Apple Account Scam

Do you have an iPhone or iPad? These scammers hope so.

Who Is It Targeting: Apple customers

What Is It: A ransomware attempt against Apple

What Are They After: A recent ransomware attempt aimed at tech giant Apple might have some scam repercussions for their customers. A group calling itself the Turkish Crime Family allegedly contacted Apple (and several tech news outlets) and said they had taken control of more than 300 million Apple iCloud accounts. They disseminated screen shots of their supposed control, as well as screenshots of what appeared to be emailed communications with Apple’s security team.

The emails are very, very suspicious in their wording (as in, you’d expect better from anyone authorized to speak on the company’s behalf) and screen shots are very easy to fake. For its part, Apple has stated that it was not hacked and the accounts are safe. However, given the major news headlines associated with a possible hacking, it’s quite likely that scammers will try to take advantage of the situation by sending out “you’ve been hacked” warnings.

How Can You Avoid It:

• Never respond to an email or text telling you to click here and update your account.
• Had it actually been a legitimate data breach, this would be a prime example of why you need to update your passwords routinely.
• As the alleged hackers set a deadline of April 7^th for Apple to pay the ransom or have the accounts wiped out, it can’t hurt to change your password before then.

If you think you may be a victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. Find more information about current scams and alerts here. For full details of this scam check out this article from ZDNet.