PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't!

Neil Morgan · 08-20-2008, 04:31 AM

Hi Guys

This morning I received an email from PayPal that said I had received an echeque and contained all the usual blurb about waiting until it cleared before sending the goods etc.

I actually thought it was a phishing attempt because it was an HTML email and usually those emails are plain text. I've had many of them over the years.

So I trawled through the source code of the email and found that all the links were real PayPal links (to PayPal.com) and that the sender (paypal.com) passed the SPF and DomainKeys checks.

So I thought, this must be a clever phishing attempt. I bet all the links are legitimate apart from one - maybe one that takes you to a page where you would enter your login and password.

But no, I simply couldn't find anything in the email that was not legit.

The strange thing is ... I hadn't received an echeque in my PayPal account!

So, I'm left wondering if that was maybe a PayPal test email or some weird kind of spam or some kind of clever phishing.

Did anyone else get this today?

Cheers,

Neil

Pete Egeler · 08-20-2008, 04:41 AM

Can't speak for the UK, but here in the US echecks are held for up to 10-days until they are put into your account.

These checks have to clear the banks before you get them.

Pete

Neil Morgan · 08-20-2008, 04:43 AM

Same here Peter, but it appears in my PayPal account as 'uncleared'.

In this case, there is no such entry in my PayPal account.

Cheers,

Neil

Adeel_Chowdhry · 08-20-2008, 05:53 AM

Neil...I got one too!

Richelo Killian · 08-20-2008, 06:11 AM

Neil, I received one saying I SENT an echeque. I thought and did the same as you, and also found no phishing links at all.

I went to my PayPal account directly, not through any of the links, and found nothing in there.

STRANGE!

Neil Morgan · 08-20-2008, 08:11 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys. So I'm not going mad after all.

It looking like the PayPal developer forgot to set:

$send_customer_email = false;

...when he was testing his new script!

Cheers,

Neil

08-20-2008, 04:31 AM	#1
Neil Morgan Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lanarkshire UK Posts: 2,487 Thanks: 98 Thanked 314 Times in 223 Posts Social Networking	PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't! Hi Guys This morning I received an email from PayPal that said I had received an echeque and contained all the usual blurb about waiting until it cleared before sending the goods etc. I actually thought it was a phishing attempt because it was an HTML email and usually those emails are plain text. I've had many of them over the years. So I trawled through the source code of the email and found that all the links were real PayPal links (to PayPal.com) and that the sender (paypal.com) passed the SPF and DomainKeys checks. So I thought, this must be a clever phishing attempt. I bet all the links are legitimate apart from one - maybe one that takes you to a page where you would enter your login and password. But no, I simply couldn't find anything in the email that was not legit. The strange thing is ... I hadn't received an echeque in my PayPal account! So, I'm left wondering if that was maybe a PayPal test email or some weird kind of spam or some kind of clever phishing. Did anyone else get this today? Cheers, Neil
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08-20-2008, 04:41 AM	#2
Pete Egeler Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: LaFollette, TN Posts: 1,352 Thanks: 107 Thanked 96 Times in 60 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't! Can't speak for the UK, but here in the US echecks are held for up to 10-days until they are put into your account. These checks have to clear the banks before you get them. Pete
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08-20-2008, 04:43 AM	#3
Neil Morgan Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lanarkshire UK Posts: 2,487 Thanks: 98 Thanked 314 Times in 223 Posts Social Networking	Re: PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't! Same here Peter, but it appears in my PayPal account as 'uncleared'. In this case, there is no such entry in my PayPal account. Cheers, Neil
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08-20-2008, 05:53 AM	#4
Adeel_Chowdhry Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,647 Thanks: 21 Thanked 54 Times in 26 Posts	Re: PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't! Neil...I got one too!

08-20-2008, 06:11 AM	#5
Richelo Killian Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Here, there, everywhere. Enjoying a global lifestyle. Posts: 893 Thanks: 203 Thanked 108 Times in 71 Posts Social Networking	Re: PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't! Neil, I received one saying I SENT an echeque. I thought and did the same as you, and also found no phishing links at all. I went to my PayPal account directly, not through any of the links, and found nothing in there. STRANGE!
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08-20-2008, 08:11 AM	#6
Neil Morgan Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lanarkshire UK Posts: 2,487 Thanks: 98 Thanked 314 Times in 223 Posts Social Networking	Re: PayPal - You've received an echeque, but I hadn't! Thanks for the feedback guys. So I'm not going mad after all. It looking like the PayPal developer forgot to set: $send_customer_email = false; ...when he was testing his new script! Cheers, Neil
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