The latest must have gadgets are often used as the bait for a number of different online scams, and the announcement of Apple’s most expensive phone to date, the iPhone X, will have many scammers excited.
With features including wireless charging, improved support for augmented reality apps and ‘animojis’ (animated emojis, for the uninitiated) the iPhone X is expected to be one of the fastest selling phones on record. Announced alongside the iPhone 8 models, the iPhone X is expected to hit stores in early November 2017.
And this is all great news from scammers who are going to use the iPhone X to try and lure victims to their cyber traps. Here is a list of the more popular scams you can expect.
Perhaps one of the most popular scams to exploit the anticipation surrounding the latest technology gadgets are Facebook posts that claim you can win one (or several!) by simply liking and sharing a Facebook post.
This is called like-farming and is a popular method used by scammers to lure Facebook users into following a page and sharing that page’s content. Like-farming pages can often accumulate hundreds of thousands of shares using this tactic, and their Facebook pages can become very popular indeed.
Commonly these scams will try and lure Facebook users to visiting spammy marketing webpages that are designed to harvest a user’s personal information, making them the target for marketing calls and emails.
You’ll more than likely stumble across this scheme when a pop-up advert appears suddenly, informing you that you’ve been specially selected to receive a brand new iPhone X to test.
A previous scam using the iPhone 7 as bait.
These scams often use iPhone models as bait, especially before or during their launch. However, it’s a classic bait-and-switch scam. A free iPhone X is used as the bait – but when you click the link for more information, you’re taken to the switch. Now you’re asked for all your contact information to enter a competition or sweepstake by a marketing company baying for all your contact information so they can bombard you with spam. And the chances of you actually getting a free iPhone X (or any prize) are slim to none.
These scams are also known to ask for your credit card information so a small shipping fee can be paid, and this information is consequently embroiled in hidden and hard-to-cancel subscriptions.
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Similar to the scheme above, these will usually appear as spammy adverts luring you to spammy webpages claiming to offer cheap iPhone’s. But it’s still a bait-and-switch scam – meaning you’re still going to be lured to spam webpages after your contact details.
When it comes to buying tech and gadgets online, sticking to trusted, reputable websites is an absolute must. Scam websites offering all sorts of products “on the cheap” are everywhere, and they’re either trying to steal your identity, your money or are just going to sell you counterfeit products.
Never purchase electronics (or anything!) on websites you’ve never heard of and don’t trust. Always do your research first and remember that if a deal appears to be too god to be true, then it probably is!
Buying and selling high priced items on auction or classified sites like eBay, Gumtree and CraigsList comes with its own set of dangers, so be extremely cautious if trying to get an iPhone X on these sites. Remember the phone doesn’t come out until November, so if any listing claims to be able to provide such a phone before that date, it’s probably a scam.
Also watch out for the common trick where scammers are actually selling either a picture of the phone or just the packaging, but sneakily word their listings to trick buyers into believing they’re actually buying the phone itself.
