Paypal Fraud

So, I got a series of emails yesterday that seem at once like the recent Paypal spoof crap and also perhaps legit, if only because they don’t include the usual link “click here to verify your account, and enter your information on our fraudulent website.” One of them said that I may have been in receipt of “potentially unauthorized funds,” and that that transaction was being put on hold.

When I logged onto Paypal (typed the URL myself), I was immediately presented with a page asking for verification of one of my two debit cards, or my bank account number.

We are currently performing regular maintenance of our security measures. Your account has been randomly selected for this maintenance, and you will now be taken through a series of identity verification pages.

I’m kinda freaked about this. I don’t know what to believe. And of course, Paypal has no fucking phone number where I can call and talk to a real human.

And, now I’m receiving an email from someone I’ve never heard of, complaining that I cancelled my Paypal payment to them for “platinum,” and asking me to send them “a tell in game as Erasing or Rexyy.” I don’t even know what that means. Is that an Everquest thing or something?

I’ve now received word back from Paypal’s spoof department that no, that first email from Paypal didn’t actually come from Paypal. So I’m even more freaked out. I’m not giving anyone anything until I can talk to a real live human. This is ridiculous.

Update:

I’ve talked to three humans now, two at Paypal, and one in-between from either an irate victim of this fraud or the perpetrator himself. Things are being worked out, though not yet to my satisfaction. I’ll update once this is over.