Scammers are sending fake Apple emails and texts after news of stolen celebrity photos

Security firm Symantec are warning people to watch out for scam phishing emails and texts purporting to be from Apple that are designed to steal your login details.

According to the Action Fraud web site opportunistic phishing emails and texts are being cleverly designed to play on the widespread interest in the recent nude photos stolen from celebrities.

The security firm said

“Whether or not iCloud was the point of compromise in this incident, scammers have been interested in stealing these credentials for some time. These emails contain links to phishing websites that will capture your Apple ID credentials and send them back to the attackers”

“In addition to email scams, some users may be the recipients of a text message claiming to be from Apple Protection or another privacy or security group within Apple. 

The text claims that an unauthorised attempt to sign-in to the users’ iCloud account was detected and they need to respond back with their Apple ID and password or have their account locked out.

This type of scam is what’s known as SMSishing (SMS/text phishing)”.

What should you do if you’ve received an email or text?

• Do not click on any links.
• Do not reply or contact the senders in any way.
• If you have clicked on a link, do not supply any information on the website that may open.
• Do not open any or download any attachments that arrive.
• Report it to Action Fraud.

Read more on the Symantec website.    

To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, you can call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use their online fraud reporting tool.