Apple iPhone Users in the Philippines, Beware of Fake Apple ID Locked Email - Android

On Tuesday - May 12, 2020, I received a message from one of my blog readers and friends on Facebook about a suspicious email that he received on his Apple iPhone earlier that day.

Translating his message to English, he said, "Good morning, Mark! Can I ask something? I received an email that tells me my Apple ID has been locked. There's even a link but I'm not sure if it's legit."


He sent me a screen-capture of the email and it appears to have come directly from Apple since it has the familiar logo and the message as a whole is grammatically correct.

The supposed Apple Support email read:

"Dear Client,

Your Apple ID has been locked for security reasons. To unlock it, you must verify your identity.

[LINK to Website for Unlocking Account]

If you don't unlock your account before 24 hours, your account will be disabled.

Sincerely,

Apple Support"


My blog reader also sent me the screen-grab of the website where the link in the email leads to.


When I saw it, I immediately told him that it's fake since it doesn't lead to any of Apple's official websites and he should never put his Apple ID email and password in the boxes because it's obviously a phishing scheme.

Phishing is a cybercrime in which the perpetrator gets personal or private information from victims to steal money or other important data.

When my reader and I shared this story on our Facebook Timelines, we found out that many other Filipino Apple iPhone users also got the same fake Apple ID locked email notification, which was truly alarming.


Two of our friends even got the same email multiple times in their email accounts. One said that she got the notification twice and another noted that he has received multiple emails telling him that his ID has been locked but he always checks if the link is legit.


Two of my Facebook buddies who saw my post regarding this issue noted that the website name is of Malay origin so the people running it are possibly based in Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, or Singapore.


One even told me that "Daritahun45" literally means "since year 45" in Malay language.


I certainly hope that the National Bureau of Investigation can look into this and stop these online criminals, especially if they are based just in our neighbor countries.

In the meantime, I would advise all Apple iPhone users in the Philippines to be aware of this hideous phishing fraud and to immediately report all suspicious emails that they get. The more we talk about this openly, the more potential victims we can save. Please keep sharing this post.