14 DAY TRIAL // People who receive text messages from an unknown number soliciting their cooperation in beta testing the next Apple iPhone are advised to steer clear of this scam. Moreover, those who feel motivated enough to point a finger at the bad guys can report the spam to Apple and at www.donotcall.gov.
An Apple forum poster says he received an unsolicited text earlier this month that said “Apple needs iPhone5 testers:The first 1000 users who visit http://celltestnkeep.com and enter code 1000 will get to test & keep the new iPhone5.”
Needless to point out, Apple will almost never confirm its next iPhone this way, not to mention give away free units in such a crummy-looking campaign.
“I already contacted my provider (AT&T) and they said to inform Apple. I found other customers experiencing this as well while doing a search on the internet,” the user wrote.
The user confirmed that the phone number he received the text from was 703-609-7910. If you have a match, proceed to alerting Apple and the authorities at www.donotcall.gov.
The scam attempts to lure in unwary customers by all means possible. For example, if you don’t have a code (or don’t remember it) and access http://celltestnkeep.com on a desktop computer, you’ll be redirected to onlinetechrewards.com where the same flashy iPhone 5 banner appears with a request for your email address to be entered in the beta testing program.
Not only will your personal information get sold to spammers and other criminal organizations, there’s zero chances of you nabbing the unconfirmed iPhone 5 which nobody knows anything about (except for Apple, that is).
To be clear - stay away from this promo and others like it. When something sounds too good to be true, it’s usually a trap.
