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FTC Issues Warning About Fake Apple and Amazon Calls

By Laura Tucker
Fake Apple Calls Featured

Apple must be moving up in the world. While a popular scam used to have operators calling people pretending to be from Microsoft support, now they pretend to be from Apple, as well as Amazon. The Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning that people are receiving fake phone calls with the scammers pretending to be from Apple or Amazon support.

Fake Apple and Amazon Support Calls

Scams at one point were more likely to hit Windows users because they were using the more popular operating system. There was no payoff for the scammers to target Apple users.

I received those calls in the past and was able to shut them down really quickly. “Windows support” would tell me they found an issue with my computer. I stumped them when I said I didn’t own a PC with Windows.

Fake Apple Calls 357

The newest scam, however, is not fake Windows calls but are instead fake Apple calls or fake Amazon calls. Apple computers and devices have become much more popular. And no matter which operating system you use, you are more likely to have an Amazon account than not.

One of the recent scams features victims getting a recorded message telling them that there has been suspicious activity on their Apple iCloud account. They are advised that their account may have been breached.

Another of the scams has victims receiving a recorded message from Amazon. The message informs them that there is something wrong with their account that could either be a suspicious purchase, a lost shipment, or an order that can’t be fulfilled.

Fake Apple Calls Coffee
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The victims in these scams are told to press 1 to speak with someone or are given a number to call. This is an effort to steal personal information, such as credentials or credit card numbers.

FTC Advice

The FTC advises that if you receive a call or message that you were not suspecting pertaining to a problem with one of your accounts, that you should not follow the directions on the call. You should not press a number to connect to customer support and should not call any phone number you’re given. As always, you should never give out your personal information.

However, if you do believe that there may be a problem with one of your accounts, then you should contact Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, or whatever company your account is with.

If you’re looking for future information on how to avoid fake calls pretending to be from Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, or other companies, read on to learn how to combat cell phone phishing attacks.

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Laura Tucker Avatar
Laura Tucker
Laura has spent more than 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with the majority of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past 35 years. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.

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