Cyber scam claims to give away iPhone 15!

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: With scamsters coming up with innovative and more devious ways to dupe people, a new fraud has surfaced on the internet which falsely claims to offer the newly launched Apple iPhone 15 in giveaways.

The Karnataka Cyber police issued a warning about the new ongoing scam after several people were misled by an online advertisement on social media regarding malicious messages which claimed to offer iPhone 15 for free.

"The scamsters are luring people by asking them to share the message in either 5 WhatsApp groups or 20 friends. In addition, the fraudsters also provide links to click on," said an official attached to the Cybercrime department.

Since its launch on September 12, the iPhone 15 has been making the headlines. Apple's flagship phone was made available to customers from September 22 onwards.

"Please be careful! India Post is not giving any kind of gift through any unofficial portal or link.. For any information related to India Post please follow the official website.. Indiapost.gov. in," reads a warning tweet of India post. Scammers have previously used government websites to carry out malicious attacks.

The cybercrime police officials said that they have observed fraudulent messages about Aadhaar updates, PAN updates, and even bank-related messages that ask users to click on links to update details or claim rewards like credit details.

"Once users click on the links, they are often taken to scam websites and lose money," they said.

"Scammers are taking advantage of the popularity of the recently launched iPhone 15 to deceive innocent or unsuspecting individuals. It is strongly recommended to purchase Apple iPhones from trusted stores and verified e-commerce websites," the officials added. The police officials also advised the citizens to report such matters immediately if they ever get lured into it. "Report the scams to the authorities as soon as possible,'' the officials added.