Is this a Scam ? Apple Customer Service ([email protected])

[mydave]

The email said:

Dear Customer,
We recently failed to validate your account information we hold on record for you, therefore we need to ask you to complete a brief validation process in order to verify your account.
Removed Phishing Link
Failure to complete our validation process will result in a suspension of your Apple ID.
We take every step needed to automatically validate our users, unfortunately in this case we were unable to verify your details. The process will only take a couple of minutes and will allow us to maintain our high standard of account security.

Any thought ? comments ?

 

[willerz2]

It's a phishing email. Forward the message to [email protected] to bring this to their attention.

For future reference, hover the over links prior to clicking on them, and on your browser (say Google Chrome) the bottom left hand side of your screen just above the scroll bar (if applicable) will show the header of the link. In this case, it's "usalate". Apple will NEVER use middlemen re-directors or any thing like it. Unless it specifically has the header https://id.apple.com/cgi-bin/, it is 110% not from Apple. It must be HTTPS://, meaning an SSL connection has been established.

Also, the sender of any Apple ID related messages will strictly be from [email protected]. The extension may be different, but if it's from anything other than the above sender, it's a fake with regards to any Apple ID emails. If a non-North American user can double check the sending address for me to verify whether if it's .com universally, that would be great as I'm curious to know as well.

Another tell-tale sign is that they used "Dear Customer" rather than "Dear <First name> <Last Name>". Apple will either have your name on there, a plain Hello, or Thank You depending on the type of message.

In cases of suspension, it's an (almost) universal process to "suspend-first-ask-questions-later". Apple values security over anything (I guess you can debate about money as well), but security is top priority for Apple. If your account is compromised, they'll send you a message saying that your account has been disabled, and that you need to verify it. They'll NEVER threaten you with a suspension prior to suspending it. They either suspend it first, or not at all, so that's another sign.

 

[mydave]

Thanks willerz2,
Just forwarded the mail to apple as instructed. Hope that you/us receive feedbacks from other users, especially fron non North American.

Edit 2/17/2014: Received the same again. Appeared that Apple did not, or has not, do anything about this.

 

[willerz2]

It's a good thing that you brought it up as well, because a lot of accounts are actually hacked through these phishing messages, and the hackers would abuse the account by charging the account, then the hackers/pirates will crack the apps that they bought and just disburse it. Sure Apple can freeze the account, but once the hackers/pirates get the file, it doesn't really matter whether Apple freezes it or not, so it's best to not give them the opportunity to abuse your account and Apple.

 

[dadrehtam]

Definitely a Scam: They claim to be Apple Customer Service ([email protected])

I too received this message and reported it to Apple as a phishing attack. If more of us out there report it, they can shut them down and possibly find them and prosecute them, especially for the members who have been scammed and abused, but we need to do it to prevent our kids and those who are just learning, i.e. more elderly users not as adept at the computer, etc. from this type of abuse.

Willerz2 is on the money with how to check by hovering over the link to check where it is going back to and where it is from.

 

[LaLaChaCha]

DO NOT CLICK IT!! Definetly scam n fishing!

 

[Good karma]

luckily i did not get such an email but if i do i know what to look out for and what to do

 

[Yptcn]

I've gotten quite a few over the years and forward them to 

 

[Huliowaynio]

I had an email from EDITED informing me that my apple account had been suspending, unfortunately I hadnot validated my new payment details so my account was actually locked. So I didn't think anything of it and followed the link as I did need to unlock my Apple ID. I only got suspicious when it asked me for my credit card details.

What made it seem genuine was that I had a list of all of my devices, if this is a scam how did it know all my apple devices and the serial numbers. I can even find that info in my own iTunes/iCloud account.

I did forward all the details on to Apple

 

[scifan57]

I had an email from EDITED informing me that my apple account had been suspending, unfortunately I hadnot validated my new payment details so my account was actually locked. So I didn't think anything of it and followed the link as I did need to unlock my Apple ID. I only got suspicious when it asked me for my credit card details.

What made it seem genuine was that I had a list of all of my devices, if this is a scam how did it know all my apple devices and the serial numbers. I can even find that info in my own iTunes/iCloud account.

I did forward all the details on to Apple

That site is definitely a scam. It's designed to steal as much personal info from you as possible. This is what's known as a phishing attack.

I hope you didn't give any details to the scammers.
Is this where you sent the details to Apple? [email protected] This is the correct email address to use when reporting phishing emails to Apple.
BTW, I've deleted the scam link so nobody else can click on it.

 

[Huliowaynio]

That site is definitely a scam. It's designed to steal as much personal info from you as possible. This is what's known as a phishing attack.

I hope you didn't give any details to the scammers.
Is this where you sent the details to Apple? [email protected] This is the correct email address to use when reporting phishing emails to Apple.
BTW, I've deleted the scam link so nobody else can click on it.

Thank you,

I did unfortunately use my Apple ID and password to login but didn't put my card details in, as soon as it asked me for them I closed the link and updated my Apple ID password within secs. How did it have my device details though?

 

[twerppoet]

Depending on how much detail they had, it may have been as simple as your browser ID type. Each time you visit a website it can request a browser ID, which in the case of Apple devices can be correlated to an iMac (desktop Safari), iPhone, or iPad (Mobile Safari with modifiers).

If that is all they had, then it's understandable. If they had more, like the exact model of your devices then maybe they scoured other sites or forums where you've mentioned them, though more work than a typical phishing scam is likely to go to for one individual. If they had actual serial numbers that suggests a real breach of security somewhere; assuming you've never had reason to post those to a website or forum.

 

[Huliowaynio]

Depending on how much detail they had, it may have been as simple as your browser ID type. Each time you visit a website it can request a browser ID, which in the case of Apple devices can be correlated to an iMac (desktop Safari), iPhone, or iPad (Mobile Safari with modifiers).

If that is all they had, then it's understandable. If they had more, like the exact model of your devices then maybe they scoured other sites or forums where you've mentioned them, though more work than a typical phishing scam is likely to go to for one individual. If they had actual serial numbers that suggests a real breach of security somewhere; assuming you've never had reason to post those to a website or forum.

After doing some digging I now think that when I used my Apple ID they accessed my support profile page, possibly mirroring it somehow, this obviously then made me think the email was genuine up until the point where it asked for my card details to be confirmed.

I'm normally really sceptical and suspicious but the scammers are getting more devious and, had I not really been locked out my suspicions would have be raised sooner.

Cheers

 

[twerppoet]

That would make sense.

Apple and other legitimate companies will never ask your for you user ID and password in an email. The most they might do is link you to an informational page.

Anyway, even when you are reasonably sure that an email is legitimate, the safe thing to do is to go to the site independently, without using any links from the email. Any warnings, notification, or issues you are emailed about should be accessible that way too.

Thank you for sharing your experience. We can all use a reminder that the bad guys are out there, and that no device you use is proof against being tricked.