Verify PayPal account - is this spam?
If you received an email from PayPal asking you to verify your identity, you may have justifiably been taken aback. We will show you whether it is spam or whether the mail is genuine.
Please verify your PayPal account: real or fake?
- By verifying, the setup of your PayPal account is only properly completed. Your personal information will be confirmed so that other PayPal users will see that it is a real person.
- Unfortunately, fake emails have been sent in the past in which this fact is exploited. The senders pretend to be PayPal and want their personal data or would like to tempt you to open a website.
- Such spam emails are not always easy to spot and can cause great damage. In the best case scenario, you are just getting a virus; in the worst case scenario, your personal data will be stolen.
Detect fake PayPal emails
If you cannot classify exactly whether it is a real or a fake email, we will help you with the following criteria:
- If you have been using PayPal for a while and have already verified your account, you can delete the mail directly.
- In addition, log in to PayPal.com and check whether "100%" is shown in the top left (see picture). In this case, your account has already been verified.
- Also check the sender. If this does not end at "@ paypal.com", it is a fake. However, this feature can also be falsified. An email from the address "@ paypal.com" is not automatically from PayPal.
- The links are particularly treacherous. Click on it with the right mouse button and copy it. Then paste it in another place and check whether it really leads to the website "//www.paypal.com / ...".
- You can find other features that you can recognize in a real PayPal email in this practical tip.
PayPal rip-off: How to identify fraudulent emails
PayPal-Mail: If in doubt, better ask
- If you still don't know 100 percent whether it is a fake email or not, contact PayPal support. This can tell you directly whether it is a real PayPal email.
- If you fell for a spam email, please contact PayPal as well. You may be advised to change your password and take other measures.
In the next practical tip, we will show you how to contact PayPal customer service.