Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which download malware or trick you into providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new.   They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work.

Recently there has been a flood of Apple phishing emails where the subject line reads “Your Apple Account Information Has Been Updated” which is certainly an attention grabber for an Apple customer who has not done so.  The email looks like a legitimate email from Apple and it informs you that your account has been used to purchase a new iPhone and provides a customer service phone number for you to call to cancel the purchase.  If you call the number provided in the email a scammer posing as an Apple customer service representative will answer immediately who will ask you to confirm your account number and provide other personal information under the guise of needing to confirm your identity.   The truth is that scammers want your Apple ID because it can give them access to your iCloud account, Apple Pay and stored credit cards and other services of Apple.

TIPS

Obviously if you do not have an account with Apple you know that this is a phishing scam, but even if you do have an account with Apple, as I indicated above there are many indications that this is not a legitimate email from Apple, but instead is a phishing email. In the past, these types of phishing emails would not use your name in the email, but as a result of harvesting information from data breaches and using AI, many of these phishing emails will be directed to you by name.  They will not, however, provide your account number in the email.  Legitimate emails from Apple will refer not only to your name, but refer to the AppleID email address not an account number.

If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely contact Apple customer service where you can confirm that it is a scam.  Here is a link to Apple customer service.  https://getsupport.apple.com/topics

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