Scam: Scammers Offer Fake Discounts on New Touchscreen MacBook
On Friday, November 6, sales of the new MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen display will start in the world. Even before the laptop appeared in stores, scammers began using interest in the novelty to create fake online stores and Telegram channels. Users are offered to buy a discounted device, order delivery from abroad, or participate in a gadget raffle. Experts warn that such proposals may conceal attempts to steal money and personal data of Russians.
How to deceive MacBook buyers
The attackers are creating websites that copy the design of well-known trading platforms, and Telegram channels with offers for exclusive deliveries of the new MacBook, Izvestia found out. Customers are promised to deliver the laptop directly from abroad, and special prices or limited pre-order shipments are offered. A full or partial prepayment is required to make a purchase. After the money transfer, the seller disappears. Sometimes he continues to demand additional amounts, ostensibly for shipping, customs clearance, or insurance.
— Fraudsters don't even need to hack into devices or banking systems. It is enough to convince a person to voluntarily transfer money. Today, almost any attacker can use artificial intelligence to create a high—quality website, advertising images, reviews, and even fake videos," said Mikhail Shurygin, chairman of the ROCIT Commission on Cloud Technologies, Hosting, and Information Security.
An additional danger is posed by fake payment pages through which bank card data is stolen, as well as offers to transfer money to the seller's personal card.
According to analysts at the Smart Business Alert (SBA) service of EA PRO, from October 1 to November 5, 50 domains with mentions of MacBooks were registered. The peak occurred on October 28, the day of the announcement of the new model: then five such domains appeared.
— New technology from such popular manufacturers as Apple is a reason for scammers to launch a phishing wave. Laptops are less popular than smartphones: they are less likely to be changed, so scammers build fewer schemes around them. The main scenarios are the sale of discounted goods, shipping from other countries, and sweepstakes with a new MacBook as the main prize. The attackers' goal is to get money by collecting personal data and bank details along the way," Sergey Trukhachev, the head of the service, told Izvestia.
One of the reasons for the vulnerability of Russian buyers is the lack of direct official sales of Apple equipment. Devices are supplied through intermediaries and parallel import channels, so it can be difficult to distinguish a bona fide seller from a fraudster.
Another deception scheme was discovered at Kaspersky Lab. The attackers are sending out emails styled as urgent notifications about ordering a MacBook Pro. They indicate the purchase price, order number and delivery time, and also inform that the goods will allegedly be sent to an address unknown to the recipient. The expectation is that a person will be afraid of an unauthorized debit and will act without checking the information.
The letter suggests calling the specified "support service" number. During a conversation, scammers try to convince a person to disclose confidential information or transfer money under the pretext of canceling an order. The absence of a suspicious link makes it difficult for security tools to automatically detect such emails.
— Do not call unknown numbers indicated in notifications about purchases allegedly made on behalf of the recipient. It is also important to check the website address, not leave credentials on unverified resources, and not download files from suspicious emails," warned Anna Osipova, the company's senior spam analyst.
How not to lose money
An additional risk factor may be the approach of sales. On the eve of Black Friday and the 11.11 promotion, customers are waiting for noticeable discounts and can more easily believe in the offer to purchase an expensive novelty significantly cheaper than the market price.
— When the demand for a coveted gadget is faced with limited supply and high prices, a favorable environment for deception is created. Fraudsters use fake stores, channels on social networks and messengers, and artificially create a sense of urgency," said Igor Bederov, chairman of the Council for Combating Technological Offenses of the National Security Council of Russia, founder of the Internet Search company.
However, the high starting price of the device may not last long. Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, believes that as shipments increase, the cost of the new MacBook Pro in the Russian market will decrease. As an example, he cites the iPhone Duo, whose price in the gray market has already dropped to about 200 thousand rubles — in fact, to the international level.
According to the analyst's forecast, the same thing can happen with a laptop.: At first, the device will be available in limited quantities and at a high price, but then the expansion of the offer will lead to cheaper prices. In addition, the touchscreen is not yet one of the functions for which most buyers are willing to overpay when buying a premium laptop.
IT expert Sergey Pomortsev is also skeptical about the relevance of the innovation. In his opinion, the appearance of touch-sensitive OLED displays in MacBooks may indicate a crisis of Apple's ideas: the company adds functions to expensive equipment that do not necessarily meet the needs of the mass consumer. Therefore, the real demand for the new product may be lower than the manufacturer's expectations.
Experts advise to be wary of offers whose price is significantly lower than the market price. When choosing a store, you should check its legal details, work history, and independent reviews. A beautiful website, positive comments, and a video demonstration of the product alone do not confirm the seller's good faith.
It is especially risky to buy equipment from sites that exist only in messengers, require full prepayment, or offer to transfer money to a personal card.
— You need to pay attention to attempts to intimidate with an imminent price increase or messages that the product is about to run out. You should not trust stores that operate exclusively on full prepayment and enter payment data on unverified resources," said Daria Lavrova, senior analyst at Positive Technologies International Analytics Group.
Mikhail Shurygin also recommends purchasing expensive electronics from well-known sellers with a verifiable history and clear return conditions. Security solutions on devices will help block access to phishing resources and downloading malicious files. Ultimately, scammers are selling not so much a MacBook as a feeling that the buyer has found a rare opportunity to purchase a sought-after novelty more profitably than others. It is the desire not to miss such an opportunity that often makes people neglect checking the seller and risk large sums, the expert believes.
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