Ever received an email from eBay asking you to verify your account? Or from Gmail warning you to login otherwise your account will be suspended? How many times have you gotten a supposed Paypal email asking reactivation because your account has been hacked?
Tips from BPI: How not to be a Victim of Fake Emails and Phishing Scams
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has constantly been issuing a warning to users of BPI ExpressOnline (BPI EOL), its online banking facility, against phishing emails. Phishing — pronounced “fishing” as in “fishing for information” — is a type of deception designed to steal one’s personal data such as credit card numbers, passwords, and account login information.
Beware of the fake Unionbank website
Be warned!
An “Enhanced Security Update” email supposedly coming from the UnionBank of the Philippines is making the rounds asking you to log in to your online banking account. But the moment you do so, you might lose your cash to scammers. The email is actually a phishing email designed to steal your login details in order to hack your account.
Another scam Paypal email
We constantly post Paypal scam or phishing emails supposedly sent by trusted online brands (such as Paypal) in the hopes of warning people not to fall victims into these schemes. Here’s another one we received today.
This one is very similar to authentic Paypal messages on Account Review. Paypal usually sends such emails to Paypal users whose accounts are being reviewed due to certain transactions.
As opposed to the real Paypal message, though, the one below asks the recipient to download an attached file (check.html) and follow the steps there. The email message goes:
Fake email: ‘Your eBay Account Has Been Suspended’
A few minutes ago, I cleaned up my inbox and found the following warning email from “eBay” threatening me that my “eBay account has been suspended.”
How to protect yourself from Identity Theft
Here are some useful tips provided by Banco de Oro to help you prevent identity theft when doing online banking.
Electronic Banking Consumer Protection Tips
Don’t be fooled by spoof PayPal mails
Forwarded this PayPal phishing email to spoof@paypal.com and got a reply several hours later: Thank you for contacting PayPal about a fraudulent (spoof) email or … Read More
Fake PayPal email
Now that you have a PayPal account, you should be wary of emails you receive supposedly from PayPal. Although the email might have a header and logo similar to that of PayPal, most of these are actually phishing mails intent on stealing your personal information.
More information about phishing, how to check if an email is fake, and ways to protect yourself from phishing can be found in the What is Phishing? article. A sample phishing website is explained in the “Beware of the fake egold website!” article.
Yesterday we received an email purportedly from PayPal asking us to login to the site to update our personal records. Failure to do so, the email says, will result in account suspension. Here’s a screenshot of the email.