Scam - Fake App Store Purchase Emails - How to remove

Among the scam emails being sent to Apple users, the App Store purchase scam is relatively popular. These fake emails tell you that you’re about to be charged money for a purchase that you made on the App Store. They suggest that you can cancel the purchase if you’re quick about it.

The goal of the App Store purchase scam is to get you to fill out a form that asks for a lot of personal information. That information is then shared not with Apple, but with the scammers who are responsible for teh fake emails.

In short about scam emails:

Threat type	Phishing, scam.
Dangers posed by the App Store purchase scam	The emails might lead to sites that steal personal information, this could result in stolen money, hacked accounts, and more phishing attacks in the future.
How to recognize scam emails	The emails talk about orders that are not in your purchase history, the cancellation form asks for way too much information, there’s no confirmation email after you use the fake cancelation form.
How to protect yourself from the purchase scam	Don’t reveal your personal information to unknown websites, reset your passwords and protect your payment info in case you fell for a scam, protect your Mac from malware with apps like (Combo Cleaner).

About the scam emails

Fake notifications about purchases on the App store

Apple users are always being targeted by scam emails. The Apple ID Locked scam is alive and well, still tormenting users. The “Your Apple ID has just been used to purchase…” scam is less popular.

Unfortunately, the theme of App Store purchases is pretty popular among scammers. The scam we’re talking about here doesn’t talk about your Apple ID and it doesn’t threaten that your account is going to be locked. It’s a little more insidious.

These Apple payment scam emails talk about orders that you didn’t make. They mention how much you might be billed for these orders.

The goal of these emails is to scare you and to get you to use their fake order cancellation form. After seeing one of these emails, you are supposed to think that someone stole your credentials and is using your money to buy things from the App store. You’re then supposed to use the cancellation form linked in the emails. The fake cancellation form is used to steal your personal information.

At worst, these fake purchase notifications can be used to steal your banking information and your identity. The good news is that if you didn’t fill out the fake cancellation form, your information should be safe.

 

How to recognize the fake emails

If you get emails that say that you’ve made purchases on the Apple Store but you know that you haven’t made such purchases, the emails might be fake. Check your purchase history: See your purchase history for the App Store, iTunes Store and more. If the item from the email is not in your history, then the email is likely fake.

Another aspect of fake emails that betrays them is that they have attachments. Apple doesn’t usually send attachments with their emails. The scam emails, on the other hand, often include PDF, Word files, and other attachments.

The most suspicious thing about the fake Apple Store purchase messages is the cancellation form that they lead you to. This form asks for all sorts of personal information: your name, your birthday, your address, and your payment information. This is far too much for something as simple as canceling an order.

That some words are spelled in an unusual way is another sign that the emails did not come from Apple.

The fake emails usually begin by talking about your order, like this

We’ve received your last order on [date]

Then they usually mention the price. And at the bottom, they suggest that if you want to cancel this purchase, you need to open the attached receipt.

You can check detail of your order by opening PDF file.

It’s best to avoid opening that file. Even though they usually just include the link to the fake cancellation form, malicious emails are used to spread more serious malware, such as trojans – yes, even to Macs.

The phishing site linked in the fake emails is a page that belongs to cybercriminals but is styled to look just like a real Apple site, with the logos and user interface copied from the real Apple sites. However, if you click on the menu items or the Terms of Service links, they likely fail to work.

How to protect yourself from App Store purchase scams

Don’t reveal your personal information to untrustworthy websites and do not fill out that fake cancellation form that comes with these scam emails.

If you did fill out the form and revealed your personal information to scammers, then do not delay:

• change the password used for your Apple ID,
• contact your bank and ask for advice.

Follow Apple’s advice on how to Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams. Don’t give the attackers time to take advantage of your stolen information.

To check your device for spyware and other malware, you can scan it with an anti-malware app, such as Combo Cleaner. Anti-malware apps can tell you if there are malicious apps on your device.

However, anti-malware apps can’t always protect you from scam emails or phishing sites. There’s just no easy way to stop all phishing emails, although modern spam filters do a pretty good job. So, just try to stay vigilant. Remember to never share your personal details when you’re not comfortable doing so.

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