iTunes Phishing email threatens destruction

iTunes Phishing email threatens destruction

Whatever you do this Friday, don’t click on the links in the latest iTunes phishing email. This phishing email proceeds along familiar lines; the recipient is informed that their account is due to expire in less than 48 hours, therefore you need to do something now, or your Apple account faces destruction. It is a fake, of course.

We have reproduced the email in Figure A. The subject line of the email states “Your account-iTunes will be closed in 48H .”. The sender of the email is listed as “iTunes/Support”. The email begins with “Dear Client” and contains reasonably realistic Apple branding. The entire body of the email is linked to a website. The address listed at the bottom of the email is for Apple Sales International in Ireland.

The body of the email tells the recipient that their iTunes ID is due to expire in 48 hours. The user is requested to click on a link and provide their Apple ID and password. Sign off of the email is listed as “The Apple Customer Support”. The consequences if the user does not comply with the request are dire: their account ID will be destroyed.

This email is certainly playing on the need to do something urgently. In this case, it is to renew their Apple ID, to stop it being “destroyed”. However, the email is a fake. Interestingly enough, the entire email is a link to a phishing website. This is possibly a tactic to at least lure the recipient to the phishing site, via (potentially) an accidental mouse click.

The grammar of the email is poor. As we mentioned, mousing over the email shows a link to a phishing site. The phishing site will steal user ids and passwords, with the intention to commit fraud. If you receive this email delete it. Apple has a page that discusses phishing emails such as this one.

Scott Reeves
MailShark
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