Watch out for the latest con on iPhone and iPad users

According to reports that date back to last year, iPhone and iPad users in the US have been the targets of a scam, which has now spread to Europe, with the potential of affecting less tech savvy consumers.

The elaborate ruse involves a pop-up ad displaying a warning about iOS having crashed due to a third party app. The warning further instructs users to call what appears to be a toll-free number to fix the issue.

When users call the number provided by the pop-up, the operator on standby warns the user that the alleged third party app in question has been systematically removing the user’s information from the device, at which point, the operator will inform the user that for $80, he or she, will be able to resolve the issue by reinstalling iOS remotely.

Unfortunately for consumers, as soon as credit card details are passed on to the operator, the issue turns out to be merely smoke and mirrors, as the pop-up warning is not a system message, but rather a pop-up ad generated by the Safari browser.

The con was reported last year in the US, however the most recent report seem to have reached as far as the United Kingdom, and possibly the rest of Europe.

Hot to fix it

Users can fix this issue very quickly, by putting their device in Airplane Mode, which sabers connectivity with the outside world. Finally, clearing the device’s web history and browsing data will get rid of the pop-up message.

How to prevent it

Preventing this issue from occurring involves turning off pop-ups in Safari, which is something many users do already.