I have to give these folks credit – except for a few spots of bad wording, this one actually looks pretty good. They still suck, of course… but at least they’re trying harder these days.

Of course, considering the fact that my paypal account is in no way tied to my gmail account, it didn’t take much of a stretch to decide this was a fraud. As a reminder, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm here are some helpful hints from the FTC on phishing and how to recognize it.

FYI: You should forward all such emails to {{email spoof@paypal.com Paypal, then promptly delete them.

Here’s the text of the message I recieved – I am intentionally removing the links to keep anyone from accidently clicking where they shouldn’t – I am also not including the graphics, since they all link directly to Paypal.com, it would be an unnecessary burden on their servers:

Security Center

Military Grade Encryption is Only the Start

At PayPal, we want to increase your security and comfort level with every transaction. From our Buyer and Seller Protection Policies to our Verification and Reputation systems, we’ll help to keep you safe.

We have recently noticed one or more attempts to log into your PayPal account from a foreign IP address and we have reasons to believe that your account may have been hijacked by a third party without your authorization.

If you recently accessed your account while traveling, the unusual login in attempts may have been initiated by you. However, if you are the rightful holder of the account, click on the link below to log into your account within the above-mentioned period.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run

If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice but to temporaly suspend your account.

We ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be investigated and we strongly recommend to verify your account in that time.

If you received this notice and you are not the authorized account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of PayPal policy to represent oneself as another PayPal user. Such action may also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law. PayPal is committed to assist law enforcement with any inquires related to attempts to misappropriate personal information with the intent to commit fraud or theft. Information will be provided at the request of law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Thanks for your patience and understanding as we work together to protect your account.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

*Please do not respond to this e-mail as your reply will not be received.

Here’s a screencap so you can see it in all it’s glory (clicking below will get you nothing more than 1 less click on the life of your mouse):

The IP this email would have directed me to is in Korea, here’s some starting information:

218.38.19.20

inetnum: 218.36.0.0 – 218.39.255.255
netname: KRNIC-KR
descr: KRNIC
descr: Korea Network Information Center
country: KR
admin-c: HM127-AP
tech-c: HM127-AP
remarks:
remarks: KRNIC is the National Internet Registry
remarks: in Korea under APNIC. If you would like to
remarks: find assignment information in detail
remarks: please refer to the KRNIC Whois DB
remarks: http://whois.nic.or.kr/english/index.html
remarks:
mnt-by: APNIC-HM
mnt-lower: MNT-KRNIC-AP
changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20020722
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
source: APNIC

person: Host Master
address: 11F, KTF B/D, 1321-11, Seocho2-Dong, Seocho-Gu,
address: Seoul, Korea, 137-857
country: KR
phone: +82-2-2186-4500
fax-no: +82-2-2186-4496
e-mail: hostmaster@nic.or.kr
nic-hdl: HM127-AP
mnt-by: MNT-KRNIC-AP
changed: hostmaster@nic.or.kr 20020507
source: APNIC