Apple This

Important announcement for any MobileMe users out there! Users of this Apple service were warned over the weekend that a new phishing scam has been detected exploiting Apple’s up and coming iCloud cloud computing service.

Sophos, a computer security firm, stated that emails that are claiming to be coming from “The Apple store Team” are asking prospective victims to sign up for the iCloud service and then click the “submit” button.

A section on a Sophos blog post had an example of what one of the fake emails could look like:

“Please sign up for iCloud and click the submit botton (sic), you’ll be able to keep your old email addresses and move your mail, contacts, calendars and bookmarks to the new service.”

Sophos did note that Apple is planning on shutting down its MobileMe service mid-2012, just in time for the new iCloud service. iCloud will be able to store all of an Apple user’s music, photos, calendars and documents in the cloud.

“Understandably, a lot of MobileMe users are interested in how they will migrate to iCloud and this is the issue that the phishing email uses as bait,” Sophos stated.

Sophos added that clicking on the link in the email will take users to a third-party site that is trying very hard to present itself as an actual, legitimate Apple website.

The site will ask the user for credit card numbers, addresses, social security numbers, full date of birth, mother’s maiden name and Apple ID credentials.

“Crumbs! Imagine the harm a fraudster could cause with all that information,” Sophos stated. “Make sure you have your eyes peeled for phishing attacks and be on your guard regarding unsolicited messages you receive in your inbox. It could be you who gets hit by a phishing attack next.”

Source: GMA News – Apple iCloud used as come-on for phishing bait