PayPal-Themed “You Sent a Payment” Emails Point to Malware

PayPal may not be the number one brand name used in cybercriminal campaigns, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t many malicious plots that try to gain the users’ trust by relying on the company’s reputation.

The latest series of shady emails that purport to originate from PayPal inform the recipient that a payment has been made from their accounts.

Bearing the subject “You’ve sent a payment” or “ Receipt for your payment,” the fake notifications carry links that point to malicious websites which host the infamous Blackhole exploit kit.

Hoax Slayer informs that the emails are well designed, apparently originating from paypal.com addresses.

Before panicking and rushing to click on the links, take a moment to think about what you’re about to do. The best thing in such cases is to hover above the links and take a look at the website URL you’re about to visit. If it’s anything other than paypal.com, it’s most certainly a malicious scheme.