Fraudsters impersonate PayPal more than any other payment service, according to new figures - accounting for nearly 38 per cent of all financial frauds. The figure comes from researchers at VPN Atlas, who analysed attacks carried out last year. One of the most common PayPal scams claims that your account has been locked (see screenshot) for reasons that include your billing information not matching what the card issuer holds. Credit-card companies take the next three slots: Mastercard (12.2 per cent), American Express (10 per cent) and Visa (9.4 per cent). Smaller payment services including Square and Alipay make up the rest. The research also found Apple's store is the most impersonated online retailer, making up nearly half (47.78 per cent) of all "e-shop" scams, far ahead of Amazon (21.48 per cent) and eBay (5.32 per cent). What's key to note here is the global reach of the brands. While you should always be aware of UK-specific scams (mimicking the NHS, British banks and Royal Mail, for example), fraudsters will always prioritise companies with worldwide recognition to maximise their chance of success.
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