PayPal ‘You Sent an Automatic Payment’ Phishing Scam

This email, which purports to be from PayPal, claims that you have sent an automatic payment to an online entertainment company.

Details in the email indicate that you have signed up for a premium membership subscription that will be automatically charged to your PayPal account every month. The email also includes a link that supposedly allows you to change or cancel your subscription agreement with the company.

However, despite its appearance, the email is not from PayPal and the claim that you have sent a subscription payment is untrue. In fact, the email is a phishing scam designed to trick you into divulging your personal and financial information to online criminals.

The criminals know that at least a few recipients will click the “cancel agreement” link in the mistaken belief that they have been subscribed to a premium membership that they know nothing about.

If you do click the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that has been built to mirror the genuine PayPal login page. Once on the fake site, you will be asked to log in with your PayPal email address and password. Next, you will be taken to a fake refund form that asks for your credit card numbers, your name and contact details, and other identifying information.

At the end of the process, you will be informed that your refund has been successfully processed.

But, meanwhile, the criminals can use the information they gathered to hijack your PayPal account, use your credit card, and attempt to steal your identity.

PayPal scam emails like this one are very common. If you receive one, do not click any links or buttons that it contains. Keep in mind that genuine PayPal emails will always address you by name. They will never use generic greetings such as “Hello <your email address>” or “Dear Customer”. Nor will they omit this greeting

The PayPal website includes information about how to recognize and report such phishing scams.