Bill Is Back—Twice: Apparently My Fake PayPal Account Had a Busy Morning
At this point, I think Bill needs an intervention.
If you've been following my continuing adventures with scam emails, you may remember Bill. Bill is the mysterious person who keeps appearing in these fake invoices and event invitations, supposedly using my PayPal account to buy things I never ordered.
Well, Bill is back.
And this time, he brought friends.
On October 1, I received two more suspicious event invitations. They arrived just one minute apart.
The first came from Ramadhan Riyanto at 9:52 a.m.
The second came from Anne Gomez at 9:53 a.m.
Apparently, scammers believe in efficiency.
First Invitation: $499.99
Ramadhan invited me to:
“Your Order confirmed: INV#445016. Amount:$499.99”
How thoughtful.
According to the invitation, Bill supposedly paid $499.99 for a subscription using my “Pay_Pal” account.
Yes, Pay_Pal.
Maybe PayPal's lesser-known cousin.
And, naturally, if I didn't recognize the purchase, there was a convenient telephone number for the “Resolution Center.”
Convenient for whom is another question.
The invitation even gave me the familiar choices:
Going. Maybe. Can't Go.
I'm going with Can't Go.
I have a scheduling conflict.
I'm busy not losing $499.99.
One Minute Later: Another Party!
Apparently, declining one imaginary purchase wasn't enough.
At 9:53 a.m.—just one minute later—Anne Gomez invited me to another event:
“Geek Squad Order confirmed: INV#445027. Amount:$399.99”
And guess who made the purchase?
BILL!
Bill allegedly spent another $399.99 using my imaginary Pay_Pal account.
So within one minute, Bill supposedly racked up $899.98 in fake charges.
Bill, buddy...
We need to talk about your spending habits.
The Similarities Are Almost Comical
Put these two messages side by side, and the pattern is hard to miss.
Different sender.
Different invoice number.
Different dollar amount.
Different supposed Resolution Center phone number.
But almost everything else follows the same formula.
Both arrived as event invitations.
Both claim Bill used my PayPal account.
Both mention an “unknown seller IP.”
Both provide a telephone number to dispute the transaction.
Both create a sense of urgency around a purchase I supposedly didn't make.
And both contain a warning right there in the email:
“This event invitation was not sent by Meta. Please be cautious when clicking on links or providing personal information.”
At this point, the warning may as well be flashing in neon.
Yesterday It Was Geek Squad. Today It's a Doubleheader.
What makes this even funnier is that these arrived right after another fake Geek Squad invitation I recently wrote about.
That one claimed Bill spent $399.99.
Now Bill supposedly spent another $499.99 and $399.99.
My fictional friend is having quite a shopping spree.
If this keeps up, I'll need to stage a fictional financial intervention.
Why Send Two So Close Together?
I obviously can't know who is behind these messages from the emails alone, and I can't say whether the two invitations were generated by the same person or operation.
But the nearly identical wording and timing are worth noticing.
That's part of why I keep documenting these messages.
One strange email might make someone stop and wonder whether there's really a problem with an account.
When several nearly identical versions appear, the formula becomes much easier to see.
The company name can change.
The amount can change.
The sender can change.
The telephone number can change.
But the basic objective appears to remain the same:
Get me worried enough to respond before I stop and think.
I'm Still Not Calling
If I received a legitimate-looking notice about a PayPal, Geek Squad, bank or credit-card transaction I didn't recognize, I wouldn't use the telephone number supplied in a suspicious email.
I'd go directly to the company's official app or website and check my account independently.
The email doesn't tell me how to verify it.
That's an important distinction.
And I'm definitely not calling a mystery “Resolution Center” because Bill supposedly went shopping again.
Going? Maybe? Can't Go?
I still love that these arrive as event invitations.
Imagine putting these on my calendar:
9:00 a.m. — Lose $399.99
10:00 p.m. — Lose another $499.99
Dress code: Business casual.
Refreshments: None.
Financial regret: Complimentary.
RSVP?
Can't Go.
Keep Sending Me Your Scam Stories
I'll keep documenting these because the more examples we see, the easier it becomes to recognize the patterns.
If you've received a suspicious invoice, fake purchase notification, Facebook event scam, PayPal impersonation, Geek Squad message, or another creative attempt to separate you from your money, send me your story and screenshots at:
Just remove or cover any sensitive personal or financial information before sending it.
As for Bill?
If anyone sees him, please tell him his Pay_Pal privileges have officially been revoked.
