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Don’t be Fooled with Phone Phishing: Purported Compromised Apple Account with Spoofed Number Makes it Look like Apple is Calling
Related: Apple, Apple iOS, Apple iPhone and iPad, cyber social engineering, iOS, phishing, security
See also security and phishing articles.
I had been dealing with Apple a lot in the past few days, so when my iPhone 11 Pro Max rang yesterday and it displayed the caller as Apple, I answered it.
A monotone and menacing sounding woman’s voice, the same one I’ve heard for fake calls purporting to be from the IRS or police informed me:
Your Apple account has been compromised. Press 1 to be connected to Apple support.
My guess is that a lot of people press 1 out of immediate fear. How many of them are then talked into supplying something purported to fix the problem, or into revealing a password or other sensitive info—who can say?
Apple does not make such calls and would not phrase it as such or use such a menacing voice. But what happens when criminals figure out that a cheery pleasant voice is compelling?
The phone let the call through because it appeared to be from Apple (in my Contacts list), and thus it also shows that the call was from Apple. The call was NOT from Apple—it was phone number spoofing by criminals hoping to fool you.
To emphasize: the number your phone claims is calling CAN BE FAKED. This is called phone number spoofing. A good example of this is a scammer calling me... from my own phone number!
When will Congress and the industry get this act together on combatting this kind of scam? I’m in favor of severe punishment for these types of predators.
Read a sad but apropos story on today’s WSJ: Robocall Scams Exist Because They Work—One Woman’s Story Shows How A caller impersonating an FBI agent persuaded Nina Belis to drain close to $340,000 from her bank accounts.
