Scammers are crafting more sophisticated and realistic looking emails to trick you into handing over your credit card number and other personal information, so Apple has a new support article with tips on how to spot them.
First up, Apple says it will never ask for information like your Social Security number, mother’s maiden name, full credit card number, or credit card CCV code in an email.
Next, Apple says you should look for your current billing address in the email. Apple always includes it, and scammers won’t likely know that bit of information.
Finally, if you get an email asking you to update your account information do it from Settings on your iPhone or iPad, or on the App Store or in iTunes on your Mac. That was you’ll be sure to avoid clicking any links designed to harvest your personal information.
You can check out all of Apple’s tips on avoiding phishing email scammers on the company’s support website.
I received an email from “Apple” last week, asking me to confirm an annual subscription to an Apple service. That was the first flag, I don’t use any Apple services. Then there were links in the email (don’t click on links in emails) that didn’t go directly to any Apple address – I clicked on the right side of the word, “From:” to see the sender’s address. Lastly, there were a couple of typographical errors in the email body and the fake Apple website page. Contacted Apple immediately and they confirmed it was a phishing attempt.