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Phony Calls: watch out for latest Apple phishing scam

Phone scams have been around for a long time, and hopefully by now most of you are reasonably adept at spotting them. That said, every now and again a particularly believable trick does the rounds and we feel the need to warn you about it. Now is one of those times.

The latest trick on the block involves an automated call that purports to come from Apple. The call claims that Apple’s servers have been compromised and the user’s Apple ID account is at risk. The solution, of course, is to call the scammers back on a given number and divulge your login details. A classic phishing attack.

What makes this a particularly potent scam is that the call shows up in the Phone app as if it had genuinely come from Apple. The contact image, name, address, and support number all correspond to Apple’s real details. This makes for a pretty convincing impression that the call is legitimate. Surprisingly, even genuine calls from Apple’s real support team get lumped in with this fake correspondence in your call history.

This story was revealed by KrebsonSecurity, who offer the following sage advice on scam calls:

“Phone phishing usually invokes an element of urgency in a bid to get people to let their guard down. If a call has you worried that there might be something wrong and you wish to call them back, don’t call the number offered to you by the caller. If you want to reach your bank, for example, call the number on the back of your card. If it’s another company you do business with, go to the company’s Web site and look up their main customer support number.”

Of course, this is far from the first time a group of scammers has tried to imitate Apple in order to draw out personal information from unsuspecting users. Make sure to read our report on a similar email-based scam from last Summer to ensure you aren’t tricked by that, either.