Dear customer, we noticed unusual activity and your account has been suspended. To restore access you must verify your password and card details within 24 hours at https://paypa1-secure-login.com/verify. Failure to do so will result in permanent closure.
How it works
- An email or text claims to be from a bank, a payment service, a tech company or a social platform. It warns of a problem, a suspended account, a policy violation or a refund.
- The link leads to a page that is a near-perfect copy of the real sign-in page, on a different address.
- You type your password, and often a one-time code. The page passes them to the criminal in real time.
- They log in as you, change the recovery details and lock you out.
The tells
- A generic greeting, a deadline, and a threat to close or fine you.
- The address isn’t the real company’s. Read it from the left to the first single slash.
- Misspellings that swap characters:
paypa1,arnazon, or an extra word likesecure-login. - A request to enter a code your phone just received.
- A “lock” icon in the browser. It only means the connection is encrypted, not that the site is honest.
What to do
- Don’t sign in through the message. Open the company’s app, or type its address yourself, and look for notices there.
- Paste the message into SI Check. It will measure the address and say what it found.
- If you entered your password: change it at once on the real site, and anywhere you reused it. Turn on two-step verification with an app or a security key.
- If you entered card details: call your card provider.
- Report it to the company, which usually has a “report phishing” address, and forward scam texts to 7726.
Where to report it
Anywhere in the world
- Your bank or card provider. First, if money or card details are involved. Use the number on your card.
- The platform where it happened. Use its “Report” button: the marketplace, the messaging app, the social network.
- Your local police. If you’ve lost money, and for a reference number your bank may ask for.
- Your national fraud or consumer-protection agency. Search for it by country; use a government address (.gov or the equivalent).
United States
- Report to the FTC — The Federal Trade Commission’s fraud reporting site.
- Report internet-enabled crime to the FBI (IC3) — File even if you’re unsure it qualifies. IC3 will never contact you to ask for money.
- Forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM) — Free with most carriers.
Links last checked 2026-10-12.
United Kingdom
- Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk — Handled by the National Cyber Security Centre.
- Forward suspicious texts to 7726 — Free. Your mobile provider receives the report.
- Report Fraud (England and Wales) — If you’ve lost money or been hacked. Phone 0300 123 2040.
Links last checked 2026-10-12.
Canada
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre — Use its “Report fraud” page.
- Forward scam texts to 7726 — Free with most carriers.
Links last checked 2026-10-12.
Australia
- Scamwatch — Run by the national consumer regulator.
Links last checked 2026-10-12.