‘Your Apple ID Has Been Disabled’ Phishing Scam

According to this email, which claims to be from Apple Support, your Apple ID has been disabled and you will need to click a link to unlock your account.

The email rather confusingly claims that the ban was “because of Apple’s violated policies terms and conditions”. It lists several reasons explaining what might be wrong regarding your account and explains that you will be locked out until you click to verify your Apple ID.

However, the email is not from Apple and the claim that your Apple ID has been disabled is untrue. Instead, the email is a phishing scam designed to steal your Apple ID, your credit card details, and other sensitive personal information.

If you click the link in the email, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that closely resembles the genuine Apple ID login page.

After logging in on the fake site, you will be taken to a page with a bogus verification form that you supposedly need to complete to unlock your Apple ID. The form asks for your name and contact details, your credit card numbers, and other identifying information.

After submitting the bogus form, you may see a final message confirming that you have successfully unlocked your Apple ID.

Meanwhile, criminals can collect the information you supplied and use it to hijack your Apple account, commit credit card fraud, and possibly even steal your identity as well.

Apple account phishing scams like this are very common. Be wary of any message that purports to be from Apple and claims that you must click a link or open an attached file to deal with a supposed account problem.

It is always safest to access your online accounts either via a trusted app or by entering the address into your browser’s address bar. The Apple website includes information explaining how to recognize and report such Apple ID phishing scams.