14th of February 2025

Beware of Fraudulent calls from “PayPal”

We are currently seeing increasing numbers of attempted scams involving scam calls from alleged “PayPal employees”. When answering the phone, you are told about “fraudulent” withdrawals from your PayPal account and you are asked to help block these transactions. 

In reality, however, the criminals use remote desktop software to access your devices and try to obtain access to your internet banking, credit card information or ID details. Ultimately, the fraudsters try to buy cryptocurrencies with your money (and in your name). If they succeed, in most cases the money is irretrievably lost.

Learn more about this scam pattern on Watchlist Internet (German)

How you can protect yourself

• Be vigilant and, if in doubt, end the call.
• Never(!) give strangers access to your devices.
• Always check exactly what you are sharing and only share what you have started yourself.
• As explained in our security tips, we never request authorisations for a “cancellation” or “retrieval” of fraudulent transfers.