Apple is the darling of an overwhelming majority of phishing criminals
Nick Heyman
Android phones get a bad rep for security issues, chiefly because Google’s platform is a more open operating system. That’s not to say that Apple products are not vulnerable to attacks. Those hackers who cannot break into Apple’s devices have found another way to scam people.
Everyone loves freebies and giveaways. Apple products are an especially wonderful gift because they tend to be pricier than rival products and hefty discounts are few and far between.
Phishing artists — who masquerade as well-known entities to trick people into revealing their credentials and banking details or direct them to malware — are taking advantage of the fact that many people have a weakness for Apple’s smartphones and computers.
Atlas VPN conducted research using data provided by Kaspersky and has found that e-shop phishing scams made up 42 percent of financial phishing cases in 2022.
Phishing entails crafting fraudulent web pages and emails to make them look authentic and legitimate. Pre-made phishing kits are also easily available, making it very easy for bad actors to commit phishing fraud.
The best companies to imitate are those that have a large customer base. Apple is among the top ten companies in the world, so it’s understandable that approximately 60 percent of the phishing attempts made last year used Apple’s name.
Con artists tried to fool people by offering them a chance to win recent models of the iPhone or iMac in return for something as simple as correctly guessing the winner of a tournament like the FIFA World Cup.
Amazon is another favorite of cybercriminals, with an estimated 15 percent of them claiming to be affiliated with the e-commerce giant. Together, Apple and Amazon appear in 75 out of 100 phishing attacks.
6 out of 100 cases involve the e-commerce company Mercari, online marketplace MercadoLibre, and eBay.
After e-shop, the next popular target for financial phishing scams is payment systems, used by 10 percent of phishing criminals. A whopping 84.23 percent of fraudulent URLs for online payment systems target PayPal.
It’s best not to get too happy when you hear about a giveaway. I mean, it’s best to be skeptical about everything these days, but more so when money is involved. Always do thorough research and be very careful when dealing with anyone claiming to belong to Apple, Amazon, PayPal, or any other well-known company.
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