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Watch out for this dangerous new iPhone text scam

Published Apr 20th, 2016 9:58AM EDT

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Hackers have come up with a sneaky way to steal your personal information and they’re doing it by sending a simple text message to your iPhone. Per NBCBayArea.com, it seems some iPhone users have been receiving dodgy text messages informing them that their Apple ID has “expired” and that they’ll need to go to a certain website to retrieve it. Of course, this website turns out to be a malicious website owned by hackers and Slawek Ligier of Barracuda Networks tells NBCBayArea.com that when you open it, it will “ask for your name, address, even your passport information.”

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One thing to note here is that the scammers will send you a link that isn’t actually from an Apple domain, so you shouldn’t be fooled by any alerts about your Apple ID that direct you to websites like “Supportatapple.com” or “AppleIDLogin.com.” It’s also very unlikely that Apple would send you a message of this kind since it doesn’t make a habit of deleting users’ Apple ID accounts on a regular basis.

Apple notes that users should “never send credit card information, account passwords, or extensive personal information in an email unless you verify that the recipient is who they claim to be,” and you can presume this goes for messages received via text as well.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.