Fake Apple Special Investigation Calls and What You Need to Know

Bet you didn’t know that Apple had a special investigation division. Neither did Apple. It’s a new year, and that means new scams are popping up to take advantage of countless thousands. In this article, we’re going to be looking at fake Apple special investigation calls and another impersonation scam you might encounter this year.

How the Fake Apple Special Investigation Calls Scam Works

Out of the blue one day, you get a call from the “Apple Special Investigations Unit.” Oh dear, it seems they’ve found child pornography on your iCloud account. As you begin to panic and deny any knowledge, they reassure you: this was probably the doing of a hacker or some other nefarious figure, and they’ll be happy to scrub your profile of any incriminating material.

Scam Detectors Most Trusted Websites in Online Security

Guard.io (100): Protect your digital world on any device – Guardio stops scams and phishing in their tracks.
Incogni.com (100): Delete your personal data from the internet and protect against scams and identity theft.
ExpressVPN (100) Stay secure and anonymous online - Best VPN Out There

To do this, however, they’ll need to access your machine remotely, and this service doesn’t come free.

In exchange for giving them remote desktop access and a few thousand dollars in Amazon gift cards, they will resolve the problem. Except now you have a new problem – you have just opened your computer to possible malware and identity theft, in addition to losing a lot of money. So goes the Apple Special Investigations Unit scam.

Avoiding the Investigation Scam

Now that you know what you’re up against, it’s important to know both how to guard against it and that specific details of the scam mentioned above might change as scammers evolve their tactics. That said, these tips should help:

No such organization exists – Apple doesn’t have a Special Investigations Unit, period.
Gift card payments – Any major company like Apple will never ask for payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency. Any payments would be made through official channels.
Remote Access is always a red flag – Though some requests for remote access are legitimate, most of the time they are not. If you are redirected to custom remote access software by a call, alarm bells should be ringing.
Unsolicited calls – Tech companies will rarely call you directly with an urgent problem that needs sorting. It’s usually the other way around. Be careful of anyone who claims to do so.

The Apple Impersonation Scam

Another scam targeting Apple users this year is yet another impersonation scam. What makes this one tricky is that it does involve some legitimate messaging from Apple. Here’s what happens.

You receive a text message that suspicious activity has been detected on your Apple account.
A follow-up call from “Apple Support” stresses that this is the case.
They log a case with Apple, which then genuinely sends you an email with a case number.
You give this number to the scammer along with your Apple security code, convinced that the issue is now genuine.
The scammers use the code to steal your account and personal information.

Dodging This Scam

This scam might be tricky due to official Apple correspondence, but keep in mind these tips:

If you receive a message or call, insist on checking the problem on your Apple profile online first. If it isn’t there, you should be suspicious immediately.
Agents will never ask for your security code or any other access code over the phone, ever.
Don’t be afraid to contact Apple directly to confirm if you feel suspicious at any point.

Verify Another website

Are you just about to make a purchase online? See if the website is legit with our validator:

vldtr^®