Phishing scams are nothing new. For years, fake websites, emails, text messages, and phone calls have been trying to trick us in a bid to steal valuable personal information like credit card details or login credentials. Just because these types of scam are old, however, does not mean that they’re not still dangerous. We always need to be on our toes when clicking on links and handing over our details.
How to detect scam emails
A basic scam targeting Netflix users has recently grabbed the attention of the FTC even though it comes in the form of a simple email. The more convincing the scam though, the more likely it is to trip us up. This means we have to put a warning out about what is possibly the most sophisticated phishing attack we’ve seen so far.
Scammers are calling iPhone users from a number that appears to be Apple Support
The trick for phishing scams is to persuade users they are dealing with an official communication from a company, which usually translates into fake emails or websites adorned with official-looking logos and literature. This one, however, is in a whole different league. This latest phishing scam is calling Apple users from what appears to be a genuine Apple number and raising the standard security alert that requires the victim to hand over their security credentials.
If you’re thinking this is just another spam phone call, hold your horses. The reason why this scam stands out is that the call really does look like it is coming from Apple Support. When one iPhone user raised the issue with Apple, they noticed something rather chilling when Apple called them back to discuss it. Obviously, Apple told them it was a scam, but when they looked at their call log after they’d completed the call, the scam call and the official call had been grouped together as calls from the same contact, Apple Inc.
This new scam was first highlighted by security specialist Brian Krebs . Krebs noted that although it is disappointing that the iPhone can’t differentiate between a real call from Apple and a scam call, it isn’t too surprising. Scammers are constantly trying to come up with new ways to get past our defenses by making us lower our guard.
Although this trick is more sophisticated than other phishing scams we’ve seen, the trick to defeating it is still the same. As with the scam emails, you need to be aware when things are out of the ordinary. In this case, the call itself should raise eyebrows as Apple never contacts users by phone to raise issues their account, it is always done by email.
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Any time anybody contacts you by any medium and asks for your details, make sure you are absolutely sure of the legitimacy of the request before you hand your details over. If you are not 100% sure you should contact the company requesting your details yourself, using the contact details shown on their official website.