A new scam designed to trick Apple product users into handing over their personal financial information is making the rounds. An email is sent to potential victims claiming they ordered an expensive app and offering to refund their money if they did not make the purchase, upon which the unsuspecting user is asked to provide credit card details.
The email arrives in the form of an invoice, which appears to be from Apple for an app known as "Co Pilot Premium HD." The email lists an invoice number at the top, thanks the recipient for buying the app and then lists a date and time of purchase, along with a separate order number that differs from the invoice number.
The invoice lists a charge to the customer of $35.99 for the app. So far, the potential victims emailed have been located in the UK, but as we've seen, many of these phishing scams quickly spread from country to country, perpetrated by either the same scammers or copycats.
The bottom of the invoice reads, "If you did not authorize this purchase, please: Click here for Refund," upon which the bilked recipient is ultimately directed to a page where he or she is required to enter all of their credit card information.
From there, the instructions state: "Confirm your personal and billing information in order to cancel and refund the transaction above: For your protection, we verify credit card and debit card billing details. The process normally takes about 30 seconds, but it may take longer during certain times of the day. Please click the Confirm button to confirm your information."
Instead of receiving the promised "refund" to their account, no doubt, the user is subjected to unauthorized withdrawals from it. Be on the lookout for this phishing scam in your inbox, and perhaps even more importantly, any that are similar to it. Scammers are growing more clever, and this new trick is clearly designed to elicit the understandable reaction of, "Wait, I didn't buy that!" and trigger resulting panic as the victim attempts to retrieve funds he or she believes may have already been debited from a credit card. Any email claiming an authorized purchase that you, as the recipient, do not recall making, should put users on high alert.
By the way, "Co Pilot Premium HD" is in fact a real iOS app used for GPS location and navigation purposes both in Europe and the U.S.
