Fake PayPal Email

Last night I was checking my emails when this legitimate-looking email from paypal caught my attention with a subject line "Your payment has been sent". It's so enticing to open it ASAP and the obviously fradulent charges will alarm you into quickly hitting the "Dispute Transaction" button. At first I start freaking out thinking some jackass hacked my account, so I did clicked the button before realizing it is a scam when I noticed its odd URL:

(http://rs.morveux.de/coppermine/unaltnouoption/init.htm- don't try it!).

Surely enough it's not a paypal site. So, I immediately forwarded that link to spoof@paypal.com, which promptly confirmed it was a scam. Internet thieves are becoming more sophisticated, they even used my real name..wow!

Below is a side by side comparison of a legitimate email from paypal and the fake one. Remember that they can easily change the subject line though to make it more real, so be careful.Here are some tips :

1. Always remember, a fraudulent (spoof) email may use a forged email address in the "from" field and this field is easily altered.
2. Also remember that they may use your real name, therefore if you see your name, it doesn't mean it's legitimate.
3. They try to deceive you with the threat that your account is in jeopardy if you don't act on it immediately.
   
4. Mouse over a link before clicking it and look at the URL in your browser or email status bar. A fraudulent link is dangerous because it could direct you to a website that tries to collect your personal data (phishing) or install/download a malicious malware (spyware, virus, trojan, etc.). To be safe, never click on a link within your email but rather open a new tab or browser and directly type in the PayPal URL: https://www.paypal.com. Note that it's "https" not "http" and "s" stands for "secure".
   
5. Remember: PayPal never asks for personal information in an email.
6. Forward the link to Paypal's fraud team at: spoof@paypal.com, then delete that email from your mailbox.
7. If you think your account is already compromised, immediately use another computer and check your account history, change your password (use a combination of upper and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters), and call the financial institution involved to block any fraudulent transactions.
   
8. Update your anti-spyware and anti-virus softwares and run a thorough check (I use Avast, Ad-Aware and Spybot). Also delete all the cookies.
   
9. Don't be a victim. Be vigilant and spread this information to help fight spoof.
   

Here's the actual email I received. Note that the scammers' email address is <service@paypal-us.com>. The legit PayPal address is <service@paypal.com>. See the difference? You can click on the image to enlarge.


Additional reading: Protect Yourself from Fraudulent Emails

How to Upload Large PDF Files to Your Blog

You cannot actually post a raw PDF file directly into your blog. The other thing to consider if you're able to convert a very large pdf file to html or txt is the page size limit. Fortunately there's a lot of ways to get around with it. Here's my story..

A few days ago, I was struggling to post a large PDF file into my blog. This file has 774 pages!! Yes you read it right, but I did it with a dash of patience and and a pinch of persistence. It's a complete list of successful examines who passed the 2007 Nursing Board Exam (Philippines). I tried to convert the file to both text (txt) and HTML files using Adobe Acrobat Pro and upload it in this site, but the file size exceeds the limit. Well, just imagine how many pages, but my idea was to put it inside a box and you can scroll it to view the file. Anyways, that simply didn’t work.

So with my googling power, I stumbled upon the following solutions. I tried each one of these to find out which can do the job.

SaveFile is a free File Hosting Website where you have to register for an acoount... upload the file up to 60mb... they will provide you a link to embed in your site. To view that file, click the link which leads you back to their website, and while there, you have to find another link to access the file. Duh… Not Recommended, more cons than pros.

Gmail account. If you already have this, just login to your account, compose an email, attach the file to that email, send it to youself, open the attached file as HTML, then copy and paste it to your website. Easy huh. But it only converts, from PDF to HTML, 3 pages of my file. My verdict: Very handy and recommended for small files.

Scribd is another File Hosting Website that works for large files. With this, you can upload any file type, upload multiple files at the same time, and convert to flash files which can then be embedded in your site. While viewing, you can pan, scroll, adjust the view size, search a word or name within the file, print, download the file as PDF, MS Word, Plain text or MP3, print, email it... Wow!! For me it is more convenient than downloading the file locally and viewing it using Adobe Reader or even Foxit. Check out the post where I used it.

More tips from Blogger Tips and Tricks

2007 Nursing Board Exam Result

After more than two agonizing months of waiting, the PRC finally released the result of the exam held on June 10 and 11, 2007. The passing rate for first-time takers, repeaters, and voluntary examinees is 48.18% or a total of 31,275 of the 64,909 examinees. For those who re-took the exam as per decision of the Court of Appeals, 73.8% or a total of the 248 of the 336. The result of Tests 3 and 5 taken by some 13,000 nursing graduates from the June 2006 batch were not announced by the PRC. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will announce the results on Tuesday according to a DOLE information officer. Congratulations !!!

You can also check these links:
Board Passers as posted in Inquirer.netu
Top performing schools
How to Upload Large PDF Files to your Blog

Friendship

Watch this lovely TV commercial from Thailand.. oh, they're so sweeeettt...