A Georgia resident has taken a guilty plea to charges of hacking numerous Apple accounts belonging to high-profile athletes and musicians and stealing their credit card information, according to Dark Reading. The man sent thousands of phishing emails to NBA and NFL players, college athletes, and rappers, dozens of whom fell for the scam.
The emails impersonated Apple customer support and asked the recipients to send their login credentials or the answers to their security challenges. The man then used the victims’ credit card information to rack up thousands of dollars in personal expenses and money transfers.
"The high-profile victims in this case are an example that no matter who you are, hackers like Ford are trying to get your personal information," said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Division. "This case demonstrates the need to be careful in protecting personal information and passwords, especially in response to suspicious emails. Hopefully this is a lesson for everyone, not just the victims in this case."
Everyone is susceptible to social engineering, and people need to be taught how to avoid falling for phishing attacks. New-school security awareness training can give your employees the ability to recognize attempts to steal their information.
Dark Reading has the story: https://www.darkreading.com/risk/man-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-apple-accounts-of-nfl-and-nba-players-rappers-/d/d-id/1334281