUARD specializes in proactive cyber security and network security and has a wide array of solutions for home users and small to midsized businesses to defend against cyberattacks and other network data breaches. They are cyber security experts who can ensure your confidential personal, business and financial data have the best protection possible. Furthermore, they can help establish cyber security best practices and train your employees, so they do not inadvertently open your company to a cyberattack. That training will work in tandem with your Incident Response Plan so that everyone knows exactly what to do in the event of a cyberattack. DIGIGUARD’s services in cyber security are up-to-the-minute and cost-effective. They will enable SMB owners to concentrate on operating their businesses without fear of a data breach crippling their operations.

Contact DIGIGUARD CYBER SECURITY at 833-33-CYBER (833-332-9237) www.DIGIGUARDsecurity.com to discuss the best cyber protection for your home or SMB’s private data before you face a deadly cyberattack.