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| Photo by: TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay |
Apple warned its customers to report suspicious e-mails after seeing an increase in the frequency of a scam that steals credit card information through a fake App Store notice for YouTube Red, reports Jason Murdock for Newsweek.
The fraudulent email warns recipients that they will be charged US$144.99 a month unless they click a link to terminate the YouTube service.But unsuspecting users who click on the link will be redirected to a phony webpage that asks them to log on to their Apple accounts and provide personal information, including credit card details.
Apple said customers can do two things to verify if the email they have received concerning an App Store or iTunes Store purchase is legitimate.They can search for their billing address, which fraudulent emails will not have.Users can also review their transaction history of their iTunes, Apps Store and Apple Music purchases.Furthermore, Apple said it never asks customers to divulge their social security or credit card numbers, mother’s maiden name or credit card CCV code.
Javvad Malik, a security expert with cybersecurity firm AlienVault said that email scams or phishing is still rampant because users will often fall for it due to error, haste or from fear of being charged unfairly.Malik added that fake emails can be detected by looking for poor grammar and spelling, the sender’s address, and finding out if e-mail is the usual way of communication.He encouraged email users to familiarize themselves with how to detect phishing attacks.
Apple is a frequent target of cybercriminals because of its market reach.In 2016, a British security analyst Graham Cluley reported a credential-stealing scam claiming user’s Apple IDs have expired.In 2017, Felix Krause, an iOS programmer reported that a mobile phishing designed to steal Apple passwords can be created in 15 minutes.
