iPhone 5 'Tester' Scam Spreads Via Text
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CREDIT: Apple
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This is not a test: Online scammers are peddling promises of the iPhone 5 to a pool of "testers," and they're rounding up their potential victims by going straight to the source — their iPhones.
If you've received a text message on your iPhone offering you the opportunity to become an iPhone 5 tester, ignore it, Graham Cluley from the security vendor Sophos wrote in a company blog. You may be tempted to follow through with it — it came in a text directly to you! It must be the real thing — but that would be a poor, and potentially dangerous, decision.
To obtain your free iPhone 5 to test — an incredibly unlikely possibility, as Apple doesn't do public tests of its products, and hasn't even announced the iPhone 5 yet — the scam tells people to visit a website and enter the code 4444. From there, the enticing phishing scam follows the usual trajectory — a bogus Web page asks for any number of personal details you shouldn't disclose.
"You're being duped into handing over your personal information which could be usedfor, well … who knows what," Cluley said.
As Apple gets closer to announcing the iPhone 5, scams like these are sure to pop up frequently. Make sure to treat unsolicited, "exclusive" offers about the iPhone 5 with a healthy dose of skepticism. If you receive text message spam, report it to your cellphone carrier, and monitor your bill for any fraudulent activity.
