14 DAY TRIAL // Reports are flying in saying that a scammer using an e-mail purporting to be from Apple is targeting MobileMe users. The e-mail claims there are problems with the users' subscription, and asks of them to re-enter their credit card information.
As many of you should know (and especially former .Mac users), the transition to MobileMe has had a rocky start, to say the least. Scammers now use the glitches to their advantage, forwarding tricky emails that use Apple's graphics, including logos and other elements. The latest such phishing e-mail targeting MobileMe users has been confirmed as linking to a fraud site at http://natwestbgroups.com/www.apple.com/update.html.
AppleInsider reveals that the domain name was registered around three weeks ago from Name.com, pointing to Madih-ullah Riaz in Karachi, Pakistan. The registration also cites a phone number and Microsoft Live Hotmail address, according to the publication. The respective e-mail reads,
Welcome,
Thank you for choosing MobileMe. Unfortunately there has been a problem processing your billing information on the month of Sept, 2008.
Did you recently change your bank, phone number or credit card? To ensure your service is not interrupted, please visit our secure server form by clicking the hyperlink below.
Click Here To update your MobileMe information
Sincerely, The Apple Billing Services Team. Recent reports have revealed that CardCops, a credit card protection service owned by the Affinion Group, spotted sensitive information belonging to several hundred people with Mac.com accounts being traded in underground forums frequented by identity thieves. Sources said that .Mac (Dot Mac, now MobileMe) users handed over their personal information with little thought that it wasn't Apple asking them to cooperate in the process involving the switch to MobileMe. MobileMe's glitchy debut confused a lot of Mac owners and .Mac users. This provided the perfect "setting" for phishers to unravel their nasty workarounds to get .Mac users' social security numbers, birth dates, mothers' maiden names, credit card numbers "and other sensitive information," those reports state.
Needless to point out, MobileMe users who want to make certain they are not being duped by phishers are advised to enter the URL manually in order to check their accounts' status.
