PayPal Phishing Scam Uses Invoices Sent Via PayPal

Scammers are using invoices sent through PayPal.com to trick recipients into calling a number to dispute a pending charge. Krebs on Security reports: The missives -- which come from Paypal.com and include a link at Paypal.com that displays an invoice for the supposed transaction -- state that the user's account is about to be charged hundreds of dollars. Recipients who call the supplied toll-free number to contest the transaction are soon asked to download software that lets the scammers assume remote control over their computer. While the phishing message attached to the invoice is somewhat awkwardly worded, there are many convincing aspects of this hybrid scam. For starters, all of the links in the email lead to paypal.com. Hovering over the "View and Pay Invoice" button shows the button indeed wants to load a link at paypal.com, and clicking that link indeed brings up an active invoice at paypal.com. Also, the email headers in the phishing message (PDF) show that it passed all email validation checks as being sent by PayPal, and that it was sent through an Internet address assigned to PayPal. Both the email and the invoice state that "there is evidence that your PayPal account has been accessed unlawfully."

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