Money transfer service PayPal has reacted after a woman in Wiltshire lost £1,500 when she was targeted by online scammers. The statement, which was published on the company’s website, said:

“Like many other online banks, shops and services, PayPal can be targeted by criminals who use fraudulent emails to deceive users. We go to great lengths to protect the 18 million active PayPal accounts in the UK, but there are also a few simple precautions we should all take online.”

PayPal went on to provide advice for anyone looking to reduce the risk of falling victim to similar crimes, stating that details should only be given to genuine, secure pages of its site and that spelling mistakes were a tell-tale sign when it comes to fraudulent emails.

As well as advising its users on how to avoid criminal activity on the Internet, the statement emphasises the importance of correct grammar and accurate information.

Services like PayPal, as with any business, rely on the trust of their customers in order to operate. Basic spelling errors can, however, be the difference between a customer paying for the product and looking elsewhere.

As well as causing confidence issues among potential consumers, inaccurate information being published online can cause money to be lost a little more directly.

Recently, Kingston University in London was forced to reduce fees for a specific course after prospective students were given incorrect quotes when they initially signed up. One student claimed they had been sold the course with the £7,100 fee covering both years of study. This was revealed to be a mistake when students were sent paperwork in December that asked for £3,000 a term.

For an establishment that relies on the exchanging of accurate information amongst its staff and students, such an error can seriously damage a good reputation. For businesses, errors like this should act as examples of why it is so important to get things right first time. One way in which many companies manage to avoid such embarrassment is by enlisting the help of professional copywriting services.

John Murray

John is every inch the wordsmith and loves a game of Scrabble above all else. With experience writing for newspapers, John’s time at university was spent studying Creative Writing – something which comes across in his love of the pun.