scam phone call from apple yesterday.

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so my phone rang yesterday, I did not answer. Looking at my phone I see the call came from 1-800-692-7753 which is apples number I think or use to be their support number? I called the number back, and it sounded very legit. Got a recording that sounded very real. I hung up. Seems odd to me, why would apple call me I thought? Then I chatted with apple online since I have apple care support.

turns out its a scam, a very convincing one... good thing I'm suspicious by nature of everyone and everything or I could have easily fallen for this... :Oops:

Link here for info... kim komando article.

Remember, Apple does not make unsolicited support phone calls. If you get an unexpected call from someone who claims to be from Apple, it’s most likely a scam.
 
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Raz0rEdge

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It is trivial to spoof the incoming number to be anything with VOIP services. The problem is that Apple Support DOES allow for you to be called back by them when you need to talk to them as opposed to waiting in a queue "for the next available representative" and this scam is playing on that.

Scams like these use the idea that if you call hundreds of people, a few will actually engage since they were actually expecting a call.

So being suspicious is always good.
 

pigoo3

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Thanks for mentioning it macgig...great to pass around the info/experience.:)

- Nick
 
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Scam phone call not from Apple ??

Also, never say "Yes" to anyone on the phone that you do not know. It could be recorded and used as verbal authorization for who knows what.
 
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yes I should has said "spam call NOT from apple". lol.
 
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My mother-in-law just got conned by these people yesterday. They claimed her Mac was hacked and walked her through to the security settings where the firewall was turned off (of course it was.... it is by default) and used that to scare her into believing their claims. She then proceeded to follow their instructions, which included giving them her checking account information and CostCo credit card details, then went and bought iTunes gift cards and sent them photos of them.

Unfortunately I found out too late to save her accounts from being drained. It's just flummoxing to see this happen with all the red flags here. We had to do our best to console her.... as an article I read the other day said, these scams persist because they work.
 

Raz0rEdge

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My aunt has been conned numerous times and we are still confused as why she keeps falling for them. But, as you found out, these scams really work well with the boomer and greater generation who came to technology late but are also very empathetic as well, so anything that tugs at the heart strings (the I'm stranded in a random country, bail me out please scam for example) will get them hard.
 
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My aunt has been conned numerous times and we are still confused as why she keeps falling for them. But, as you found out, these scams really work well with the boomer and greater generation who came to technology late but are also very empathetic as well, so anything that tugs at the heart strings (the I'm stranded in a random country, bail me out please scam for example) will get them hard.

I wouldn't credit it to being "late to technology". As we see time and time again in these forums, being raised with computers doesn't make one "computer-literate". I guarantee you that when today's teens hit their 70s, quite a few will be falling for these exact same types of scams. My mother-in-law, while hardly a technophile, has long used and still uses a computer regularly for work and home; uses the internet regularly; has an iPhone and other devices. The problem is that she knows buzz words and knew that a firewall was a good thing to have, even though she didn't truly understand what purpose it served. That level of ignorance isn't unique to her generation. It's more the cognitive decline and general naiveté at this age, though younger people can be gullible also. She thought it must be true because "they knew I had a Mac", even though they really didn't. They just keep calling numbers until they get a hit for someone who does happen to have one.

EDIT: just to elaborate more on the generational thing. My wife was on the phone with her mother yesterday when she told her that her iMac was hacked. So my wife relays that to me, and I'm like "How does she know it was hacked". My wife asks her mother, then relays "Well Apple called and said her firewall was off and they walked her through how to find it." Now, my wife wasn't even questioning this despite being aware of scams going on and despite having an IT degree! I had to tell her twice that this made no sense and pointing out that the firewall normally is off and normally doesn't need to be on before it dawned on her that her mother had been conned.

Her uncle, who worked in IT all his life, got conned by the scam where they say your Windows computer was hacked and do a similar thing to make you think it's real.
 
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I agree with LIAB, it's not coming late to technology, it is more a lack of understanding of how the technology works. As the tech gets more and more highly integrated and entangled, if you are not a tech expert, it's easy to fall for a scam. If you took your car to the garage and the mechanic/engineer came out and said that the left-hand frammistat is not synchronized with the filmic, you would probably nod your head like you understood him. That is human nature at all ages. Then he tell you the left-hand frammistat needs replacing and you sign on the authorization line and pay up. That is what the scammers are doing, using technical terms with nontechnical people and when they get a fish on the line, they reel it in. The seniors are slightly more susceptible to this kind of scam, but it's not unique to them.
 

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