Apple scam alert: Phishers looking to hook your Apple ID

Apple users have begun receiving phishing scam emails. Here's what you need to know to avoid becoming a victim.

Apple customers, beware. A new round of phishing attacks have begun landing in Apple users’ inboxes. While all the tell-tale signs of a scam are there, the busy, absent-minded, or otherwise unobservant among us could easy fall victim to this nefarious attempt to snag your Apple ID credentials, and all the financial information that goes along with it.

The e-mail reads:

“Your Apple ID has been temporarily Locked! We detect unauthorized Login Attempts to your Apple ID from other IP Address. Please re-confirm your identity today or your account will be Locked due to concerns we have for the safety and integrity of the Apple Community.”

The e-mail then provides a “Confirm Your Identity” button, which, of course, leads you to a phishing site rife with identity-grabbing malware.

Now, those of us who know Apple better than we know ourselves can easily see that this is a scam. Why? Because Apple would never just randomly capitalize words like “Locked” and “Login Attempts” or “Address.” It wouldn’t use exclamation points. It also wouldn’t send out e-mails to customers with poorly written sentences like, “We detect unauthorized Login Attempts to your Apple ID from other IP Address,” which was clearly crafted by someone with a slippery grip on the English language.

Look further and you’ll see that the “Confirm Your Identity” button leads you to: http://app2.apple.spabythesea.com.au/?/cgi-bin/WebObjects/MyAppleId.woa/. (WARNING: Do not visit that link!) Now, this URL does have a number of similarities with legitimate Apple URLs. But as you can see, this is an Australian domain, with the name “Spa By The Sea” — clearly not an Apple Web property.

So there you have it, folks. If you get an e-mail saying that your Apple ID has been “locked,” don’t click on any of the links, or provide the e-mail’s sender with any of your personal information. If you are still worried you account has actually been locked, simply head over to Apple’s My Apple ID site, where you can login, reset your password, and check that your credentials are safe and sound.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com