Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Phishing Attempt on New Apple Owners
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 by Michelle Hartley
Starting on Christmas day, a phishing scheme began to obtain the
credit card information of new Apple owners. The attack was timed
perfectly by the scammers. The Techland Blog reports that 3.8 million new
IPhones, IPods and IPads were activated on December 25. The scam
email looks like the image below:
The worst part is the email looks authentic and while the URL
looks legitimate, it leads the user to a fraudulent website where
you are prompted to give your credit card information.
But it is not flawless, there are a few give aways that the
email is not legitimate:
- The subject line reads "Apple update your Billing
Information"
- If you hover over the link you can see that it does not lead
back to Apple.com
Be suspicious about any email asking you to update personal or
billing information. Make sure you are using an up to data web
browsers and anti-virus software. If you do receive a hoax
email, flag it in your email software, inform your employer or IT
manager, and delete the email.
Additionally, if you receive an email from a company that you
have given your billing info to in the past, go directly to the
companies site and find a phone number to call where you can find
out definitively if they need your updated billing info or not.
When it comes to your billing information, never feel like you are
being overly cautious.
Check out a previous blog we wrote about
how to recognize phishing attempts and if you are looking into
additional antivirus or anti-spam protection for your business,
feel free to contact us at 773.241.3007.
Until next time -
Michelle Hartley
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
DC IT Support &
Consulting
Outsourced Marketing Services
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