Apple impersonation scams cost S’pore victims at least $195k in crypto assets within 2 weeks

AI generated

SINGAPORE – An unexpected pop-up notification seemingly from tech giant Apple could be a phishing scam, with victims reporting losses of nearly $200,000 in cryptocurrency assets within two weeks to this ruse.

In a statement on Aug 21, the police said that at least five such scam cases have been reported since Aug 7, with losses totalling at least $195,000.

In this scam variant, fraudsters would send pop-up notifications to users on their Apple devices, claiming that there had been unauthorised attempts to access their Apple account or prompting them to change their Apple ID password.

Victims would then receive an unsolicited call from conmen posing as someone from Apple’s technical support team, said the police, adding that these calls often bore the country code +1, which is used in North America.

After informing victims that their Apple or e-mail accounts had been “compromised”, the scammers would direct them to fraudulent websites, such as chat-apple.com and case-apple.com.

Victims would then be told to provide sensitive information, such as their Apple ID credentials, cryptocurrency account credentials and one-time passwords (OTPs), the police said.

With this information, scammers would then gain access to the victims’ cryptocurrency accounts or linked wallets, they added.

“Victims realised that they had been scammed only when they discovered the unauthorised cryptocurrency transactions on their accounts,” said the police.

Apple will never ask people to provide their Apple ID password, OTPs or any login credentials through unsolicited phone calls, pop-up notifications or online links.

“Never disclose such information to anyone,” the police said.

Those who receive an unexpected password reset prompt are advised to close the notification and access the Settings application directly to verify their account status or update their password.

Those in doubt can also contact Apple through its official support channels.

“If you suspect that your cryptocurrency account has been compromised, contact your cryptocurrency service provider immediately and take steps to secure your account,” the police added.

Impersonation scams on Apple’s services are on the rise, with the police reporting on Aug 20 that such cases involving iMessage cost victims nearly $2.2 million within less than two months.

In those ruses, conmen would use Apple’s iMessage service to pose as official institutions or courier companies, such as NinjaVan and SPX Express.

Those who receive suspicious calls should report them via the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline on 1799. To contact the police about scams, call 1800-255-0000 or go to www.police.gov.sg/i-witness