Imagine...imagine receiving an email telling you that you've nearly reached your credit limit with Paypal, a facility that you may use once in a blue moon. A bit of investigation revealed that without attaching current account or savings account details to the payment system being used, you could not lift the low limit that exists.

The email was good, it even addressed me as Paypal says it does with its patrons. The section tabs were all there and further information on what the request meant. There was one thing missing and that was the trusted site logo which usually sits at the end of contact mail.

After a short fizz, I took stock of my position. There was nothing wrong with my payment method, no limitations other than those I agreed to.

What frustrated me even more, was the difficulty getting into the security section and into my personal profile on the Paypal site. I tried many times. After using different browser windows and different browsers, I got there eventually, and sent the email to the 'spoof' department for them to examine.

The reply this morning confirmed it was a phishing email and that Paypal were working to disable it. This sort of problem generates paranoia, and I am now wondering

A). If the email I got last night checking if it was me changing my password is genuine? And;

b).Is the confirmation email I got from the security department today, bug free?

Hubby got a different and more obvious phishing Paypal email last night, as well. There is likely to be an avalanche of them, so be careful!