Police warn of phone scam that claims Apple information breach

Police in a Westmoreland County neighborhood are warning residents of a phone scheme.

New Kensington police said the suspects are calling people claiming to be from Apple.

11 Investigates dug into viewer complaints. The scammers are persistent, calling five, 10, or up to 15 times trying to get people to give up personal information.

According to these complaints, the phone calls are happening elsewhere than just in Westmoreland County.

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The name Apple, Inc., shows up on the caller ID with the phone number for the Apple store in Ross Township.

"He said I'm from Apple in Cupertino, California, he sounded really authentic," Erica Zappala, of Gibsonia, said.

"The man said that my Apple devices had been compromised and I said to him, Well how do you know this? and he said, 'Well, I work for Apple and we monitor your calls that come in,'" Zappala said.

For victims who do not answer, the culprits leave a message asking them to call a toll-free number.

Channel 11 contacted the Apple store at Ross Park Mall, and they said this is a phishing scam and these people are trying to get personal information out of you.

Apple said the best thing you can do is to call your phone provider and report it.

A big takeaway from this is that Apple is never likely to call you to address an issue. The company will call you back if you file something with customer service and ask for a call back. but it's not likely they'll initiate a call.

Cox Media Group