[OT] advice as to whether this is a scam?

[Richard Gaskin]

Richmond wrote:
> Dear Liovecode users, I need a spot of advice re the following e-mail I
> just recieved:
>
> "Dear PayPal member, Your account has been temporarily limited. Please
> download the form and follow the instructions on your screen. NOTE: The
> form needs to be opened in a modern browser which has javascript enabled
> (ex: Internet Explorer, Firefox ,Netscape) Submitting this form you will
> unlimit and restore your PayPal account . If you are using Internet
> Explorer please allow ActiveX for scripts to perform all data transfers
> securely . Thank You. Thanks for using PayPal ."
>
> Why, Oh Why, does that make me feel uneasy?
>
> Should I or shouldn't I?
>
> Please advise.

Definitely a scam.

When in doubt you can forward any questionable email that claims to be 
from PayPal to an address that PayPal maintains to collect and advise on 
such things:

spoof at paypal.com

In most cases (every time so far for me) you'll get an email confirming 
that it's a scam.

I very much appreciate that PayPal takes this proactive approach to spoofs.

PayPal rarely sends emails, so most you'll see that appear to come from 
them are scams, esp. those with some sort of claim that your account is 
"limited".

Moreover, nothing at PayPal requires any platform-specific components 
like ActiveX.

Until Microsoft throws their IE engine into the trash where it belongs 
and adopts WebKit instead (yeah, right, that'll happen when they replace 
their kernel with a more sensible Unix derivative; i.e., "not anytime 
soon"), ActiveX remains one of the most serious security vulnerabilities 
affecting a majority of computing users and should always be as 
restricted as possible.

Any developer making public web sites which require ActiveX should be 
replaced with someone possessing better professional judgment.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
  LiveCode Journal blog: http://LiveCodejournal.com/blog.irv