Preventing Scams on P2P Networks

[dglick5]

Hi there.

I am writing regarding the latest issue's article regarding P2P payment systems such as PayPal etc, and the dangers that they pose to unsuspecting people. Lately I personally have been getting money requests from PayPal at my actual email address.

This is a very dangerous thing because the money requests are real even though the purpose is a scam (they come from a scam email address). Perhaps AARP could advocate to PayPal for us senior citizens to instill a policy that does not allow money requests except through verified contacts (in other words, you have to be a verified contact with the other person and they have to accept you as a verified contact, BEFORE a money request can be sent)

This would in fact prevent these from becoming a real problem for people. The contact request email would also need to have a warning in it NOT to accept contact requests from unknown individuals. Just a thought from a long-time IT and security support individual. 

For all readers, please beware of this issue and never send money to someone that you don't know or don't expect to send money to.