Got a weird scam email through, so obviously fake/dodgy but I figured id post the info anyway in case it catches someone else off guard.
Hasnt come from an official PayPal email, the entire content is in an image attachment – so its clearly not legit.
Usual crap, ive been billed for an iPhone, and I need to call them to cancel. I wont call them as its a waste of time, but generally speaking they will ask me if I want to cancel, they assume I will say yes (when ive called in the past, I usually say no actually. That confuses them so much) and then they will take me down some process where I have to give them my PayPal details or access to my bank.
These are always 100% scams, PayPal will never contact you like this.
Online scams constantly evolve and thanks to AI its now getting harder and harder to spot what is legit and what isn’t. That said, there is still a real-world danger from simple email scams – as they seem to be evolving too, and are also getting more and more daring/sneaky
The email from/to info;
From: Invoice quickbooks@notification.intuit.com Sent: 10 September 2025 10:40 To: cubismbuildup@gmail.com Subject: Here is your Invoice #MOSA-876543 for account
Reply-to address is the same as the To: address here.
The “Print or Save” buttons actually seem to go to Quickbooks, so this scam seems to actually use the Quickbooks system and payment methods to actually rob money off people.
Crazy!
The domain name listed next to the email address doesn’t resolve to anything, and the link to Quickbooks has been disabled but the fact they are scamming via a legit accounts package is insane.
We really have to stay on our toes, as these scammers are getting more and more sneaky and will do anything they can to steal your hard earned money.
A few FAQs below to help you if you have found this post and are unsure what to do.
I got an email from Quickbooks with an invoice, I dont recognise it, what should I do?
Dont pay anything, contact the company listed and ask them what the invoice is for. Ask them to send you confirmation of the services you have with them. If in doubt, contact me!
Is Quickbooks a scam?
No, absolutely not. Quickbooks is a legitimate online accounting package.
As per the title, I am creating a new app to help small shops & businesses on high streets and in town centres of the UK. I have worked with small businesses for over 20 years now, and the same hurdles come up time and time again.
Cost of websites
Cost of ongoing marketing
Difficulty competing with big players
Public reluctance to visit town centres & high streets
And more….
And as a small business owner myself, I can fully empathise with this. Its so hard to stand out, be found and be chosen over and above the likes of Amazon or other similar platforms.
Why are the high streets and town centres failing?
Well, in my personal opinion, people aren’t avoiding high streets and town centres because they dont want to visit them – there are genuine roadblocks in place that are making people choose online purchasing over in-person shopping, such as;
Parking costs
Uncertainty of stock
Uncertainty of price
And more….
Additionally, after working with a few town centre authorities and BID’s around the UK, there are other things like high business rates and rents, BID Levies etc causing people to close shops and set up online stores instead.
Is there any hope?
Yes, I believe there is. Due to various reasons, for example the rise of the dropshipper – a lot of the current platforms we buy from are littered with rebranded crap that makes it hard to know what is actually going to be a good product.
For example, I was looking for ceiling fans the other day and searched on Amazon;
Not a single known brand name and in fact some of them look like someone just mashed a keyboard when they were thinking of a brand name.
I mean, Seyxicnor? How do you even say that?
And this is not something I have simply observed myself,
A lot of the posts are old too, so this has been brewing for a while. And if you look into it further, the same can be said for a lot of online retailers now. Even ebuyer, the once famous no1 source for computer stuff – doesn’t even sell desktop computers anymore, and what they do sell can be found on every single other marketplace or online store selling electronic equipment.
I think its safe to say peoples love of the current platforms is waning, and its time to do it all a bit differently!
Can the high streets and town centres really be saved?
I honestly think they can. My solution is focused on driving sales to small shops and businesses that have a bricks and mortar presence.
We will not accept “online only” sellers.
During the startup phase and until we have a degree of national coverage, we won’t be allowing large retailers to sign up.
And there is a lot of news and info coming out about how the younger generations are starting to venture out in the real world to do some of their shopping once again;
So there has never been a better time to produce a solution to bring the antiquated high streets and town centers of the UK, into the modern day era of convenience and technology.
So what is my app to help small shops?
You’re gonna have to wait and find out…. 🙂
If you are a shop or business owner local to me, then please get in touch as I would love to get you onboard as a totally free trial.
Oh yeah, its gonna be totally free for everyone, always.
An associate of mine messaged me, warning me of an email doing the rounds that was claiming to be from OpenAI and was relating to ChatGPT plus subscription renewals.
So lets go down the email and look at the obvious red flags;
Sender email – if this was a legitimate email from OpenAI it would normally have an OpenAI sender address.
Look out for punctuation and capital letters – If OpenAI were going to send an email like this, the mentions of ChatGPT would be written as such, they wouldn’t be written like this: chatGPT. This may seem like a small thing, but brands are usually quite strict when it comes to their brand name or their product names so this kind of mistake can often mean the email hasn’t come from them. Look in the footer of the email too, they wrote Openai – and this would never be formatted like this on legitimate emails from the company.
The button – (WARNING: do not click buttons to test – let me do that!) The button links to;
The link is complicated but it essentially takes the user to sanjaybapu.com/shinkar/ which seems to just be a black screen;
I assume this would have originally been a clone of the OpenAI website and load initially in some kind of user account section or a screen stating it was for a ChatGPT Plus Subscription Renewal and they would have taken some info and payment details and then probably sold your card info and/or your identity on the dark web.
NB: To check a link without clicking on it, hover over the link or button and in the bottom right hand wide of your browser window it should show yo where the button or link points.
Thankfully the Phishing website is now down, so no one can be scammed from these particular emails, but they have probably already made a new website and updated the button on future emails.
So, if you get an email from “OpenAI” about any kind of renewal, check the above things carefully (or forward to me if you are unsure) and if you smell a rat, then double check by logging into your OpenAI account by visiting their website and if its legit the renewal should appear in there too.
