Scammers are after the Apple ID I don't have

When I receive an email asking to validate my account info, it is an obvious alert that something is amiss. These frequently come in the guise of PayPal and even banks where I have no account -- a no brainer to hit the delete button. However, as I browsed through my messages while preparing for bed, one caught my attention, not because of variance from other email scams, but because it simply attempted to lure me to a trap I had not encountered previously.

While the likes of PayPal and CitiBank may trade between targets number one and two, this was the first time I had been asked to validate my Apple account -- the one I have never had.

Do not mistake me (though some may do), I am not an Apple hater, just not a customer. I am far too cheap to purchase the company's expensive hardware.

The email is more professional than many I see -- English is actually properly used (not perfect, but properly used at least... mostly), and typos do not jump out. In fact, it even purports to come from "[email protected]". However closer inspection reveals a "via abarth.websitewelcome.com" and clicking the "via" launches a Google warning that begins with "Gmail believes that by adding more information about the origin of a message, you can be better informed about who sent the message and can avoid confusion. For example, if someone fakes a message from a sender that you trust, like your bank, you can use this information to see that the message is not really from your trusted sender. The information that we use to display this information is included in the message headers, but these headers can be hard to understand. Gmail analyzes this information and displays it in a simple to read format".

The full text of the message:

This is an automatic message by the system to let you know that you have to confirm your account information within 48 hours.
Login to your account from several different places we need to update your personal data in order to ensure security and privacy and protect you from phishing attacks
Please click on the following link to update your information:
update Now >
Link does not work? Try again may be affected by the speed of the Internet or the site
For more information, see our frequently asked questions.
Thanks,
Apple Customer Support"

Thanks Google, though I honestly saw this one a mile away. Still, it is a better fake than many I receive, and for that I tip my hat to the perpetrator, though he shall receive none of the information that I do not have there.

Editor's note: link (from "update Now >") is removed.

Photo Credit: Les Scholz/Shutterstock