How Apple and Microsoft’s trusted brands are being used to scam you online

Published

1 month ago

September 25, 2024

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No, it’s not really Apple or Microsoft popping up on your screen to tell you your computer has been infected.

It’s scammers trying to convince you to call them and divulge sensitive information, which may include passwords, bank or credit account information or Social Security numbers.

“They use the reputation of the brand [for legitimacy purposes] to make it seem more real,” said Cliff Steinhauer, director of information security and engagement at The National Cybersecurity Alliance. “Because, who doesn’t know Microsoft or Apple as a brand?”

Consumers are likely to see more of these types of scams now, in the wake of Apple’s recent release of its new iPhone. There tends to be a rise in scams when a new product or version is released because it’s easier for scammers taking advantage of news headlines to strike while the iron is hot, said Nati Tal, head of Guardio Labs, which identifies, monitors and mitigates internet security threats. “In a very small time period, they will get tons and tons of potential victims.”

The scams can affect anyone, but as has been the case with other recent tech-linked consumer crime waves, such as bitcoin ATM fraud, the elderly are especially vulnerable. Last year, nearly 18,000 victims aged 60 and over reported tech support scams to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, making it the most widely reported kind of elder fraud in 2023. Fraud losses from tech support scams against the elderly amounted to $590 million of losses — and that’s only reported cases.

These types of scams are getting even harder to spot because of AI, especially when the scheme uses a known company logo to make it look legit. Here’s what people should know to protect themselves from scams targeting commonly used, trusted tech brands:

Never assume any online ad is authentic

People can be duped in a number of ways. One way is malvertising, in which bad actors pay for ads on search engines like Google or Microsoft’s Bing. These rogue ads can appear as sponsored content, or in small print as an ad, during a search engine query.

So, for example, a consumer searching for “Microsoft support” might be shown a fake Microsoft ad with a number to call. By calling this number, people are playing right into scammers’ hands, according to Malwarebytes, which has identified a number of these schemes. Malwarebytes also uncovered a malicious ad campaign targeting Mac users looking for support or extended warranty from Apple.

“People have all sorts of issues with their computers and they look for help, but a lot of the time the numbers they find will be a scammer’s number, not the real one,” said Jérôme Segura, senior director of research at Malwarebytes.

Pop-ups, emails from brands you know are often suspect

Tech scams also ensnare unsuspecting consumers through phishing emails for renewal offers that seem to come from legit places, including Microsoft, McAfee, PayPal and Norton. These emails could be laced with malware if users click on a link, or they could be phishing attempts to get more information from the individual. Sometimes simply opening the attachment could infect a consumer’s computer with malware.

The other type of tech-support scam happens when a window pops up on a user’s computer to warn of an “infection.”

There’s often audio associated with this type of scam to instill a sense of urgency for consumers to call the number listed in the pop-up. There may also be a button that says “return to safety,” but when clicked, what was a regular browser window — with the address bar and window title visible — becomes a full-screen page, with a message about not rebooting the computer because it’s infected, Segura said.

“Imagine being the user and hearing the non-stop audio playing in the background saying your computer is compromised. This is very stressful and it will lead people to make a bad decision in calling the fake phone number,” he said.

Once people call, they often are manipulated into sharing personal information such as their credit card number or giving scammers access to their computer.

How to click without getting into online trouble

For starters, consumers should avoid clicking on sponsored ads obtained during a Google or Bing query. (Hint: These often appear at the top of the search results page, but they can also appear further down, so look out for the word “sponsored” or “ad” depending on the search engine.) Consumers should also avoid clicking on random links sent in an email, even if they think they know the sender. And don’t open attachments unless you’re sure you know what’s being sent.

In the case of a pop-up warning of a computer virus, Segura said the general rule is to only click on the browser’s own icons which are typically at the very top right corner. “Never click on any other ‘X’ within the web page itself, as it is fake,” he said.

If people do click on the X or have clicked on “return to safety,” the webpage will likely go into full-screen mode. “If that happens, you must first exit out of full screen by long pressing on the keyboard’s escape button (Esc) and only then can you finally X out,” Segura said.

Internet browsers come with basic protections, so be sure to keep your browsers updated. You might also want to install a free, or paid-protection service that covers multiple types of threats.

What to do if you fall for a tech scam

Next steps depend on the type of information you shared with scammers. If, for instance, you called a number for “Microsoft” or “Apple” and gave usernames and passwords, change those. If you only shared your name, address and phone number, it’s not necessary to do anything because this information is readily available to scammers through data brokers, Jim Routh, chief trust officer at identity security company Saviynt, explained in an email.

Consumers who share their credit card number, expiration date and CVV, should call their credit card company’s fraud line to report the incident and request a new credit card be overnighted.

If credentials are shared with the fraudster for other online accounts, the password for each should be immediately changed. It’s also advisable for consumers to freeze their credit with each of the three primary credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This is a good practice to do for your whole family and especially for children under 18, even in the absence of a particular threat. It’s also advisable to place a fraud alert with one of the credit bureaus, which will relay the information to all three.

People who are concerned they installed malware who don’t have anti-virus protection should choose a reputable brand and install it, Routh said. If they lack technical sophistication, they can call the Geek Squad or a similar service to scan the workstation and find the malware to remove. Consumers who have given remote computer access to scammers should bring their device to a service professional for assistance, he added.

Technology

Nvidia to join Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing rival chipmaker Intel

Published

11 hours ago

November 1, 2024

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Nvidia to join Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing rival chipmaker Intel

CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, speaks during the launch of the supercomputer Gefion, where the new AI supercomputer has been established in collaboration with EIFO and NVIDIA at Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal in Kastrup, Denmark October 23, 2024.

Ritzau Scanpix | Mads Claus Rasmussen | Via Reuters

Nvidia is replacing rival chipmaker Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a shakeup to the blue-chip index that reflects the boom in artificial intelligence and a major shift in the semiconductor industry.

Intel shares were down 1% in extended trading on Friday. Nvidia shares rose 1%.

The switch will take place on Nov. 8. Also, Sherwin Williams will replace Dow Inc. in the index, S&P Dow Jones said in a statement.

Nvidia shares have climbed over 170% so far in 2024 after jumping roughly 240% last year, as investors have rushed to get a piece of the AI chipmaker. Nvidia’s market cap has swelled to $3.3 trillion, second only to Apple among publicly traded companies.

Companies including Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon are purchasing Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), such as the H100, in massive quantities to build clusters of computers for their AI work. Nvidia’s revenue has more than doubled in each of the past five quarters, and has at least tripled in three of them. The company has sginaled that demand for its next-generation AI GPU called Blackwell is “insane.”

With the addition of Nvidia, four of the six trillion-dollar tech companies are now in the index. The two not in the Dow are Alphabet and Meta.

While Nvidia has been soaring, Intel has been slumping. Long the dominant maker of PC chips, Intel has lost market share to Advanced Micro Devices and has made very little headway in AI. Intel shares have fallen by more than half this year as the company struggles with manufacturing challenges and new competition for its central processors.

Intel said in a filing this week that the board’s audit and finance committee approved cost and capital reduction activities, including lowering head count by 16,500 employees and reducing its real estate footprint. The job cuts were originally announced in August.

The Dow contains 30 components and is weighted by the share price of the individual stocks instead of total market value. Nvidia put itself in better position to join the index in May, when the company announced a 10-for-1 stock split. While doing nothing to its market cap, the move slashed the price of each share by 90%, allowing the company to become a part of the Dow without having too heavy a weighting.

The switch is the first change to the index since February, when Amazon replaced Walgreens Boots Alliance. Over the years, the Dow has been playing catchup in gaining exposure to the largest technology companies. The stocks in the index are chosen by a committee from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

WATCH: Nvidia leaps and bounds ahead of AMD

Nvidia is leaps and bounds ahead of AMD on the AI story, says Susquehanna's Christopher Rolland

Technology

Super Micro’s 44% plunge this week wipes out stock’s gains for the year

Published

15 hours ago

November 1, 2024

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Super Micro's 44% plunge this week wipes out stock's gains for the year

Charles Liang, chief executive officer of Super Micro Computer Inc., during the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. The trade show runs through June 7.

Annabelle Chih | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Super Micro investors continued to rush the exits on Friday, pushing the stock down another 9% and bringing this week’s selloff to 44%, after the data center company lost its second auditor in less than two years.

The company’s shares fell as low as $26.23, wiping out all of the gains for 2024. Shares had peaked at $118.81 in March, at which point they were up more than fourfold for the year. Earlier that month, S&P Dow Jones added the stock to the S&P 500, and Wall Street was rallying around the company’s growth, driven by sales of servers packed with Nvidia’s artificial intelligence processors.

Super Micro’s spectacular collapse since March has wiped out roughly $55 billion in market cap and left the company at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq. On Wednesday, as the stock was in the midst of its second-worst day ever, Super Micro said it will provide a “business update” regarding its latest quarter on Tuesday, which is Election Day in the U.S.

The company’s recent challenges date back to August, when Super Micro said it would not file its annual report on time with the SEC. Noted short seller Hindenburg Research then disclosed a short position in the company and wrote in a report that it identified “fresh evidence of accounting manipulation.” The Wall Street Journal later reported that the Department of Justice was in the early stages of a probe into the company.

Super Micro disclosed on Wednesday that Ernst & Young had resigned as its accounting firm just 17 months after taking over from Deloitte & Touche. The auditor said it was “unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management.”

A Super Micro spokesperson told CNBC that the company “disagrees with E&Y’s decision to resign, and we are working diligently to select new auditors.” Super Micro does not expect matters raised by Ernst & Young to “result in any restatements of its quarterly financial results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, or for prior fiscal years,” the representative said.

Analysts at Argus Research on Thursday downgraded the stock in the intermediate term to a hold, citing the Hindenburg note, reports of the Justice Department investigation and the departure of Super Micro’s accounting firm, which the analysts called a “serious matter.” Argus’ fears go beyond accounting irregularities, with the firm suggesting that the company may be doing business with problematic entities.

“The DoJ’s concerns, in our view, may be mainly about related-party transactions and about SMCI products ending up in the hands of sanctioned Russian companies,” the analysts wrote.

In September, the month after announcing its filing delay, Super Micro said it had received a notification from the Nasdaq indicating that its late status meant the company wasn’t in compliance with the exchange’s listing rules. Super Micro said the Nasdaq’s rules allowed the company 60 days to file its report or submit a plan to regain compliance. Based on that timeframe, the deadline would be mid-November.

Though Super Micro hasn’t filed financials with the SEC since May, the company said in an August earnings presentation that revenue more than doubled for a third straight quarter. Analysts expect that, for the fiscal first quarter ended September, revenue jumped more than 200% to $6.45 billion, according to LSEG. That’s up from $2.1 billion a year earlier and $1.9 billion in the same fiscal quarter of 2023.

WATCH: I don’t know if Super Micro is guilty or innocent, says Jim Cramer

Technology

Apple to buy Pixelmator, the iPhone image editing app with AI features

Published

16 hours ago

November 1, 2024

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Apple to buy Pixelmator, the iPhone image editing app with AI features

Peopl walk outside Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Park campus before Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 9, 2024.

Nic Coury | AFP | Getty Images

Apple will buy Pixelmator, the creator of image editing apps for Apple’s iPhone and Mac platforms, Pixelmator announced Friday in a blog post.

Pixelmator, a Lithuanian company, was founded in 2007, and in recent years has been best known for Pixelmator and Pixelmator Pro, which compete with Adobe Photoshop. It also makes Photomator, a photo editing app.

Apple has highlighted Pixelmator apps over the years in its keynote product launches. In 2018, Apple named Pixelmator Pro its Mac App of the year, citing the company’s enthusiastic embrace of Apple’s machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, such as removing distracting objects from photos or making automated color adjustments.

“We’ve been inspired by Apple since day one, crafting our products with the same razor-sharp focus on design, ease of use, and performance,” Pixelmator said in its blog post.

Apple does not acquire as many large companies as its Silicon Valley rivals. It prefers to make smaller acquisitions of companies with products or people that it can use to create Apple features. Neither Pixelmator nor Apple provided a price for the transaction.

Pixelmator said in its blog post that there “will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time.”

Earlier this week, Apple released the first version of Apple Intelligence, a suite of features that includes photo editing abilities such as Clean Up, which can remove people or objects from photos using AI.

Apple has acquired other popular apps that received accolades at the company’s product launches and awards ceremonies.

In 2020, Apple bought Dark Sky, a weather app that eventually became integrated into Apple’s default weather app. In 2017, it bought Workflow, an automation and macro app that eventually became Shortcuts, the iPhone’s scripting app, as well as the groundwork for a more capable Siri assistant.