In the past month, phishing websites were observed to be spoofing the Apple brand. These fraudulent sites were created to steal legitimate Apple gift card numbers. Genuine Apple gift cards are an option for buyers to give family and friends gift cards for Apple computers or consumer electronics. These cards are accepted in any Apple Retail Store and can also be used for shopping on Apple’s websites.
The spam email messages that were sent claimed to provide an online facility for checking the balance amount for Apple gift cards, and included a link to the phishing website. The phishing site asked for the gift card number and its pin number in the hopes of tricking customers into believing that they could view their balances. Upon entering a card and pin number (typically 16 digits and 8 digits, respectively) an error message is returned, stating that the balance enquiry is currently unavailable. The phishing page further states that the customer should contact customer...