DACO warns about ‘very sophisticated’ new scam involving iphones
By The Star Staff
Acting Consumer Affairs (DACO by its Spanish acronym) Secretary Lisoannette González Ruiz announced on Thursday that the agency’s Consumer Fraud Detection Unit has uncovered a new scam that involves mobile phone accounts on the Apple platform.
“In the past few days, our inspectors … detected a new scheme aimed at defrauding the consumer. The new modality focuses on sending an email ‘alerting’ the consumer that his ‘Apple ID’ has been blocked for security reasons and urges him to review the data, within a period of 24 hours, by clicking on a link provided,” González Ruiz said in a written communication. “The email also highlights that if the ‘correction’ is not made within the term provided (24 hours), the account in this application would be permanently closed.”
The acting DACO chief said the new scheme uses language and even graphic material, such as emblems of the computer company Apple Inc., with the purpose of confusing consumers so that they enter the link sent.
“The sophistication of this scheme is that it uses the Apple Inc. logo, its mailing address in Cupertino, California and even language that is observed in the company’s legitimate emails,” González Ruíz said. “It is a very sophisticated scheme, so we urge any consumer who has received that email to evaluate the content well, not enter the ‘account verification’ link and, if in doubt, access the official website of the company. The fraud is designed to expose your personal data to these criminal elements.”
In December 2022, DACO implemented a new fraud disclosure policy that aims to keep consumers alert to new forms of consumer-directed fraud.
González Ruiz urged consumers to be attentive to the agency’s communications through the DACO Facebook and Twitter social media pages (DACO a tu favor), as well as the agency’s website: www.daco.pr.gov.