New Scam Alert: Real PayPal Bill pay request for a fake bill

The consumer version of a false invoice scam

Got a funny email today.

Looked like a scam or phishing email. I checked and it is actually from PayPal (which is easy to spoof so still didn’t trust it).

I opened a new window and logged into PayPal (NEVER click a link in a suspicious email. Always directly go to the URL yourself if you are worried) and found that yes indeed I did have a bill from Marisa James.

Of course, this is just a new consumer version of a false invoice scam. I never ordered anything from Marisa James (who is fake) but the scammer sends out hundreds of these hoping that someone will find it, and just pay the bill request because it ‘came from PayPal’.

Here is the US gov page about fake invoice scams and how to report.

Fake Invoice Scams - Avoiding & Reporting| USPIS