A warning to anyone who uses PayPal, a new phishing scam is targeting thousands of users and it's so slick that many are falling for it.
We spoke with one victim, so you don't waste your money.
Many of us use PayPal for our online transactions, because it is so much safer than giving an unknown retailer your credit card or bank account number.
But one woman was just scammed for hundreds of dollars when her PayPal site turned out to not be the real thing.
Delores Reed was on her email the other day when she found this alarming message from PayPal.
"Suspicious activity has been noted on your account. So naturally I'm going to go to PayPal to find out what's going on," Reed said.
So she followed the link where the site asked her to log in.
"I said well it’s PayPal,” Reed said. “I've always been able to trust PayPal.
“How good did this PayPal account look? Believable, very believable."
But it wasn't. It was a phishing scam.
"So after that, they just started taking money out of my account,” Reed said.
Unfortunately, Reed’s PayPal account was not connected to a credit card where she could have disputed the charges.
Rather, it was linked directly to her bank account, where the money came out immediately.
"They took out $300, $200 and $200,” she said. “That's my meal money. That's my food money.”
Good news: we contacted her bank which agreed to give her $300 immediately, and see if there is any way to reverse the charges on the rest.
So don't let this happen to you:
PayPal says if you receive an email about your account, login through PayPal.com.
- Do not click through an email link.
- It also says to beware emails saying "your account is about to be suspended."
And if you are suspicious, stop!
"I had a little bit of suspicion, but I didn't heed on it," Reed said.
The best way to protect yourself?
If you have a credit card, link your PayPal account to that card, not your bank.
That way you are not liable for any fraud, and you don't waste your money.
