Scam artists send out many fake PayPal e-mails, so being wary is important. Some of them are pretty clever, but there are a few ways you can tell whether you received a valid PayPal e-mail or someone is trying to scam you:

• A real e-mail from PayPal greets you with your first and last name, or the name of your business (if you have a business account). If you get an e-mail with the greeting "Dear PayPal Member," you know it's a fake.
• PayPal e-mails do not contain attachments. If an e-mail instructs you to download something, or open an attachment, the e-mail isn't really from PayPal.
• PayPal e-mails do not ask you to respond to the e-mail with personal information. If you get an e-mail asking for your PayPal password, Social Security number, checking account information, and so on, you know the e-mail is a fake and it should be reported to PayPal.
• Valid PayPal e-mails instruct you to open a new browser window and type https://www.paypal.com before logging on. This ensures that you're entering your username and password into the real PayPal