The email message below with the subject "Your Apple ID Has Been Locked for Security Reason," is another attempt by cybercriminals to steal their potential victims’ Apple account credentials. The fake email has links in it that go to a phishing Apple website which steals account usernames and password. The phishing website steals account credentials by asking visitors to sign-in with their Apple account usernames and passwords. Now, any attempt to sign into the fake or phishing website will result in the visitors’ Apple account credentials being sent to the cybercriminals responsible for the scam. Once the cyber crooks have gotten possession of the stolen account credentials, they will use it to hijack their victims’ Apple accounts and use the same accounts fraudulently.
A "Your Apple ID Has Been Locked for Security Reason" Phishing Scam
From: "Apple ID" <Customer-Appleid-support @notification-access-suspicious- account-locked.space.ios-cloud.account.webaapps. au.mail.service.site.usa.co.io. web.com>
Date: October 9, 2017 at 10:32:36 AM CDT
Subject: [Action Required] : Your Apple ID Has Been Locked for Security Reason
Apple Store
[Billing Fraud] Apple Store Recently Purchase Confirmation
Thank you for purchasing the following item : Space Qube X
Order Number : MHDH6YMK37
Order Total : $102.97
- if you initiated this download , you can disregard this email , it was only sent to alert you in case you did not initiate the download yourself
- if you did not initiate this download , please cancel the transaction this purchase
To cancel this purchase Read your secure message by opening the attacment (pdf). you will be prompted to open (view) the file or save (download) it to your computer. for best results, save the file first, then open it in a Web browser.
Sincerely
Apple Support
Apple users should never click on a link in an email message to sign into their accounts. They should instead, go directly to https://appleid.apple.com/ and sign-in from there. If there is something wrong with their accounts, they will be alerted after signing in. Users who were tricked by the phishing scam, are asked to change their Apple account passwords immediately before their accounts are hijacked and used fraudulently. For those users who are unable to change their passwords, are asked to contact Apple Technical Support for help.