PayPal & Phishing Email

Recently, I received 2 emails, titled "Security issues - You are required to upgrade Your PayPal Account". I forwarded a copy of the email to PayPay and they just wrote back to inform me that such emails are "phishing emails" and the security team is working to disable it. Wonder how my email address got hacked in the first place?

What is a phishing email?Phishing emails attempt to steal your identity and will often ask you to reveal your password or other personal or financial information.

What made me suspicious of the email:
1. First of all, thanks to Google's efficiency to detect such fraud. Once Gmail system detects such fraudulent mails, it will display a warning message in red at the top of the mail which reads "Warning : This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information"

2. Secondly, Gmail dumped this email in my spam folder, Although it's in my spam folder, I do peruse it quickly before deleting, hence I came across the phishing email.

3. Thirdly, the email did not address me by name (read from PayPal's website).

If you have PayPal account, do read the FAQ about Spam, and be on the alert for phishing emails.