Delete this text NOW scarily convincing iPhone scam lets hackers hijack your accounts

A DANGEROUS new scam targeting iPhone users lets hackers hijack your online accounts, The Sun has learned.

Worse still, the scam is difficult to spot – with cyber-experts telling The Sun that the "convincing" con must be avoided at all costs.

The scam involves sending a text message to the victim that appears to come from Apple.

It reads: "Your Apple ID was locked. To unlock your account verify your information."

The rogue text includes a link that appears to come from Apple.com, but actually directs users to a scam site in Russia.

This website is designed as a perfect copy of Apple's genuine log-in screen.

But it's just a ruse to steal your Apple ID username and password.

Tom Davison, a cyber-security expert at Lookout, said: "This is an example of a mobile phishing SMS designed to steal credentials and compromise an individual's account.

"This type of attack is increasingly common and Lookout witnessed a 37% increase in mobile phishing incidents in Q1-2020 alone.

"Mobile form factors make it much more challenging to spot fake sites from real sites, as URLs may be shortened on screen or not shown at all.

"Users should be very suspicious of unsolicited messages such as these and can take advantage of a mobile security app to provide another layer of defence."

This type of scam is known as "phishing".

It involves contacting many people with some kind of correspondence that appears official, to lure in unsuspecting victims.

And the quality of this scam is impressive, given how accurate the fake Apple log-in page is.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to spot these dodgy scams, cyber-experts warn.

Lookout's Chris Hazelton said: "Mobile phishing is increasing as cybercriminals have recognised mobile users are prime targets on devices with smaller screens, and users are not often expecting to be phished via text.

"It is harder to verify whether a link is credible on a smaller screen, and many users don't know how to preview links on mobile devices.

"While the URLs are a good indicator these are not official Apple sites, once a user has been tricked to click these links, they will find these pages to be very convincing on mobile."

As always, it's important to avoid clicking links in unexpected texts or emails.

Be very wary of where you're inputting login information, and be sure to double-check the URL of websites you use.

If you receive a scam text, don't click any links and delete it immediately.

And if you're worried you've entered your details on a scam website, change your password as soon as you can.

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Delete this text NOW scarily convincing iPhone scam lets hackers hijack your accounts

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