ALERT: A scam involving PayPal: email that says – “Set up your account profile.” – UPDATE

UPDATE 10 Sept 25:

I got another PayPal scam call today. This was a little different. And, he references something sent to my email: of course there was nothing remotely related in my email. That’s a hook to get you to call the number.

Originally Published on: Sep 8, 2025 at 12:26

UPDATE:

Coincidence? I just got what was clearly a scam call. However, this one left an email. The particulars of who it was were so garbled as to be impossible other than the number I was supposed to call. They had my name and website and said they were from PayPal, probably because I have some PayPal links.

BE CAREFUL!

Want to hear it?

Learn about scams  HERE

Dear readers… be careful of scams, both online and by telephone.

If you get something that is a surprise or just doesn’t seem right do NOT click the links in the email.  If you get calls from numbers you do not recognize, do NOT answer.  If it is real, there will probably be a voicemail which will give you more clues as to authenticity.  And, I hate to have to say it, if the accent seems odd, be very wary.

Have an anti-virus program, of course, but your brain is the first line of defense.

I saw this at the Malwarebytes site (that’s software that scans your computer for bugs).

PayPal users targeted in account profile scam

A highly sophisticated email scam is targeting PayPal users with the subject line of “Set up your account profile.”

We decided to see what the scammers are after. First thing to do is to look at the headers:

The sender address service@paypal.com (sometimes the emails come from service@paypal.co.uk) looks legitimate because it is, but the scammers have spoofed the address.

Basically, when someone sends an email, their computer tells the email system what address to show as the sender. Scammers take advantage of this by using special software or programs that let them type in any “From” address they want. This technique is called spoofing. The scammer sends their email through the internet, and since most email systems aren’t strict about checking this information, the fake sender address is displayed just like a real one would be.

So it’s hard for the everyday user to tell if the email has been spoofed or not.

There are other signs that the email might be a scam though. There is the unusual recipient address, which is nothing like the one of my co-worker. Rather than targeting one individual, scammers set up a distribution list (often using Microsoft 365/Google test domains) with their own domain or, in this case, a compromised one. This allows them to send bulk phishing emails while masking their intent, but does mean that recipients see an unfamiliar address, e.g. {somebody}@{unknow-domain}.test-google-a.com, instead of their own.

The “.test-google-a.com” part of the address refers to a domain often used in testing or in cloud setups through Google Workspace, but in the context of this scam email, it’s a strong indicator of malicious activity or advanced phishing techniques rather than official Google practice. So, that’s red flag #1.

[…]

There is more there.

Warn friends and loved ones.