I received this scam email in my inbox the other day, and I spoke to someone who got a similar alert in a text message. It claims that I’ve just sent a payment to a computer service company and that it’s been charged to my PayPal account. It also informs me it might take some time for that charge to actually show up on my PayPal account, but I can call their customer service number if I have any questions. Of course, most people are going to freak out a little when they see there’s a large charge for something they didn’t order on their account.
These crooks are counting on you to panic and attempt to contact them. Sometimes they provide a link that will dump malware on your phone, and other times they provide a number you can call. If I did call that number, I’d probably be asked to give them some bank account information in order for them to refund my money. Of course, that’s when they’d promptly clean out my bank account.
If you get a notice like this, do not respond to it. Either open up a browser and go to the website for your account separately or look up the customer service number fo your account. Don’t call the one in the message. This is almost always a scam.
I’ll always thank you for reminding us about fraudsters. I’ve been receiving at least 1 per day from these freaks and sometimes more. It started with a website that desperately wanted me to use pay pal. Not a chance.