Did you receive an email with a link to erawanbikes[.]com that seems to be from PayPal? Watch out — it’s a SCAM!

#1 Fake emails from service@xxxx-paypal[.]com

Recently, many people have complained about receiving emails and text messages from PayPal that contain suspicious links, including ones from Erawan Bikes. Well, if you were suspicious about the legitimacy of these messages, you were right to be — they are a SCAM!

In these messages, scammers falsely claim that your PayPal account has been “limited” due to some “suspicious activity”:

Or, they send a fake transaction notification to you:

If you take a close look at the email addresses, you will see that they are all highly suspicious (and FAKE). PayPal’s legitimate email domain is @paypal.com.

Below are some fake email addresses observed:

• service@cs[.]paypal[.]com
• service@required[.]paypal[.]com
• service@intl-paypal[.]com
• service@325-9640[.]paypal[.]com

#2 Fake PayPal log-in page

If you take the bait in one of the messages and click the embedded link, you’ll be taken to a fake PayPal log-in page. If you submit your PayPal information here, scammers can record all your credentials, gain access to your PayPal account, and steal all your money!

How to Protect Yourself

• Reach out directly to PayPal support for help if you think there are issues with your account.
• Verify that links are safe before clicking on them. Does the URL look suspicious?
• Change your password immediately if you’ve already submitted login credentials.
• Use Trend Micro Check to detect scams with ease: Trend Micro Check is a browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!

Check out this page for more information on Trend Micro Check.

As ever, if you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read, please do SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected.