“We perform security checks on our customers' credit card orders,” Apple said

May 13, 2013 11:48 GMT  ·  By

A concerned mother contacted the police after receiving a suspicious email claiming to be from Apple. After handing over her bank statements, she realized it was Apple who was asking for various personal documents.

In what can only be described as an overly-protective initiative on behalf of Apple, the company reportedly asked an iPad buyer to hand over copies of her driving license, passport, and bank statements, in order to verify her identity.

“We perform security checks on our customers' credit card orders due to the fact that the cardholder is not present to sign for transactions,” Apple’s email read, according to TheRegister.

“The Apple Online Store's Terms and Conditions state that Apple reserves the right to verify the identity of the genuine credit card holder by requesting appropriate documentation,” the email sent by Apple read.

“Please note these checks are a security measure designed to protect your information,” the company added.

The customer, a mother who was buying an iPad for her son online, became paranoid after handing over the aforementioned information to Apple.

She reportedly contacted the police regarding the matter, and they told her that it was most likely a fraud.

Apple then confirmed to the woman that their email was legitimate, and that it was in fact a genuine identity check.

“Apple told me they carry out spot checks for security reasons. But I don't think any private company should have the right to ask you to send over such personal documents by email,” the customer said.

“I'm so angry. After sending that information, I thought I had been hacked and spent days worrying. The police told me I had definitely been phished, whilst my bank told me they had never heard of private companies asking for this information.”

“Then I found it was genuine, because Apple had the cheek to ask for a colour scan of my passport. I'm shocked by what they've done,” she added.