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Apple ID Holders Targeted in Phishing Scam

An Apple ID is essentially an all-access pass to an individual’s Apple devices, apps and the iCloud. It allows customers to seamlessly sync their devices in order to back up and access data at home, in the office or on the road. It removes the annoyance of switching between accounts and generally makes managing life online a dream — unless a scammer or an enemy gets his hands on it — then seamless integration can become a nightmare.
/ Source: TechNewsDaily

An Apple ID is essentially an all-access pass to an individual’s Apple devices, apps and the iCloud. It allows customers to seamlessly sync their devices in order to back up and access data at home, in the office or on the road. It removes the annoyance of switching between accounts and generally makes managing life online a dream — unless a scammer or an enemy gets his hands on it — then seamless integration can become a nightmare.

That's why Apple ID holders need to be vigilant about an email phishing campaign that attempts to dupe customers into giving up their account information by informing them that their Apple ID has been suspended.

"Dear Customer, Your Apple ID has been temporarily suspended! Somebody else just tried to sign in into [sic] your Apple account from another IP address," the email says, seemingly unaware of its lack of style compared to an authentic Apple email. "Please re-confirm your identity today or your account will be suspended due to concerns we have for the safety and integrity of the Apple community."

Despite the poor appearance and awkward English, the link victims are asked to follow sends users to a page that is remarkably similar to the corporate site. There, users can "sign in" with their Apple ID and password.

 "The hosts that hold the phishing domains have an "open directory" (probably due to a configuration issue), which makes it possible to navigate the structure of the path (server side) used to deploy the phishing email," Gianluca Giuliani wrote on the Websense Security Labs blog.

Giuliani said Websense traced the attack back to an IP address where other domains and hosts known for phishing reside.

All Internet users have the potential to be targeted by a phishing scam. Online criminals are on a constant hunt for information to help them break into accounts to cause damage and steal information or money. Online, everyone should be mindful when sharing login information with any website, even if it appears to be a trusted one. Scammers often create dummy pages that look familiar in the browser, but not in the address bar. If a URL doesn't look like it usually does, don't enter give your information to that page.

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