Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I just received an email that my apple account is locked. I think it is bogus. It said to click here on their link, which looks legit, but when I hover over it, something else comes up. Should I trust to click on the link?
iPad Pro, iOS 12
Apple won't send you an email/text telling you your account is disabled/restricted or will be disabled/restricted. You will find out the next time you try to log in somewhere.
The e-mail will be from @apple.com or @iTunes.com. E-mail addresses can be spoofed. You can go to Mail/View/Message/Show all Headers to see more. Apple e-mails will never contain an attachment. Apple will never request personal information by email such as Social Security numbers, your Mother’s maiden name or full credit card numbers .
The only exception to the above I have noticed is if you order something from the Apple Store (apple.com), your receipt will be addressed to Dear Apple Customer. That is a receipt for a purchase you initiated.
Avoid phishing emails, fake ‘virus‘ alerts, phony support calls, and other scams
Identifying legitimate emails from the iTunes Store
Send the e-mail to Apple as an attachment to a new e-mail before deleting it. You can forward as an attachment by going to Mail/Message/Forward as attachment. Or control - click on the email and select Forward as attachment. Make sure you send it as an attachment to a new email. If you just forward it, it will probably be rejected. You won’t receive a response.
Apple won't send you an email/text telling you your account is disabled/restricted or will be disabled/restricted. You will find out the next time you try to log in somewhere.
The e-mail will be from @apple.com or @iTunes.com. E-mail addresses can be spoofed. You can go to Mail/View/Message/Show all Headers to see more. Apple e-mails will never contain an attachment. Apple will never request personal information by email such as Social Security numbers, your Mother’s maiden name or full credit card numbers .
The only exception to the above I have noticed is if you order something from the Apple Store (apple.com), your receipt will be addressed to Dear Apple Customer. That is a receipt for a purchase you initiated.
Avoid phishing emails, fake ‘virus‘ alerts, phony support calls, and other scams
Identifying legitimate emails from the iTunes Store
Send the e-mail to Apple as an attachment to a new e-mail before deleting it. You can forward as an attachment by going to Mail/Message/Forward as attachment. Or control - click on the email and select Forward as attachment. Make sure you send it as an attachment to a new email. If you just forward it, it will probably be rejected. You won’t receive a response.
That sounds just like a scam. One of the biggest tip-offs is if the e-mail refers to you a "Dear Customer" instead of a real one from Apple, which uses whatever name is has on file for you. The one exception to that rule tends to be purchase receipts.
Hope this helps!
Roger Wilmut1 wrote:
It's extremely simple to produce a fake link, as here (it's harmless, of course):
https://apple.com
(I should have responded to the OP, of course, obviously Eric knows this.)
Interestingly, when I posted the above the link worked as I'd set it up, going to the BBC. Now it's changed and goes where it says it will go. However, in emails there is no such clever behaviour.
No, you should neither trust nor click on the link. The email is a scam.
It's extremely simple to produce a fake link, as here (it's harmless, of course):
(I should have responded to the OP, of course, obviously Eric knows this.)
You know you’re AppleID clearly is not locked, since you just used it to login to these forums and post your question.
i noticed this too. Btw, I did have to do the two-step verification to get in....I have not done that before.
Sometimes that is required.
If it has been awhile since you logged in, or you’ve erased cookies and history, you’d be prompted for a 2FA code and should have been able to “trust” the browser again to get a fresh cookie.
I think I was just sent a bogus email that my account is lock and to click on “this link” to unlock it. “This link” is http:appleid.apple.com. But when I hover over it to show the true link, that is not it. What do think?
