Always keep an eye out for fake emails that are trying to phish for your information and access to your computer!

As an example, here is a fake user trying to pretend they are from PayPal – they want you to download an attachment that “verifies your identity”, but likely just downloads a virus or keylogger to your computer! (Those tracks everything you type, including passwords and credit card numbers! )

paypal2

Note how the From: field gives a non-paypal.com email address — and the To: field doesn’t list a specific email, showing that it was likely emailed to a mass number of recipients. There is also no branding to the email itself, and the “Security Team” is calling themselves Support.

The biggest red flag is that PayPal would not have you download anything. Instead, they direct you to log into your website. Even then, you should go into your browser and directly type the URL into your browser rather than clicking any button provided. Better safe than sorry!

Below, you can see an official email sent from PayPal ; compare the From: email address, the appearance of the email, and the amount of information provided!

paypal1

Elisha Thomas

Elisha Thomas

Front-End Developer

An illustration graduate of Moore College of Art, Elisha is one of the main authors of the blog. She adds the gears to the website to make it function, being adept at front-end development with a specialty in PHP, CSS/HTML, and WordPress.