| Cult of Mac

Would-be iPhone owner ends up with cracked tile instead

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iPhone 12 Pro Max review: The industrial design will leave you breathless.
This is an iPhone 12 Pro Max. It's not for protecting the walls in your bathroom.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

A would-be iPhone customer recently had a nasty surprise when the iPhone 12 Pro Max she ordered from a carrier turned out to be a broken tile upon arrival at her home.

UK-based Olivia Parkinson shared the news on Twitter with the caption “Don’t you just love a new phone day to then receive this… iPhone 12 ProMax who?”

Fraudster posing as Apple tech support steals $16,000 from Mac owner

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Fraudster steals $16k from victim posing as Apple tech support
"Hello ma'am, this is, ugh, John from your bank. Could you tell me your account number?"
Photo: Donald Tong/Pexels CC

A hacker recently stole $16,000 from a Mac owner in Cape Coral, Florida, by posing as Apple tech support.

The fraudster phoned the targeted individual and prompted the victim to hand over personal information. They said they would use this to solve assorted problems with the person’s Mac. Instead, they stole money that the victim may well never get back.

Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam

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Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam
Scam cost Apple up to $1.2 million.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

An ex-Oregon engineering student from China who plead guilty to a scam involving counterfeit iPhones has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.

30-year-old Quan Jiang and another student imported fake iPhones. They swapped these out for legit devices under Apple’s warranty scheme. The working iPhones were then sent to China, and they were rewarded with a cut of the profits. The scam reportedly cost Apple up to $1.2 million.

Malicious ‘Apple Care’ phishing scam targets iCloud users

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Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The latest phishing scam targets iCloud users, trying to scare them into installing malicious software on their iOS devices.

Some users have received emails recently that push them to fake Apple Support websites. Once there, the sites prompt them to call “Apple Care” because their devices are supposedly “locked for illegal activity.” Here’s how to avoid the scam.

No, the IRS won’t ask you to pay your ‘back taxes’ in iTunes vouchers

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iTunes
Don't fall for this scam!
Photo: Apple

Do you find it suspicious that the Internal Revenue Service would allow you to pay back taxes with iTunes gift cards? That’s because it’s not true, and is in fact a scam.

Sadly, it’s a scam that people appear to be falling for. That’s why the Treasury Department has issued a scam alert to point out that, “Any caller requesting taxpayers place funds on an iTunes gift cards or other prepaid cards to pay taxes or fees is an indicator or fraudulent activity.”

Beware the App Store’s Cuphead scam

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Cuphead
News of this game's arrival on iOS was too good to be true.
Photo: Studio MDHR

Retro-style run-and-gun game Cuphead has landed in the App Store. Unfortunately, it’s not legit!

One of the Xbox’s best games, the retro-inspired Cuphead arrived on consoles back in September, and immediately became a massive hit — thanks to its combination of addictive gameplay and vintage 1930s-style graphics. Sadly, you’ll have to wait to play the real thing on iOS.

Apple and Google remove 330 apps linked to trading scams

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France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
Removal request came from Australia, but is a worldwide problem.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple and Google have removed a total of 330 binary trading apps from their respective app stores, following intervention from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

Australia’s securities regulator requested the removal of the apps based on fraud investigations, concerning certain apps which allow users to make bets about whether or not shares and currency will rise or fall. While some apps that do this are legitimate, others have been linked to scams.

Beware phone scammers who warn of iCloud hack

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Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Got a call from “Apple Support” to say your iCloud account was hacked? Hang up and ignore it.

Phone scammers are calling unsuspecting iPhone and iPad users and trying to trick them into handing over their iCloud account details. Once they have them, they can purchase whatever they want, and it’s you who foots the bill.