Overview
The victim expects to get their lost or stolen phone returned.
How It Works
The scammer steals a phone but lacks the security code to open the phone.
The scammer then impersonates Apple and sends the victim imposter web pages that claim to have information about the location of the lost phone.
The scam is designed to get the victim to give up personal information that would allow the fraudster to unlock the phone and steal the victim's information.
Related Articles
Week 44: Lost iPhone – the phishing trap that follows, Swiss National Cybersecurity Centre
Related Crime Schemes
A particular instance of this scam may embed one or more of these related schemes.
Data Loss or Theft: Any scheme that results in victim losing data/scammer stealing data. Data in this context can mean login credentials, credit card details, or other personal or corporate information.
Fraudulent Platform: Any scheme that relies on custom built software that assists the crime. Includes fraudulent trading platforms, fraudulent clickworking platforms, and the like.
Victim Targeting Context
The scammer may use one or more of the following techniques to reach the victim.
Targeted Conversational Approach: The scammer approaches the victim through targeted, topical online conversation.
Social Engineering: Psychological Manipulations
The scammer may use one or more of these psychological techniques to accomplish the scam.
Abuse of authority position: The scammer employs an abuse of a position of authority to convince the victim to go along with the scam.
Codes or Jargon: The scammer uses official-looking codes or technical jargon as part of the scam to increase appearance of legitimacy or to confuse the victim.
Threats/Fear/Extortion/Blackmail: The scammer employs threats to increase fear in the victim so that they will go along with the scam. Threats can include financial loss, legal action, arrest, account closure, extortion, blackmail.
Urgency: The scammer employs urgency to increase the likelihood that the victim will take action.
Social Engineering: Impersonation Techniques
The scammer may impersonate one or more of the following groups as part of the scam.
Business or NonProfit: The scammer impersonates a business or nonprofit.
Technical Support/Tech: The scammer impersonates a technical support worker.