Another Paypal Email Scam?

Here's an excerpt from an email I got saying that it was from PayPal:

"Dear PayPal Member,

PayPal is committed to maintaining a safe environment for its community of buyers and sellers. To protect the security of your account, PayPal employs some of the most advanced security systems in the world and our anti-fraud teams regularly screen the PayPal system for unusual activity. Recently, our Account Review Team identified some unusual activity in your account. In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement and to ensure that your account has not been compromised, access to it was flagged. Youwill remain flagged until this issue has been resolved. This is a fraud prevention measure meant to ensure that your account is not compromised. In order to secure your account and quickly restore full access, we may require some specific information from you for the following reason: Our system requires further account verification. Case ID Number: xx-xxx-xxx-xxx. We encou! rage you to log in and restore full access as soon as possible. Should your account remain flagged for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations on the use of your account or may result in eventual account closure.
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Please click on the link below to log in and restore full access to your account. (the link provided has paypal.com in it but if you put your cursor over the link you see that the link goes somewhere else)
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Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure meant to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely, PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal Email ID xxxxxxx

Now I went to Paypal's site just to find out more information about these so-called emails that are sent out. Here is an excerpt of Paypal's official website:

How can I protect myself from PayPal fraud or scams?


PayPal is dedicated to fighting fraud and scams. You can help protect your account against PayPal scams by being cautious in giving out your own personal information such as first name, last name, business name, email address, password, financial information (credit card, bank account number, PIN), social security number, and driver's license number.

Tips to stay safe from PayPal fraud or scams:


Log in safely: To log in to your PayPal account or access the PayPal website, open a new web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: https://www.paypal.com/

Check the email greeting: Emails from PayPal will always address you by your first and last name or the business name associated with your PayPal account. A PayPal scam email may include the salutation "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member"


Look out for attachments: PayPal emails will never ask you to download an attachment or a software program. An attachment found in a PayPal scam email will often contain a virus that can harm your computer or compromise your PayPal account


Never give out personal information: If we require information from you, we will notify you in an email and request that you enter the information only after you have safely and securely logged in to your PayPal account. Often, PayPal scams will request details such as your full name, account password, credit card number, bank account, PIN number, Social Security Number, or mother's maiden name. "

To find more safety tips from Paypal's own website just go to:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/fraud-prevention-outside

Getting Fast Cash?

Income tax season is upon us now and a lot of the tax preparation businesses are offering "get cash now" services. Basically what it involves is you being able to get your tax refund now instead of waiting for it to come from the IRS. However you should be aware that you will pay a high price for doing this. In order to provide you with the cash right away the business charges fees and these are high fees. It has been reported that people take this "payday"- type loans and when they can't pay it back they take out another loan and so the cycle continues. Not everything is black and white and in some instances there may be the necessity to take out these kinds of loans but you should try to avoid doing this as much as you can.

It is a sad thing to say since I used to work for one of these big income tax preparation businesses (but this was well before the onslaught of being able to get your income tax refund before the IRS mailed it to you) but the fact of the matter is that they can charge you a big fee in return for providing you with "fast" cash.

You should check and see if you can get some free or low-cost tax preparation help. I know that the IRS itself provides help because I have used it in the past (heck I even used to work for them!). They have a phone number and a web site and you can find that out by looking in your local phonebook. You should also see if your area provides some income tax preparation help as well. Many communities offer these kinds of services at a low or free cost. If you make under a certain amount of money you can get help with your taxes free! The same thing applies to seniors who need help with their income tax preparation.

So although you may want to get your tax refund back as soon as possible try to find a low or free cost way to do it.

10 tricks for reducing your heating bill

Here is a helpful article from msnbc's website

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16176373/

It shows you some good tips that you can try to help reduce your heating bill.

Is It REALLY QVC?

Be careful when you get email from QVC. Make sure that it is coming from QVC! How do you do that? Just move your curser over the blue link (BUT DO NOT CLICK ON IT!). You will then be able to see where this blue link will go. Even though the letters "QVC" may be in the link that doesn't mean that the link will take you to QVC's official website. The best thing to do would be for you to go directly to QVC's official site and find out any information you can about the email. If you still have your doubts you can either call or email QVC - they even have a message board where you can post.

Paypal Scam

Here is a copy of a bogus email that I got:

Dear PayPal Member,This email confirms that you have paid xxx $x.00 USD using PayPal. This credit card transaction will appear on your bill as "PAYPAL xxx*".

PayPal Shopping Cart Contents

Item Name: Nokia 8800 Brand New

Quantity:1

Total: $X.00 USD

Cart Subtotal: $X.00 USD

Shipping Charge: $30.00 USD

Cart Total: $x.00 USD

Shipping Information
Shipping Info: ~
Address Status: Unconfirmed

If you haven't authorized this charge, click the link below to cancel the payment and get a full refund. (Of course this link doesn't directly go to Paypal!)

Thank you for using PayPal!The PayPal Team

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page.

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You have to be careful when you get email like this! DON'T CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK!

It is an email scam and if you click on that blue link you will be very sorry that you did!