Watch out for Apple Phone Phishing Scams
Security researcher Brian Krebs on his Krebs on Security blog recently outlined one of the latest phishing scams he’s seen, where an incoming phone call appears to be from a legitimate Apple support line. I’m writing about this to make you aware so that you don’t fall for the scam. Please take the time to read the blog post so that you know how the scam works.
Brian Krebs, writing for Krebs on Security Apple Phone Phishing Scams Getting Better — Krebs on Security
A new phone-based phishing scam that spoofs Apple Inc. is likely to fool quite a few people. It starts with an automated call that display’s Apple’s logo, address and real phone number, warning about a data breach at the company. The scary part is that if the recipient is an iPhone user who then requests a call back from Apple’s legitimate customer support Web page, the fake call gets indexed in the iPhone’s “recent calls” list as a previous call from the legitimate Apple Support line.
Jody Westby is the CEO of Global Cyber Risk LLC, a security consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Westby said earlier today she received an automated call on her iPhone warning that multiple servers containing Apple user IDs had been compromised (the same scammers had called her at 4:34 p.m. the day before, but she didn’t answer that call). The message said she needed to call a 1-866 number before doing anything else with her phone.
Apple support also offers a document on how to Avoid phishing emails, fake ‘virus’ alerts, phony support calls, and other scams – Apple Support