Payment to Expedia Scam: How It Works
As the online shopping has become very popular in the last few years, so did the fraudulent transactions. The latest trap is the You've Sent a Payment to Expedia Scam hinting a PayPal transfer. It could also happen by referencing other names of well-known companies, not just the giant travel booking site. How does the scam work?
Watch the video below to see the PayPal Transaction Notification scam exposed:
PayPal Notification Scam Video
It works like this. You receive an email that comes apparently from PayPal (see pic below), with the title subject: "You've Sent a Payment". It is very similar courtesy email to the authentic ones that PayPal sends automatically every time you purchase something.
The message informs that you've just sent $199.00US to Expedia.com for a hotel booking.
Scammers rely on the fact that victims, knowing that they did not book any trips or hotels with Expedia (unless they did, which makes it worse), will dispute the transaction. The email offers a link to "Cancel payment now".
Once clicked, the link opens a replica of the real PayPal website, which asks you to log in by inserting your email address and password. Once you give scammers that information, you can rest assured that your account is compromised.
Alternatively, once you click on the link you might be taken to a questionable website sigma-mobile.com having the risk to install malware on your device.
Below there is an email scammers sent to our Scam Detector email address this week:
"Thanks for using PayPal. Please note that this is not a charge. Your account will be charged when the merchant processes your payment. You may receive multiple emails as the merchant processes your order. Your funds will be transferred when the merchant processes your payment.
Any money in your PayPal account at that time will be used before any other payment source. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account. Merchant, Expedia".
Watch out for this scam approach, as instead of Expedia could be any other company, from iTunes and Amazon to Hilton to Kayak.
Expedia Payment via PayPal Scam: How To Avoid
The best thing to do is to look for red flags. Look at the image above: the charge reads "Hotel Booking". In every genuine reservation, every hotel booking lists the name of the hotel. It is never generic.
Look also at the domain name that shows up in the browser once the "Cancel the payment" button is clicked. Instead of expedia.com, this one sends you to sigma-mobile.com, which has nothing to do with the travel company.
Do not click on the link provided. The best thing to do is to log into your account straight from the PayPal's website, by typing paypal.com in your browser first.
Expedia Payment via PayPal Scam: How to Report
Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to PayPal using the link below:
How To Protect Yourself More:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You'll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.
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