According to a renowned security researcher, the latest scam targeting Apple device users is particularly insidious, as it appears to originate from the company’s actual phone support number.
Brian Krebs explained on Friday that those affected are receiving a message from a robot dialer claiming their online ID has been compromised. Similar to AppleCare, the iOS Phone app identifies the caller as “Apple Inc.” and the number as 1-800-MY-APPLE. Those who have recently interacted with the genuine AppleCare will see fraudulent calls listed under the same history.
CEO of Global Cyber Risk, Jody Westby, was one of the individuals targeted by the scam. When Westby dialed the “1-866” number mentioned in the message, he was initially greeted by an automated system and then by a real person who placed him on hold before disconnecting.
Westby had previously spoken with an AppleCare representative, who confirmed that the initial call was a hoax.
Krebs suggests that, as in the majority of phishing incidents, scammers are likely luring victims into divulging personal information or obtaining direct payment for bogus services. Even though blocking the robodialer is not an option for Apple support customers, the scam should be easy to spot, given that Apple does not cold-call its support customers and that the reply number in the message is not associated with the company.
