Look out for Apple and Capital One phishing scams

Zach Myers
·2 min read

(WTTV/WXIN) — Since the goal of every phishing scam is for the scammer to appear authentic, it’s a strategy for cybercriminals to use popular names that potential victims are familiar with.

With that in mind, it’s a good time to be on the lookout for a couple of widespread scams that appear to involve Apple and Capital One. The watchdogs at Trend Micro are tracking a flurry of fake text messages and emails that appear to be from Apple and Capital One. In one week, the company blocked more than 5000 fake messages about iCloud storage.

One of those fake messages claims that your iCloud service is scheduled to be terminated and you will lose all of your photos and files unless you upgrade your service. It says your iCloud account has been suspended because you have run out of storage space and you need to upgrade it in order to reactivate it.

This reporter recently received that email, despite the fact that my iCloud account still has nearly 2TB of space available.

These messages are simply window dressing meant to trick you into clicking on a link so they can take you to a website designed to record your personal information like Social Security numbers, login, credentials and credit card numbers.

At the same time, somebody posing as Capital One has been blasting out phishing emails about “pending refund” notifications. The phony emails claim that you, a Capital One customer, have received a “new credit payment.”

If you click on the link in the email, it takes you to a website that looks like the Capital One login page. Instead, it’s a malicious site designed to capture your login credentials, which you have provided for them by logging on.

If you believe you might really be running out of iCloud storage space, or you might really have a payment through Capital One, reach out to their customer service department directly. Never click on a link sent to you in an unsolicited email or text message.

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