Beware of Spam Payoneer Phishing Emails
This article is aimed as a warning to people who use Payoneer to receive online payments. There have recently been an upsurge in Payoneer Phishing Emails, from criminals who clearly want to gain access to people’s Payoneer accounts. If you have been following this blog for any given amount of time, you will be aware of the fact that I use Payoneer to receive payments from clients across the globe. Payoneer really is great, particularly in situations where PayPal may not be available.
Payoneer Phishing Emails
I have, however, recently been receiving a number of Phishing emails, supposedly from Payoneer. I have previously written a number of articles on Phishing, including one in which I highlight the obvious signs that an email is not genuine. The Payoneer Phishing Emails that I have been receiving, including the one below, bear all the hallmarks of a Phishing attempt;
Signs that this is a Phishing Email
So, how do I know that this is a attempt by some-lazy-one somewhere to get hold of my hard earned money?
- I am not expecting any Payments: The first thing is that I have not been expecting a payment from anyone in recent days. That should be enough to raise anyone’s red flag. The thing to note is that there are no father Christmases on the internet. Nobody is going to just give you money for nothing. If you have not been expecting any money, then you should stay clear of these unsolicited windfalls.
- A none HPPTS link: The second red flag in the above email is that it has a none HTTPS link. I supposed the criminals are just lazy in this case. In any case, the fact that they have not bothered to buy encryption for their supposed website is a big red flag. Any company that handles payments on the internet pretty much now has HTTPS encryption.
- Clicking on the link (which you should never do), takes you to a clearly fake Payoneer website. I mean, the graphics are okay, but the URL is, as you can see below, clearly fake. As you can see, the website is supposedly called “payorneer.”
What do the criminals hope to achieve?
The people behind these Payoneer Phishing Emails are clearly looking to get access to personal login details. If you browse through the net, you will come across tales from people who have had their Payoneer accounts wiped clean. Chances are high that the thieves gained access to these accounts in this way. In any case, all Payoneer account holders should be on the lookout for these bogus emails. Payoneer itself should do something to warn people about these phishing attempts.