This filter compares the email service provider used by the customer against a list of high-risk email service providers managed by PayPal.
Fraudsters most often use free services at which they do not need to provide traceable billing information. (Free services are also popular among legitimate shoppers—because they are free.) It is therefore a good practice to check whether the billing name appears in some form in the email address. For example, Tina Johnson should have an email address of TinaCJohnson@hotmail.com or Johnson42@hotmail.com, or some similar variant. Such an email address is less suspicious than abc123@hotmail.com.
The specified action is taken whenever the email service provider is found in the PayPal risk list.
To learn more about PayPal's Risk List, refer to About Risk List Filters.
Online merchants rarely talk to their customers. The customer’s email address is a critical communications channel between the merchant and customer. For example, email is often used to confirm a purchase and to notify the customer that shipment has been made.
It is therefore important for merchants to determine how reliably the email address is tied to the identity of the customer. Some email service providers make it especially easy to open and close email accounts without ever providing personal information, enabling fraudsters to use false identities to cover their tracks.
You should examine any transaction in which a high-risk email service provider is involved.