People use PayPal to accept credit cards for your online business of collection. People received an email that your PayPal account will expire in a few days if you did not click a link in the email and give them your PayPal account information. I received this email, unfortunate for them, as of this writing, I do not use paypal, its doesn't support Nigeria.

The scammers targeted at over 35 million merchants and individuals who use http://paypal.com as their online payment processor.

The email you received was not from PayPal, but from an Internet bad guy behind a forged email address with the domain http://paypal.com. You must understand that no company in reputable online will never ask you to provide your account information. Think about it. They already have this information. Why are asked to provide it.

The first email is to instill fear in you saying that your PayPal account will be closed if no personal information. Then he went to open an attached executable file and enter information from your PayPal account and other personal information that PayPal does not even require, including your social security number, control and savings account information, driver's license number and other personal information that can be used to clean your PayPal account or even steal your identity.

If you are not familiar with PayPal, a highly successful web-based company (purchased by eBay in 2002) that many online retailers and eBay sellers use to accept electronic payments for everything from newsletter subscriptions consulting services for almost any product for sale on eBay.

The allure of PayPal is that it requires that the seller has a commercial bank account through which to process credit cards. Anyone with a verifiable email address and bank account can use PayPal and the service can be implemented almost immediately after registering. When someone places an order on a website that uses PayPal for online payments, which the customer is directed to http://paypal.com to complete the payment process by credit card or electronic check. The merchant can transfer the money in your PayPal account to your checking account at any time you want. Since many larger merchants make this transfer once a week or so, their PayPal accounts are ripe for the harvest of those who have the cunning and the lack of ethics required for access.

Cutting the number of PayPal customers is one reason that has become a popular target of scammers trying to steal personal information from individuals and businesses. Identity theft is increasing. Thanks to the identity of the person stealing internet has never been easier. At one point, there are any number of Internet thieves using all kinds of high-tech wizardry to steal personal information and business of innocent souls, and often you can access this information simply by asking the person to provide through fraudulent means.

The PayPal scam is just the latest in a long line of sophisticated attempts to steal personal information through online means, Amazon, eBay, Dell Computer, and many others have been most affected by many scams in recent years.

Identity theft is what is known as a "crime of knowledge," which means that the criminal does not have to enter your home to rob him blind. If you have a bank account and social security numbers, which are susceptible to identity theft.

Although most people are familiar with identity theft, never the most business men and women think in what happens, at least professionally. Consider the following: if a criminal can learn your business checking account number or the number of your credit card company can steal much of their business as if they had simply removed the door and took his desk.

Internet aside, most business and personal identity theft is still the result of stolen wallets and dumpster diving. You should keep your business records closely and be very careful what you throw. Stop and think for a moment what a criminal might find in the dumpster behind his office.

There is a good chance that dumpster has, at various times, contained scraps of paper with your social security number, driver's license number, credit card, ATM's old cards, phone cards, and other vital pieces of information the business such as bank statements, invoices and purchase orders. A dumpster diving thief could literally rob your business blind in a matter of hours.

Here are some ways to protect business and personal identity theft.

· Never give out your name, company name, email address, account passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, PIN number, social security number or driver's license number.

· Change your password online account every 30 days. Believe it or not, a hacker who steals your personal information can guess passwords from your account online in about two minutes. If your Charles Schwab account password online is your birthday or the name of your first child or family pet, having a hacker cracks the code before you can say "Bill Gates".

· Never provide personal information in response to a phone call or email. Just because someone calls and says they are from Dunn & Bradstreet and the need to confirm the information on your company does not mean they are really Dunn & Bradstreet.

• Never give your credit card company by phone to place an order with someone who has called you unsolicited. If you are interested in what they are selling get their number, check out your business, call back to ordering.

If you think you are a victim of identity theft or think someone is trying to steal your identity or personal information that you should report immediately to the Federal Trade Commission. You can find more information on its website http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/. For more information on what to do if identity theft happens to you visit http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.

Therefore, if you ever receive an email from PayPal, Amazon, eBay or other e-commerce site asking you to update your account information e-mail that can pretty much bet the farm that is a scam.

Here's to your success.