Warning: A sophisticated new Apple Pay scam is targeting users with realistic fraud alerts

These emails are obviously not sent by the Cupertino tech giant. However, they may contain Apple’s logos, formatting, and sender names in an attempt to look more convincing to victims.

Typically, these phishing emails impersonate Apple billing or fraud teams. These emails often include a case ID, a timestamp, and some details that sound technical to convince unsuspecting users.

The messages urge users to call a number immediately or show up for an appointment to fix the “problem.” When you call, you are speaking with scammers pretending to be Apple Support. The malicious users try to get your Apple ID, verification codes, or payment info.

 

How to protect yourself

It’s important to know that Apple doesn’t set up fraud appointments via email. The tech giant also doesn’t require you to fix any billing issues by calling numbers in random messages.

There are also several other ways that you can notice the email is fraudulent.

First off, the sender’s address doesn’t come from an official Apple domain. The display name may make it appear so, but the email address itself won’t be official.

Other small details would also show inconsistencies if you look. For example, there could be an impossible IP address or strange phrasing such as “Hello {Name}."

Then, we have the phone number in the email. If you do a quick online search for the phone number, you’ll see unrelated and incorrect results, including links to addiction support pages or public health organizations and not Apple’s support.

Obviously, these little details would indicate (if you look for them) that this is not a legitimate email but rather a scam. Apple support numbers always lead to domains that Apple owns or official support pages, and searching for them never gives you unrelated results.

To make people ignore these details, the emails rely on setting the feeling of urgency. Those emails would often indicate that you should do something “immediately” to prevent a bad consequence.

Apple’s real communications don’t threaten sudden account lockout or pressure you into acting immediately.

Scammers understand there’s a huge number of people using Apple Pay and that fraud warnings related to Apple Pay would make people scared or concerned. After all, we’re talking about money.

If you receive a strange email looking like it's from Apple without you requesting the company contact you, make sure not to click on any links, call any numbers, or download any attachments.

To verify if it’s legitimate, you can also open the Settings app on your iPhone or Mac or go to Apple’s official website.

Check your Apple Pay transactions manually, as well as your Apple ID purchase history. If something is wrong, it’s going to show up there without requiring Apple to email you.

You can report suspicious emails by forwarding them to Apple’s address against abuse. Then, delete them.

Good practices are also using two-factor authentication for your accounts, using unique passwords, and assuming that anything “urgent” about a billing issue is fake.

I just assume any email about a billing issue is fraud 

If you ask me, anything that says something bad will happen to my account if I don't react immediately raises some red flags in my head. I always make sure to check manually instead of reacting to emails.