Apple support scam

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Level 1

4 points

Apple support scam

My husband did a search on Google for “iCloud email address support” and at the top of the search results was a page on discussions.apple.com. My husband called the number, the “tech” person had my husband download an app, and all of a sudden the browser started flashing. The “tech” person asked my husband to upload his ID and it looked like this person attempted to apply for an Apple Card. My husband ended the conversation and deleted the app - but now there’s a $75 PlayStation store gift card (digital code) charge from Amazon. We called Amazon but the charge cannot be reversed.

This scam page resides within the pages of discussions.apple.com. The phone number listed changes every hour or so. When my husband clicked the link, the phone number listed was 1-800***. I clicked it a while ago, and the phone number has changed to 1-877***.

Heres the link to the scam page:

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Mar 15, 2023 12:10 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

atommyx Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 15, 2023 12:40 PM in response to atommyx

The scam page is a user profile on discussions.apple.com!!!

It’s a Google paid listing that shows up on the top of the search results when my husband did a search on “iCloud email address support” - the title of the url on the search result is “discussions.Apple.com Apple-.Customer :Support - 24/7 Customer Service”

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Answer 2

Allan Jones

Level 9

72,284 points

Mar 15, 2023 6:21 PM in response to atommyx

Those are 100% the fault of search engines who happily accept payment for placing ads high in the results listings with no worry about the ads' provenance.

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Answer 3

Katana-San

Level 9

69,451 points

Mar 15, 2023 1:14 PM in response to atommyx

Hello ~ In the future this is an Apple link with their correct contact information…

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

I am sorry you went through this situation.

~Katana-San~

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Answer 4

K Shaffer

Level 8

35,314 points

Mar 15, 2023 1:33 PM in response to atommyx

..atommyx..

That's all relatively old news, except to those who've not

encountered or 'deduced the facts' from evident scams.

•Phony "tech support" / "ransomware" popups and web pages - Apple Community

//discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-8071

•Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

//support.apple.com/en-us/HT204759

Avoid and report phishing emails - Gmail Help

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8253?hl=en

Several other official page sources indicate such matters.

The end-user has to be alert, as these can change; and

re-appear in different forms, as opportunities continue.

Never assume the first results in any search engine, are true;

& many others peppered-throughout may be equally as false.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=searching+for+facts&ia=web

Some can be mirrored against a different search engine; to

help discover any misrepresentations. Even duckduckgo can

present some bad actors; but you should be wiser than that.

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Answer 5

Kurt Lang

Level 9

62,166 points

Mar 15, 2023 1:09 PM in response to atommyx

Turns out there's a LOT of accounts created by scammers on this forum. All with the same method of making their scam phone number the user account name, and calling it Apple Discussions in their user description.

This, of course, is intentional. The more you flood a site with such info, the more bots pick it up and give them top listing result matches.

It's why your fellow users report these types of scams as soon as we see them. The hope is to get that information off the site as quickly as possible.

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Answer 6

atommyx Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 15, 2023 3:47 PM in response to K Shaffer

Yes, it’s relatively old news to most … I posted here to point out the user profile of the scammer (that has an apple.com url) so that it can be deleted by the moderators of discussions.apple.com.

Some people will find this post helpful as a deterrent or as a reference if they’re going through a similar situation.

I already reported it to Google, since the link was a Google paid ad, and I filed a report with the FTC.

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