PayPal Scam

One of our coordinators has just received a scam email supposedly from PayPal asking him to confirm his account details. There was an html form attached which made it appear that he was logged into his PP account. This asked for all the detail required to hijack the account and go on a spending spree with one of his cards. The "Submit" button if pressed would have sent this information to the scammer rather than PP.

Protect yourself from the scammers

• Ensure that you only logon to official financial sites by using the address you know and not a link that has been sent to you
• Use a program supplied by your bank to identify fake sites (e.g. RAPPORT)
• Remember that you should never be asked for the passwords or pins required to logon. Always ask yourself if the information requested could give someone else the ability to manage YOUR money for THEIR benefit
• Be alerted by spelling mistakes or quaint use of English. For many scammers it will be their second language.
• If it is a scam you won't be the first so Google a suspect part of the text 
• Check links by hovering over them before clicking. If the address revealed is unrecognised then AVOID
• Forward the scam to the institution involved so that they can take action against the scammer