The email message below, which claims the recipients' Apple ID has been temporarily locked, is another attempt by cybercriminals to steal their potential victims’ Apple account credentials. The fake email has links in it that go to the phishing Apple website that 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.
The "Your Apple ID has been Temporarily Locked" Phishing Scam
From: "Apple ID" <carlosbedoya@matrixhosting.co>
Date: August 24, 2017 at 6:16:46 AM PDT
Subject: Your Apple ID temporarily has been locked.
Dear Client,
Your Apple ID (milesmak@telus.net) has been locked.
We are temporarily restricting modifications to this account as a security precaution. Please go to (https://appleid.apple.com) and confirm your identity to regain access to your account.
Your account will have restricted functionality until we hear from you.
Thanks,
Apple Customer 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.