Yahoo Finance Fact Check: iCloud Storage Scam Email Falsely Claims Your Payment Failed and 'All Your Photos Will Be Deleted'
Claim:
An email message from the display name "iCloud Storage" authentically says that users' photos and videos will be deleted unless payment details are updated.
Rating:
In late October 2023, the latest iteration of iCloud storage scam email messages circulated in users' inboxes. The subject line of one message that we reviewed read, "LAST ALERT: ALL YOUR PHOTOS WILL BE DELETED!"
The message came from a dubious email address that did not end in @apple.com or @icloud.com. The email address showed the display name of "iCloud Storage."
The message began as follows:
iCloud
Failed to attempt payment when renewing your
Cloud storage subscription
0 GB 48.9GB /50 GBWe failed to renew your iCloud storage
Your photos and videos will be deleted!!Your payment method has expired: Update your payment information!
If you don't have enough iCloud space, you can upgrade storage plan
The link in the message led to a page on menoshold.com, a scam website without a homepage. The page read as follows:
Your iCloud Storage Is Full! Your photos, videos, files and private data will be lost.
As part of our loyalty program, you can receive an additional 50GB storage by paying $1.95 one time only before all the files are deleted.
Answer the following 3 simple questions to claim your special offer now.
After filling out a brief survey, the page then displayed the following text:
You will be redirected to the next page to claim the 50GB iCloud Storage with $1.95 only.
Fill in your basic information and pay $1.95 with credit card or debit card. The 50GB iCloud storage will be added to your current device.
The scam then led to a final page on hyperimmunizing.com, also a scam website with no homepage. On the page, we noted that the terms and conditions indicated the entire ruse was a hidden subscription scam, meaning that scammers were attempting to fool users into signing up for recurring monthly fees for services they did not choose. The terms did not mention a specific monthly cost or the types of services that would be provided, but did say at least some users would be "automatically billed every thirty (30) days to the credit card you provided."
For readers who might be looking for customer support information, the hyperimmunizing.com website showed the phone number (833) 282-4266 and the email address support@bigprizestoday.com. A representative reached by the phone number only told Snopes that they were a third-party company that was located in Southeast Asia and that they provide services for U.S.-based firms.
We advise users who submitted their credit card information to contact their credit card companies to alert them of this activity.
If iCloud users have questions for Apple about their storage subscriptions, we recommend visiting the official website for iCloud Support. Apple also published a page about how to recognize scams that impersonate the company.
Sources:
“Recognize and Avoid Phishing Messages, Phony Support Calls, and Other Scams.” Apple Support, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204759.
