Last updated on July 17, 2017
Outline:
Email purporting to be from Apple Support claims that there is a problem with your Apple ID and, therefore, you must click a link to verify your account.
Analysis:
The email is not from Apple. And, your account will not be “disable” if you don’t click the verify link. In fact, the email is a phishing scam that is designed to trick you into giving your personal and financial information to criminals.
If you do click the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that has been built to look like a genuine Apple login page. After you have entered your account credentials on the fake login page, a bogus account confirmation form will load in your browser. The form will ask for your credit card numbers, your name and address, and other identifying information.
The criminals can collect all of the information you supply on the fake website and use it to hijack your Apple account and commit fraudulent transactions. If they have gathered enough of your personal and financial information, they may also be able to steal your identity.
Apple phishing scams like this one are very common. An article on the Apple website explains how to recognise and report such scam attempts.
Dear Client,We’ve noticed that some of your account informations
appears to be missing or incorrect,Your Apple ID will be disable until we receive respond from you.We need to verify your account informations in order to continue using your Apple IDPleaseVerify your account informationsConfrim My AccountIf you didn’t make this change or if you believe
an unauthorized person is attempting to access your account,
you can reset your password by going to your account.Apple Support
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
