This article has been created in order to help you by explaining to you how to remove the Your Apple Account Has Been Limited scam which can be encountered via email messages.
The Your Apple Account Has Been Limited Scam is a recent example of an advanced phishing attack wave. It targets victims worldwide and can evade protective measures. The security analysis reveals that it has many features that set it apart from other similar attacks. It is particularly dangerous and can lead to sensitive information theft. Continue reading our removal guide for more information about it.
Threat Summary
| Name | Your Apple Account Has Been Limited |
| Type | Scam / Malware |
| Short Description | Aims to trick victims to be redirected to a third-party site that hijacks sensitive personal data. |
| Symptoms | Email messages that claim that the target’s account have been compromised. |
| Distribution Method | Via e-mail messages that imitate legitimate security-related Apple message . |
| Detection Tool |
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Your Apple Account Has Been Limited. |
Your Apple Account Has Been Limited Scam – How Does It Spread
The most common way to deliver this particular scam is through the use of phishing emails according to Trend Micro reports. The hackers behind it have taken the legitimate graphics and texts from Apple notifications and have incorporated them in the fake ones. The concept behind them is to lure the victims into thinking that their accounts have been limited due to unusual activity. They are asked by the scam operators to update their payment details. If the victims click on the link they will be directed to a phishing site that collects their payment data which is then hijacked for criminal use.
There are several pointers that can indicate the dangers to potential victims. The first one is related to an error made by the hackers, the messages were sent to users that were not Apple customers. As such the scam can be easily identified as no user would interact with such an email if they don’t have a connection to the company’s services. The second sign of danger is the fact that the inserted hyperlinks lead to a site that does not have an Apple domain name.
The security experts note that the following countries are the primary targets at the moment:
- United States
- Venezuela
- Germany
- Canada
- Italy
- Mexico
- Switzerland
- France
- India
Your Apple Account Has Been Limited Scam – More Information
The security investigation into email sender reveals that it’s a very well known malicious actor. As soon as the reports were published in the security community the senders were blacklisted. Upon careful examination we have discovered that the “Update Your Payment Details” link leads to a token generator. Each individual victim is assigned an unique token that is valid for at least 48 hours. It’s main purposes seem to be to track users and is not affected by different browsers, devices and user agents. The link leads to a fake Apple site that is designed to look just like the real company by employing the same background image and graphics placement.
During the security analysis Apple ID credentials were presented to the site. When the account credentials were presented a notification prompt appears that states “Your account has been locked”. A malicious link “Unlock Account Now” appears which leads to a site that collects user data.
The experts state that the resulting site appears much more sophisticated than other related incidents. It includes an input validation fields that are actually working and check if the entered payment card credentials are legitimate by employing checksum functions. The code also checks for typing mistakes and can verify the text and number fields for string length and the presence of special characters.
Another difference from classic phishing attacks is the fact that usually short-term scams are hosted on free services. Their default configuration settings and host specifications allows the security experts to access the compromised data. In this particular case the hackers behind the “Your Apple Account Has Been Limited” scam have secured the web directory permissions in the proper way thus preventing further analysis. After all fields are entered and submitted the phishing site will logout the users and redirect them to the legitimate Apple website.
The dangerous site is encrypted using the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) cipher which adds a sign of false confidence. This means that the private data is transmitted in a secure manner and cannot be hijacked by an intermediate host. The custom code also allows the scam to evade some common signatures used by protective software.
Remove Your ” Apple Account Has Been Limited Scam” from Your Computer
In order to make sure that the “Critical Security Alert” scam is fully gone from your computer, we recommend that you follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They have been divided in manual and automatic removal manuals so that they can help you delete this threat based on your malware removal experience. If manual removal is not exactly something that you feel confident in doing, recommendations are to remove this malware or check if it has your infected your computer automatically by downloading and scanning your computer via an advanced anti-malware program. Such software will effectively make sure that your PC is fully secured and you passwords and data remain safe in the future.
Martin Beltov
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited
Step 2: Uninstall Your Apple Account Has Been Limited and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Your Apple Account Has Been Limited on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Your Apple Account Has Been Limited there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Your Apple Account Has Been Limited and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove malware from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts, programs and malware, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. Combo Cleaner offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the Your Apple Account Has Been Limited will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate Your Apple Account Has Been Limited from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
