Paypal Scam

[beano500]

Apologies if it's been done before.

Just got the following in the inbox. It looks quite well put together and I can just imagine some gullible types falling for it...

nice scammers said:

PayPal User, PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. You have received this Notice because the records of PayPal, Inc. indicate you are a current or former PayPal account holder who has been deemed eligible to receive a payment from the class action settlement in accordance with PayPal Litigation, Case No. 02 1227 JF PVT, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. In your specific case you have been found to be eligible for a payment of $46.99 USD. The aforementioned settlement funds may be transferred directly to your bank account providing you have a linked card. The funds may not be credited directly to your PayPal account as this would render Paypal to be accumulating interest and thus profiting on litigation settlement funds which contravenes Federal law. Your bank account will be credited within 7 days upon submission of account details. To credit your bank account please click here. If you are seeking an alternate method of receiving your funds PayPal will be contacting those who do not submit their details by the 31th of April with instructions to receive a cheque in the mail. However this will incur a 7.5% processing fee deducted from the settlement amount and therefore PayPal only recommends this option to those users who do not currently have a bank account with linked Bank Card. Please Note that under United States federal law credit cards are not a legally approved method of settlement for Class Action suits and cannot be processed for transferal of funds in this case. This notice is a summary and does not describe all details of the settlement. For full details of the matters discussed in this notice, you may wish to review the Settlement Agreement dated January 11, 2005 and on file with the Court or visit https://www.paypal.com/settlement/. Complete copies of the Settlement Agreement and all other pleadings and papers filed in the lawsuit are also available for inspection and copying during regular business hours, at the Office of the Clerk of the Court, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 280 South First Street, San Jose, California 95113. PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT REGARDING THIS NOTICE. DATED: April 15, 2005 BY ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA This PayPal notification was sent in accordance with your PayPal notification preferences. To modify your notification preferences, go to https://www.paypal.com/PREFS-NOTI and log in to your account. PayPal will not sell or rent any of your personally identifiable information to third parties. For more information about the security of your information, read our Privacy Policy at https://www.paypal.com/privacy. Replies to this email will not be processed. Copyright© 2005 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131.

Except that the link the scammers put in directs yuou to a site telling you it's a scam - still, good try!

[anonymous-user]

I've had an email from a Dr (they're always doctors!) Idris Kachala this morning.

Apparently he's seen a painting on my website and is happy to pay the £1500 asking price. Excellent.

I've suggested he send me a cheque while I guess which scam this is.

I reckon the overpayment and refund scam but we'll have to wait and see.

If you are the well known philanthropist and art collecter Dr Idris Kanchala and wish to pay cash please ignore this post.

[beano500]

unrepentant said:

... collecter Dr Idris Kanchala and wish to pay cash ...

Reminds me of the excellent episode of "Hustle" I saw earlier this week! I'll play Ash - you can be Danny.....

[anonymous-user]

Received this from Dr Idris this morning. He must be genuine surely?

Hi,

I was was hoping you will give me the details to send the money to. I will like to know the name of the recipient so that a cheque payment can be made in that name.Please make sure you include the phone number???

Regards

Dr. Idris

We'll play him a little and see.

[parrot of doom]

By all means accept the cheque, just don't tell him about the 12 months clearing time.

[wedg1e]

Dunno about a sam, but I've noticed a nice little earner that Paypal have going... you give them details of your bank account so they can charge you. You then have to give them credit card details so thay have an 'alternative funds source', this costs you a couple of dollars to get 'verified'.
Then when that card expires, they send you a threat-o-gram saying they'll cancel your account unless you tell them another 'alternative funds' source... for which they charge you a couple of dollars...

[beano500]

wedg1e said:

..about Paypal's own "get rich quick" scheme..

I agree. Makes you wish you'd come up for the whole idea of Ebay and Paypal, doesn't it

[jessica]

I recently had my identity stolen off ebay and the scammers where selling stolen goods I believe.

FIrst I knew of it ebay contacted me
They cost me on my bill a £60 listing fee.
which ebay refunded.
My concern was that I had never given out my details via an email or such like.So it is looking like they hacked into my puter via a virus or some other means to take this information.

I had to spend quite some time changing all my passwords on all things not just ebay.

The computer I was using at the time has since been re-built and scanned for virus's
PHEW!!!!!!

[dirkgently]

jessica said:

I recently had my identity stolen off ebay and the scammers where selling stolen goods I believe. FIrst I knew of it ebay contacted me They cost me on my bill a £60 listing fee. which ebay refunded. My concern was that I had never given out my details via an email or such like.So it is looking like they hacked into my puter via a virus or some other means to take this information. I had to spend quite some time changing all my passwords on all things not just ebay. The computer I was using at the time has since been re-built and scanned for virus's PHEW!!!!!!

May I suggest zone alarm www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

[anonymous-user]

Dr Idris has sent me a cheque !!!!

Do we think it will bounce ????

Is the Pope a Catholic ????

Time to set dr idris straight me thinks.

[beano500]

[tinman0]

jessica said:

I recently had my identity stolen off ebay and the scammers where selling stolen goods I believe. FIrst I knew of it ebay contacted me They cost me on my bill a £60 listing fee. which ebay refunded. My concern was that I had never given out my details via an email or such like.So it is looking like they hacked into my puter via a virus or some other means to take this information. I had to spend quite some time changing all my passwords on all things not just ebay. The computer I was using at the time has since been re-built and scanned for virus's PHEW!!!!!!

On a serious note, stop using Internet Explorer and swap to something like Opera or Firefox. Also, drop Outlook/Express for something like Thunderbird or Eudora.

I rarely use IE unless its a trusted website. A trusted site is something like the major banks, paypal and few others who run limited applications.

Sites like Ebay are not trusted as they allow content to be created by customers. Any site where the content was done by 3rd parties is untrustworthy.

I also have no antivirus/antispyware package running on and have not had one virus, spyware infiltrate my machine - absolutely nothing in the last 4 years.

[Dave D]

And thats a good one as well...

Scumbag said:

those who do not submit their details by the 31th of April

A tough deadline to meet.

[Hardcore2000]

unrepentant said:

Dr Idris has sent me a cheque !!!! Do we think it will bounce ???? Is the Pope a Catholic ???? Time to set dr idris straight me thinks.

I am Dr Awuku, i would like to thank you kindly and sincerely for giving me a check template for scamming British Citizens. To thank you for your most noble kindness i would like to write you a check for 200 pounds. The check will be for 1000 pounds, please bank the check and send the balance on to my business associate Bishop Makeleli. I would once again like to thank you for your greatness in this matter and wish you and your family the greatest health for all eternity.

Dr Awuku

[ultimasimon]

tinman0 said:

jessica said: I recently had my identity stolen off ebay and the scammers where selling stolen goods I believe. FIrst I knew of it ebay contacted me They cost me on my bill a £60 listing fee. which ebay refunded. My concern was that I had never given out my details via an email or such like.So it is looking like they hacked into my puter via a virus or some other means to take this information. I had to spend quite some time changing all my passwords on all things not just ebay. The computer I was using at the time has since been re-built and scanned for virus's PHEW!!!!!! On a serious note, stop using Internet Explorer and swap to something like Opera or Firefox. Also, drop Outlook/Express for something like Thunderbird or Eudora. I rarely use IE unless its a trusted website. A trusted site is something like the major banks, paypal and few others who run limited applications. Sites like Ebay are not trusted as they allow content to be created by customers. Any site where the content was done by 3rd parties is untrustworthy. I also have no antivirus/antispyware package running on and have not had one virus, spyware infiltrate my machine - absolutely nothing in the last 4 years.

I used to use them, now I use Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware which is free at the moment as a Beta and it's the doggs doodaa's. Previously used Spybot has now been uninstalled as this product found stuff which the others didn't. I have run this everyday for a weel now and it hasn't allowed anything back on my system - yet

[big dazza]

Sorry I clicked this topic thinking it was about the new pope

[anonymous-user]

Hardcore2000 said:

unrepentant said: Dr Idris has sent me a cheque !!!! Do we think it will bounce ???? Is the Pope a Catholic ???? Time to set dr idris straight me thinks. I am Dr Awuku, i would like to thank you kindly and sincerely for giving me a check template for scamming British Citizens. To thank you for your most noble kindness i would like to write you a check for 200 pounds. The check will be for 1000 pounds, please bank the check and send the balance on to my business associate Bishop Makeleli. I would once again like to thank you for your greatness in this matter and wish you and your family the greatest health for all eternity. Dr Awuku

I'll tell you what. It's a bloody good fake. It's got the watermark, perforations and the de la rue smurfit name on the left edge. You can understand how people are convinced that it's real.

[beano500]

big dazza said:

Sorry I clicked this topic thinking it was about the new pope

That deserves the "Biggest Groan Of The Day" Award.....so far!

[tinman0]

ultimasimon said:

I used to use them, now I use Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware which is free at the moment as a Beta and it's the doggs doodaa's. Previously used Spybot has now been uninstalled as this product found stuff which the others didn't. I have run this everyday for a weel now and it hasn't allowed anything back on my system - yet

i run it as well as it is free and its never found anything.

however, my assistant's machine would load up with about 700-1100 spywares per month. spybot would catch most but some had serious roots into the machine and seemed to invite their friends in en mass after you cleaned them out. the MS software sorted her machine a treat.

[big dazza]

beano500 said:

big dazza said: Sorry I clicked this topic thinking it was about the new pope That deserves the "Biggest Groan Of The Day" Award.....so far!

Thank you very much