The next eight days could bring a bonanza of online scams and tricks relating to the new iPad 2.
“Although there won't be as much excitement around the iPad 2 as there was around the original launch of the iPad, there's no doubt that it will be a highly desirable gadget — so it won't be any surprise at all if cybercriminals begin to use it as bait in their scams and attacks,” Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for the security firm Sophos, told SecurityNewsDaily.
Announced yesterday (March 2) by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the sleek new iPad 2 will be in stores March 11. That leaves a little more than a week for scammers to roll out their enticing ploys.
In addition to the typical survey scams, phishing e-mails and social media posts promising free iPads, Cluley said he expects to see offers “claiming that Apple is looking for last minute 'beta 'testers'" to try out the device before the general public.
As alluring as the promise of getting the iPad 2 before anyone else sounds, Cluley said it’s necessary to view any too-good-to-be-true offer with “a healthy fill of skepticism.”
“People should remember that there's rarely such thing as a free lunch — especially if it's an expensive piece of electronics that's sitting on the menu,” Cluley said.