Scam Alert

Most of the Agon members have paypal. Account, I thought its a good information to share..

I was scammed by an eBay buyer, PayPal refunded there money because I never responded to PP's email. I never received my item back and I owe PP $330 which they will never get and they also placed a block on my account. I don't recommend PP ever. 

Thanks for the warning

The thing to do when you receive a notice that makes you nervous is to not respond to the email, but to check your PayPal accounts and credit card accounts to see if anything unusual is happening, always going to information sources you know are genuine.

I got one today from a mister "pratha kof" stating that I'd bought $387.87 in Bitcoin through PayPal, and to call a certain phone number if I wanted to cancel it.  No such transaction appeared in my PayPal account....a total scam.  Variations of this have been showing up for a while, and it's worrying that some people are unnerved enough by it to respond.

a lot of times, just look at the email address and it wont be a legit one and that should be a pretty good sign that something is  up

I just got e-mail from pay pal just now saying I received $100 I don't have a pay pal account

It’s not only PayPal. I’ve had these emails from apple, sams club, and others. You never want to call the number in the email. If you want to check, call the number from their website and ask them or check the status of your account from their website.

BTW: new to PayPal. I have money in PayPal due to a sale and now in order for PayPal to write me a check, I have to link a debit card or bank acct to PayPal. I called them and told them I probably have had 50 sales where PayPal has sent me a check in the past, now they require a linked bank account. I will never use PayPal again

Colleagues, I have done a ton of transactions with PayPal. I use it often and regularly. It is my main payment platform for everything because it serves as an intermediary between my credit card and the vendor, hopefully keeping my credit card secure. That said, I am not here to defend PayPal necessarily but to say, that I think the source of many of the problems that some of you are having, it seems, is unsecure computing practices. First of all, you need to know who is sending you emails to know if they are legitimate. Get an email client which lets you click on an email sender to see their email address. One such client that I use to do this is Newton. It’s a paid client. But very much worth the price. Another thing is be sure who is sending you an email before you click on a link.  This is how scammers get ahold of you in the first place. Also by visiting and clicking on fake websites. Use a VPN. Make sure your Wifi network is secure. Plus if you are a frequent seller consider accepting PayPal friends and family. This way you avoid getting on the US Internal Revenue Service radar for tax on the revenue (not income) you generated from your sales in engaging in your hobby. So to me, it seems that issue isn’t PayPal. The issue is the need for more secure computing practices. 

I had a call on my cell phone a couple weeks ago from "Amazon". The dude said a purchase of a tablet and an iphone were just charged to my account. I played along and while he was on the phone I was on the computer checking my account. Of course there were no charges. So when I called BS on his scam, he redirected. He said the charges were made from a residence in Atlanta and did I have any rental property there? At that point it was time to hang up.

Hello Bon, thanks for the heads up!

Don’t even open emails or click on anything in ones you know are BS. Highlight the sender to see where it came from first  & 9 /10 of the time, it will be some crazy address so you know it’s a scam., Trash it immediately. Opening up unknown links in emails is a primary way you can get malware. 

Always best to go straight to your account and avoid any email links like the plague.  Forward the suspect email to spoof@paypal.com so they can follow up on their end to help others avoid the same scam.

PayPal rep told me if it came from PayPal it looks like this, service@paypal.com

Who are these people who think humans are ready for globalism? Humans are dangerous, vicious creatures. I do not think it is the majority of humans that act like this but it is a number large enough to prevent universal trust and happiness. Like children, adult humans need laws and strong leadership to remain civilized but what we have now reminds me of Lord of the flies. 

Yes, always check the source. Then go to your account. Don't open or respond to sender by email or phone. If you keep these basic practices there won't be such issues to chase in your future.

Thanks, for the heads-Up, I think we all need to be constantly reminded to keep our guards up, Many thanks Jayctoy!

Thank you!

Go sit by the highway with a sign. 

I get the same emails from time to time. They go straight  into the junk file. 

I use paypal regularly and have had no problem. Link a bank account? Of course, that’s how e-commerce works these days. I always keep the bank paypal account separate from my normal accounts to keep it safe. You deposit $5.00 open a checking account and there you go. When you have funds in the account, withdraw them and move on. C’mon, this isn’t rocket science.