Don’t Fall For This Clever New Apple ID Scam Hot

“We regret to inform you that your Apple ID has been locked for security reasons,” said the message in my email inbox last night.The message passed through the spam system on Microsoft’s mail servers, where my email is hosted. Outlook did not categorize as junk or even “clutter,” and it looked authentic.

  

When when you click on the link, “Unlock Apple ID,” you land on Apple’s site with a place to log in with your correct Apple ID.

 

 

 

Because the message seemed suspicious, I googled, “We regret to inform you that your Apple ID has been locked for security reasons,” and quickly learned it was all a scam.

 

When you read the email closely, it’s obvious that Apple would not write a sentence like, “The reason we have took this action is as follows: On Thursday, 31st December 2015 19:35 GMT, we noticed an attempt to sign in to your account from an unrecognised device in United Kingdom.” Bad grammar like “We have took this action” is a telltale sign of such scams, but the familiar Apple logo and minimalist graphics made even a grammarian like me look past that error.  

 

But I was suspicious of this ominous warning: “In order to safeguard your information we require you to unlock your Apple ID by clicking the link below. Failure to unlock your Apple ID can lead to permenant suspension of services associated with this Apple This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”