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Privacy Tip #488 – Account Change Phishing Alerts from “Apple” Are Tricking Users

By Linn Foster Freedman on April 23, 2026
Posted in Privacy Tips

A new, yet old, scheme has been quite successful and users should beware. If you get an account change message from Apple, be on high alert that it is fake and malicious.

According to Bleeping Computer, the scheme involves a threat actor using an Apple support email (e.g., appleid@id.apple.com) to send phishing emails to unsuspecting victims alerting them to an account change and that a new phone has been purchased. The threat actor creates an Apple ID and “inserts the phishing message into the account’s personal information fields, splitting the text across the first and last name fields.” The message looks legitimate and gives the user a telephone number to call to cancel the transaction.

When the user calls the number, the threat actor tries to “convince victims that their accounts have been compromised and may instruct them to install remote access software or provide financial information.” That leads to the threat actor being able to obtain bank account information, steal data, or deploy malware onto the user’s phone.

Bleeping Computer concludes that “as a general rule, users should treat unexpected account alerts claiming purchases or urging them to call support numbers with caution, especially if they did not initiate any recent changes or if they contain unusual email addresses.”

Tags: account alerts, Apple, Apple support, Bleeping Computer, fraud, personally identifiable information, phishing, Privacy Tip, social engineering, threat actors
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Photo of Linn Foster Freedman Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her…

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.

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