Users of Apple’s online MobileMe service are once again the target of false e-mails sent by phishers attempting to persuade Mac users to divulge private information.
The e-mail purports to come from Apple, offering some friendly assistance with renewing MobileMe subscriptions; all that’s needed is your credit card information.
“Attempts to charge your credit card have failed,” the false e-mail mourns.
While the warning to never click on links (even in legitimately-looking e-mail) is often heeded, malicious hackers rely on the minority of Mac users that dismiss such security fears.
This isn’t the first time users of Apple’s online service have been the focus of phishers. In April of last year, another “Apple” e-mail was sent warning MobileMe users of a snag in billing.
“We were unable to process your most recent payment. Did you recently change your bank, phone number or credit card?” hackers asked.
This latest phishing attempt comes as Apple tries to retain Windows-based MobileMe users. Apple announced Wednesday it improved MobileMe’s syncing capability for Windows Outlook users. The update of MobileMe’s Control Panel for Windows follows news that Microsoft is readying a rival service, MyPhone.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
