Another day, another scam - this time the scam is targeting iPhone users and it’s a good one. The scam has been successful at getting lots of iPhone users to give up personal information, so if you have an iPhone you’ll definitely want to be aware of this one!

How the Scam Goes

This is a phishing scam that aims to get all of your personal details through a text message. The text will appear to be sent from Apple Support. The message states that your Apple ID has expired, and that the only way to get a new ID is to visit a website (site link is included in the text, of course).

Once iPhone users visit the fake site, they are asked to enter personal details like name, age, and credit card information. Some users are also being asked for passport details and other highly personal details. So far, the scam has been successful though people are starting to catch on.

How to Determine A Scam

Apple has responded to news of this scam by noting that the company does not usually send out messages to iPhone users via text message. So that’s the first clue that there’s a scam happening. The second clue is to look at the URL included in the link. If it does not lead directly to the official Apple website, it’s not valid.

So far, the scam seems to be targeting iPhone users in the UK mostly, but reports of the scam moving to North America have been seen across the Internet this morning. It goes without saying that once hackers have your personal information, they can then use those details to hack into other aspects of your life.

If you’ve given up passport details, that’s a whole lot worse than giving up most other details. Just remember that Apple will not ask you for this information and these texts are false.

Fixing the Issue

It’s really hard for any company (even Apple) to crack down on hackers like this. First the hackers have to be found (harder than it seems), and then they have to be reprimanded (also very hard). Right now, Apple has not done anything to fix the problem, but the company is warning all iPhone users that this is a scam and does not come from Apple Support.

Most people know that many companies will never ask for personal information through email, but for some reason hackers are having a lot of success when asking for these details though text. Rest assured that text is the same as email as far as soliciting information goes, and companies do not ask for details through text either.

If you do have an iPhone and you’re reading this, you now know that any text coming from Apple Support is probably a scam. If you know someone that has an iPhone and might click on a message, make sure to spread the word. Often, the only way to stop scams like this one is to make sure that everyone knows about it.