FC: Apparent spam scam using Paypal -- watch out for mystery links

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

I've left some of the message headers intact, so we can see that this 
apparent spam scam originates overseas; not much the FTC could do.

Moral of this story: Be wary of mystery links, like paypaladmin.cjb.net
you get via email. Don't give your account info unless you're sure it's
legit.

-Declan

*********

Received: from mimosa.singnet.com.sg (mimosa.singnet.com.sg [165.21.5.12]) by toad.com (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id 
JAA09804 for <cypherpunks () toad com>; Thu, 25 Jan 2001 09:12:57 -0800 (PST)
Received: by mimosa.singnet.com.sg id AA27525; Fri, 26 Jan 2001 01:15:23 +0800
Message-Id: <200101251715.AA27525 () mimosa singnet com sg>
Subject: Betty HilI has just sent you $200.00 with PayPal
From: Betty Hill <BHill1234 () aol com>
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 09:17:12 +0800

Betty Hill has just sent you money with PayPal.

Amount: $200.00


Simply click <a
href=http://paypaladmin.cjb.net>http://www.PayPal.com/links/uni</a>
and complete the one-page registration form to claim your money. For a
limited time, if you sign up and activate your account, you will
receive a $5 New Account Bonus.

You may withdraw your money at any time by requesting a check or
making a direct deposit to your bank account. You can also send the
money to your friends.

PayPal lets users send money to anyone with an email address. Use
PayPal.com to settle restaurant tabs with colleagues, pay friends for
movie tickets, or buy a baseball card at an online auction. You can
also send personalized money requests to your friends for a group
event or party.

X.com's backers include Nokia Ventures, Madison Dearborn Partners,
Qualcomm, Sequoia Capital, Deutsche Bank, idealab Capital Partners and
Goldman Sachs. Our state-of-the-art encryption provides the highest
level of security.

For more information about PayPal, check out <a
href=http://paypaladmin.cjb.net>http://www.PayPal.com/</a>.

Welcome to PayPal!


Note: If you already have a PayPal account, be sure to log in at <a
href=http://paypaladmin.cjb.net>http://www.PayPal.com/</a> and add
this email address in the Profile subtab under My Account to collect
your money.



----------------------------------------------

Best of the Web
- Forbes

Using the service is actually safer than a check or money order.
- Wall Street Journal

"The beauty is that you can send money -- real money, not one of
those gimmicky Internet currencies -- to anyone with an email address."
- New York Times

"PayPal can play a major role in your life.  You can use it to pay
for stuff at auction sites, settle dinner debts with friends or nudge
your cousin to repay that $50 he borrowed at the family reunion."
- Time

"This is truly one of the easiest services to use.  Setting up an
e-mail account at Yahoo! takes longer!"
- Internet.com


*********

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 01:17:36 -0800
To: cypherpunks () cyberpass net
From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart () pobox com>
Subject: Spam attempting Paypal scam

The cypherpunks and coderpunks lists just received spam from
"Betty Hill" saying you've just been sent $200.  

        Simply click 
        <a
href=http://paypalregistration.cjb.net/>http://www.PayPal.com/links/uni</a> 
        and complete the one-page registration form to claim your money. 

CJB.net is a free URL redirection service - it would have pointed off
to somewhere (presumably a moving target) to snarf up some Paypal
account information and any other data it could.
The anonymizer couldn't display it, either because it's closed down
or just one of those things that the Anonymizer can't grok,
but it is an interesting scam.
                                Thanks! 
                                        Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart () pobox com
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF  3C85 B884 0ABE 4639

***********

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 00:53:23 -0800 (PST)
From: "Alex B. Shepardsen" <abs () squig org>
X-Sender: abs () snuffy whitetrash org
To: cypherpunks () einstein ssz com
Subject: Re: CDR: Betty HilI has just sent you $200.00 with PayPal

On Thu, 25 Jan 2001, Betty Hill wrote:

> Simply click <a
> href=http://paypalregistration.cjb.net/>http://www.PayPal.com/links/uni</a>

Interesting scam. I wonder how many people are falling for this.

Alex

***********





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