Ios Phishing Scam Exploiting the iCloud Email Addresses

It looks like the scammers are specifically targeting the Apple users. Soon after the previous issue (within a month), we came to know about another huge campaign that has targeted the users of iPhone. However this time, the campaign is neither region specific nor it is a malware campaign. In fact, it is a huge iOS phishing scam, exploiting the iCloud email addresses in order to bluff the users of iPhone.

iCloud users are targeted in the recent phishing scam. Ars Technica reports that, it begins when a phishing email is delivered to an account in iCloud. The text in the phishing emails looks similar to the legit emails of Apple. The email gives a warning to the recipients that their active Apple device is "locked for illegal activity." Thus, the users get confused, and as a result click on the link that has appeared. This further leads the users to fake websites providing Apple Support. Soon after, the fake website prompts the targeted iCloud user to make an immediate call to "Apple Care" for resolving the problem. However, as the call made is to fake Apple Support, so it does not reaches an Apple employeer.

The person who attends the call convinces the caller that the sole way of unlocking the iOS device of caller is by installing malicious device-management services. This further lets scammers to push the compromised apps into the caller's iPad and iPhone.

PC and Mac users are long being targeted by the Tech support scams. But since, many of us have switched to the mobile devices for web browsing; the scammers are looking for new methods to gain advantage out of that situation. This scam of Apple Care is latest in India.

The fake scam of Apple Care is still very much active. Though, the websites that are being used for the scam are still active, however the browsers like Chrome and Safari now identify these websites as deceptive. This means that the person will get a warning as soon as they get redirected to any of these websites. But to be on a safer side, one should always double-check whether the emails or the contact number they are receiving are genuine before they click on any of the links. Also, always remember that Apple will never lock any device for any kind of illegal activity.

» SPAMfighter News - 8/10/2018