|
Paypal having personal details despite having an account
Hi there,
So today I got a mail from Paypal for the first time ever, it was addressed to my dad. My dad does not know how to use Paypal or any technological savvy stuff. I am just curious how they got his full name and address without him having an account with Paypal.
Am I paranoid for finding this alarmingly strange and possibly illegal that Paypal has his details without his knowledge?
Any advice or stories of your own similar to this is appreciated.
Thanks!
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Technology category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Internet & Web Design?
PayPal doesn't have his info unless he gave it to them.
You should check with your father and ask if he has a PayPal account. Maybe he tried to use ut at some point.If he doesn't, delete the email. It's just a phishing scam.
It's nothing to be too alarmed about, it's not hard for scammers to get an email address and the name of person who uses it.
Even with this little to go on I'd say its almost definitely a scam - an email designed to make you input personal details in thier system (not paypals) so they can steal from you.
These scams are really, really common.
]
I would be surprised if Paypal did anything dodgy because it would not be in their interest. As the answer below says, they are a very legitimate company with a good reputation.
Apart from the identity theft possibility, another option is that the email itself is not from paypal. Before you or your dad click on anything, make sure its not a spam mail pretending to be from paypal. Spammers and thieves in general often send official looking emails that appear to be from relevant authorities (e.g. banks, tax offices, companies like FedEx, etc.).
You can also contact Paypal yourself and ask, but do so through the contact info available on the paypal site, not through any info or link sent to you in the email.
]
Hi. Think the first thing you MUST do is inform your dad of the email. If he's not sure what PayPal even IS you've got a problem. On the plus side, this is a secure, encrypted sight, used by a lot, possibly millions of people. Maybe the only way to be safer is not to buy ANYTHING on-line, EVER. However secure, if someone has acquired sufficient amounts your dad's financial and personal details from some other source they could of course set-up an account, and basically make purchases which will be charged to him. You probably know all this already? Identity theft, I'll point out is most definitely NOT a figment of paranoid, conspiracy-minded people, it's VERY real. So tell him quick. You might get 'Yeah...it's cool...I needed to get something and I follwed the instructions to set the account up...etc' Or you might save hime from a good deal of time, hassle and possibly unrecoverable payments if it's unauthorised use of his account. Consider this URGENT...and get to it mate!!
]
More Questions: |