When using your PayPal account (or any other on-line bank account) watch out for fraudulent emails purporting to originate from PayPal (or your bank), especially if they do not address you by your name.

Do not click on the links contained in those emails. They will lead to fake, look-alike sites belonging to crooks, or even to “faux” pop-up windows on top of the real sites.

PayPal spoofs are in circulation. There are many variants and they are becoming increasingly convincing (see links to three examples below). In Example 2 note the seemingly sound advice about password protection and always typing PayPal’s real URL in a new browser window. This advice was in fact lifted verbatim from a genuine email from PayPal. Nevertheless, if you were to click on the link, you could be led up the path of a fraudster’s oriental garden.

Never access PayPal by clicking on an email link, even if the link appears to be a genuine one.