Apple IDs are the primary target, says security authority Sophos

Dec 1, 2011 19:31 GMT  ·  By

Sophos’ Graham Cluley is sounding the alarm on a new phishing scam targeting Apple ID holders. The emails, purporting to be from Apple’s support team, can be blocked as spam by the security vendor’s anti-malware products.

Senior Technology Consultant at Sophos, Graham Cluley points your attention to the following email which, at first glance, might appear to come legitimately from Apple.

Dear Customer,

It has come to our attention that your account Billing Information records are out of date. That requires you to update your Billing Information. Failure to update your records will result in account termination.

Click on the reference link below and enter your login information on the following page to confirm your Billing Information records...

Click on [LINK] to confirm your Billing Information records.

Thanks, Apple Customer Support

However, it does not come from Apple, and it’s certainly not what you would call a legitimate email.

Cluley says that if you hover your mouse over the link in question (as shown in this second screnshot to the left), “you will see that the email is attempting to take you to a German website, rather than the legitimate Apple Store.”

“In this particular case, the webpage you are taken to is now suspended - but future messages could easily take you to a fake Apple Store login page,” warns Cluley.

His research indicates that such emails are widespread, and it’s not only Apple ID holders who are receiving them. Still, Apple Store customers do appear to be the primary target.

Cluley remarks that the cybercriminals seem to be taking “a shotgun approach”. He explains that their goal here is to have a big number of recipients with Apple IDs falling into the trap.

“Always take care over unsolicited emails, and be cautious of the links you click on,” the security researcher says.

According to Cluley, if you have the company’s anti malware solutions installed, this type of phishing email will go straight to your Spam folder.

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Phishing scam disguised as Apple email
Phishing scam disguised as Apple email
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