Attempted Sawmill Scam

[Rick Potter]

I got two notices in the E-mail saying my subscription was running out. I think they were legit, but not sure. It definitely was time to re-subscribe, so I went to the proper area and clicked on using Pay Pal to do it. It went as expected, but a few minutes later I got an E-Mail from Pay Pal that turned out to be a scam.

This one was a Pay Pal statement telling me my money went through, but if I thought there might be a problem, I should check the attached statement. When I opened it, it showed that I had ordered bit coins for $480, and prominently gave me a phone number to call if necessary. No mention of Sawmill or Northwind was on it.

I called the number, and it first just hung up on me. Second call was answered, and the very foreign lady proceeded to read answers from a script for any question asked, although all it amounted to was.. you can cancel but we need more information. I hung up after listening to her baby cry in the background, then googled the phone number of Pay Pal, and it was a completely different scenario.

Pay Pal was all voice recordings, and I never managed to talk to a human.

In the meantime, my bride called the credit card company to report it and see if the $480 went through. It didn't, but the $20 to Sawmill did. They said they get calls about this all the time, and that we were probably OK since we didn't give out any additional info. We will continue to monitor for it.

I hope it was coincidence that I got the scam moments after using Pay Pal to buy something (which only happens a couple times a year), rather than the criminals monitoring Sawmill or Pay Pal somehow.

[Paul F Franklin]

Probably a coincidence, but might be a good time to run a virus/malware scan to make sure the transaction wasn't picked up on your end.

[Lee Schierer]

Probably a coincidence, but might be a good time to run a virus/malware scan to make sure the transaction wasn't picked up on your end.

I agree with Paul. You should also forward the Phishing email to paypal.

[Izzy Camire]

I got an email last week saying it was Paypal and that a fraudulent transaction had gone through. I called the number and realized the things I was being told ad asked were suspect and hung up.

[Jim Becker]

I suspect that the timing was coincidental. These PayPal scams are becoming more and more popular as an offshoot to emails that appear to be from other funding sources or "Geek Squad" or whatever. Fortunately, even if they get the email correct for a PayPal account, their invoice isn't paid unless you fall for the scam and authorize the payment.

[Ronald Blue]

That's why you should never rely on links in the emails. They will often take you to legitimate looking websites but that's where they get crucial info from you. Same if someone calls claiming to represent your bank or credit card. Hang up and call the number you know to be good and ask if they are trying to reach you.

[Rick Potter]

I just did what Lee suggested...forwarded it to paypal.

For the record, the place to send it is............ spoof@paypal.com

I have automatic scanning for virus, but will also run it tonight.

[Bill George]

With Ron 1000%, never ever ever respond to a Link in a email, they can make them look so good!! PayPal, eBay and even Amazon scams, think folks. Same way with Phone calls, PayPal or Amazon will never call you asking to verify your Credit Card info.

[Michael Weber]

I don’t know if PC’s can do this but with IOS devices you can touch and hold the button or text they ask you to use and the link will appear without actually opening it. If it’s a scam the link will be pretty obviously fake.

[Alex Zeller]

Just an FYI, never call a phone number provided in an email. Always look it up. Even if I'm 100% sure it's a legit email I always look up the number. Had you not hung up I'm sure the lovely woman would have said she needed things like your account number, real and email address, and possibly credit card number to straighten things out.

[Lee DeRaud]

I don’t know if PC’s can do this but with IOS devices you can touch and hold the button or text they ask you to use and the link will appear without actually opening it. If it’s a scam the link will be pretty obviously fake.

That's (probably) a browser feature, not IOS. Current versions of Chrome and Outlook both do it too on Windows.

[Rick Potter]

Just a follow up. I did send the E-mail to PayPal, and got back a form letter thanking me, and they are checking into it.

And yes Alex. I agree, she was just reading from a script that was designed to non-answer any questions asked, and I am sure she was leading into asking for more info about our account when we hung up.