scam posts

Filed under: Odds and ends, Security, MobileMe

Beware of MobileMe phishing scam

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on May 18th, 2009

Several TUAW readers have contacted us about a MobileMe phishing scam. These readers are getting an email that looks surprisingly official (see below). When they click on the Log In button, they're going to a page that has already been shut down. That might not always be the case.

Never, never, NEVER click on a link or button in an email asking for personal or financial information -- that's a sure way to become a victim of a phishing scam. If you receive a note like this, log into your MobileMe account and update your billing info directly, if it really needs to be updated. Do NOT click on the button.

A couple quick ways to see where a link or button in an email is going to take you are to hover your mouse over a link to see the real URL, or to right-click a button and select properties from the menu to see what URL is embedded in the button. Be careful out there, folks -- there are a lot of unscrupulous people who would love to take all of your money.

A tip of the hat to Noah for supplying the screenshot!

Tags: mobileme, phishing, scam

Filed under: Odds and ends, Apple

Apple scammed out of 9,000 shuffles

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Mar 23rd, 2009

Looks like Mike Teevee kept busy after visiting Mr. Wonka's factory. Somehow a guy in Kalamazoo, Michigan figured out a sequence of 9,000 iPod shuffle serial numbers, rang up Apple and promptly requested 9,000 "replacements." Apple shipped him the units, and he promptly sold them below MSRP to a bunch of very happy and blissfully ignorant customers. Needless to say, Mr. Teevee (real name Nicholas Arthur Woodhams) will be visiting Mr. Wonka's prison next.

The scam worked for long enough to acquire over 9,000 shuffles, Macworld reports, because of Apple's return policy. Woodhams also used a prepaid VISA gift card and a UPS store mailbox to work his magic. Clever, but how long did he think this would last?

[Via Engadget and Macworld]

Special note for purists: I spelled Teevee without the "a" as I am referencing Mike's numerical prowess in the 2005 movie adaptation, not the original character from the Dahl novel or 1971 film. Thanks for noticing.

Tags: ipod shuffle, IpodShuffle, scam, Where:Kalamazoo Michigan, Where:kalamazooMichigan

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Hardware, OS

Open Tech is up for sale

by Cory Bohon (RSS feed) on Aug 26th, 2008

Just as quickly as Open Tech opened up, the Mac clone creator has decided to put itself up for sale. Of course, we're not sure who would buy a company that could be sued at anytime by the Mothership.

Open Tech has information about the sale on their website. For just $50,000 (payable via PayPal, oddly enough), you will receive the following:

Open Tech name
Open Tech website
Trade secrets (as in secrets to ripping off Apple)
Press contacts (are they selling the actual people?)
2 Open Tech machines with the OS of your choice

This information comes on the heels of Mac clone maker Psystar being sued by Apple for copyright infringement among other things. So, if you are looking to buy a company with built-in legal trouble, Open Tech looks like it could be a good scam deal.

[via MacNN]

Tags: clone, company, computer, deal, Mac, Mac OS X, MacOsX, Open Tech, OpenTech, Psystar, scam

Filed under: App Store

Sketchy site offers iPhone apps 'at a price that's a steal'

by Robert Palmer (RSS feed) on Jul 22nd, 2008

iPhoneApps.org, currently the top Google result when searching for "iPhone apps," offers 10 apps for $25, including much-sought-after MMS and video recording capability.

But hold on there, pardner, because it looks like they make you jailbreak your phone to get the apps to work. According to a post by a disgruntled customer at Yahoo! Answers, the site is only selling ZiPhone, and instructions on how to install the apps shown on their homepage.

If this post is correct, this reeks of scamminess, since nothing mentions ZiPhone anywhere on their site before purchase. ZiPhone is also freeware. Not cool.

Apple and The Jobsmeister also made it pretty clear that the App Store (via iTunes) was the only place to get apps for your iPhone or iPod touch. Now, we all know that's not necessarily the case, but to base a business around breaking the rules historically hasn't worked.

[Via PC World and Gedeon Maheux, the latter with NSFW language.]

Tags: apps, iphone, iphoneapps.org, scam, ziphone

Filed under: iPhone

eBay scammers target iPhone fans

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Mar 20th, 2007

People, people, people. The phone's not shipping yet. It's not out yet. It's not even approved by the FCC! So why -- why on earth -- would anyone with the slightest degree of common sense bid almost one thousand dollars on eBay just for the privilege of getting ripped off? Wow.

Three auctions for iPhones from the same single seller... shame on you, rgonzales23455; no wonder you've got no feedback. "Please note: I have 6 of these phones available for immediate shipping.. I accept Paypal only for this auction.. Free shipping via USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation.. Will ship immediately after payment clears Monday - Friday." Uh-huh, sure you will. These auctions close soon, folks, get your bids in now -- NOT.

Thanks to reader David Miller, who took time off from his Mac mini car integration project to give us the heads-up on the sad state of iPhone auctions over eBay way. As the expression goes here in Brooklyn: "Oy."

Update 9am EDT: The original auction has closed, with a winning bid of $1125... *sigh*.

Tags: ebay, iphone, scam

Filed under: Humor, Internet, Macbook Pro

M-M-M-MacBook Pro eBay scam

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jun 7th, 2006

If you remember the P-P-P-Powerbook scam last year, then you're going to love the new and improved M-M-M-Macbook scam. Once again, a Something Awful forum dweller by the name of isnoop has documented quite the adventure involving a MacBook Pro sale on eBay, and the intrepid scammer who didn't quite get what he ordered. Check out the first post in the forum for links to the key events of the scam, and marvel at this wonderful entertainment the internets make available.

[thanks C Keigher!]

Tags: ebay, engadget, humor, m-m-m-macbook pro, M-m-m-macbookPro, macbook, paypal, scam, something aweful, SomethingAweful

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.

Learn More

TUAW flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

Featured Galleries

TUAW bloggers (30 days)

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Steven Sande	44	3
2	Dave Caolo	38	4
3	Mel Martin	32	0
4	Mike Schramm	31	0
5	Michael Rose	19	27
6	Josh Carr	17	24
7	Victor Agreda, Jr.	17	6
8	TJ Luoma	15	27
9	Erica Sadun	12	1
10	Joachim Bean	12	3
11	Sang Tang	12	0
12	Ken Ray	11	2
13	Aron Trimble	9	3
14	David Winograd	9	4
15	Chris Rawson	8	0
16	Megan Lavey	7	9
17	John Burke	6	3
18	Brett Terpstra	4	5
19	Casey Johnston	4	0
20	Lauren Hirsch	4	0

More Apple Analysis

AAPL on BloggingStocks The Apple category feed from BloggingStocks.com
AAPL Quote, News & Summary The AAPL financials page from AOL Money and Finance
iPhone analysis from BloggingStocks iPhone tag feed from BloggingStocks
Macintosh news and reviews on Download Squad The Macintosh category feed from Download Squad

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)