Try not to lose your iPhone when you might have clicked "update" recently.
However, scammers posing as major carriers like Verizon are using real iPhone 15 overheating issues to try to convince iPhone owners to send them their phones as part of a fake review.
We know this because one of Mashable's own journalists was recently the target of this trick.
"This sounds like a voice phishing scheme where the troublemaker contacts the potential victim claiming to be an IT or customer support representative from a large company and is trying to get data, or for that matter your actual phone," a Verizon representative told Mashable about this new trick.
"All things considered, Verizon was never able to contact customers by phone regarding an item review or issue."
How the iPhone 15 Overheating Trick Works Review
Mashable tech columnist Cecily Mauran had several calls from an unknown number during the week shortly after requesting another iPhone 15 through Verizon. A guest who claimed to be a Verizon representative asked if her phone had been ported at this time and told her , that they'll call the phone's endless inventory to remotely diagnose the iPhone 15's overheating issues.
The gadget's affinity for overheating has been widely exposed since the Apple iPhone 15 series shipped in late September.
On Thursday morning, one day after she finally received her iPhone 15, she received another call from an individual claiming to accompany Verizon.
"They said the new iPhone 15s had overheating issues and ... received correspondence from Apple saying my phone was one of the defective devices," Mauran said. "They said they expected to come get my phone right away, saying it was 'risky'."
A guest who claimed to be accompanying Verizon prepared FedEx to come for her iPhone, with the phone organization also speeding up the untouched iPhone 15.
SEE ALSO: iPhone 15's "screen consumption" problem is truly staggering. What's more, Apple has a fix.
The entire call was extremely compelling based on the fact that it hinged on an actual iPhone 15 glitch that was extensively detailed. However, scam specialists regularly emphasize that individuals should always be the one to initiate the call and should not be forced to endure the call before providing any potentially sensitive individual data just to make sure it's true.
That's exactly what Mauran followed by directly calling the number listed on Verizon's actual website.
An actual Verizon representative confirmed to Mauran that the call she received was not from Verizon.
At this point, the trick effort was moving at this point. The right FedEx truck appeared, but Mauran didn't give her the iPhone.
After making sense of the circumstances, the FedEx driver filled her in on the details of where her new iPhone 15 would go… and apparently it wasn't for Verizon or Apple as part of the review.
The scammer gave FedEx a current location in Miami, Florida and a phone number with a Kentucky area code. The recipient was noted as "RETUNS PROCESSING CENTER," a work by a scammer that made it look like the iPhone 15 was going to a real Verizon area. What's more, the words "returns" and "manipulation" were misspelled.
Shortly after FedEx left, Mauran received another call from the scammer. They had to confirm the pickup. She stood up against them. The guest demanded that they were indeed from Verizon and told Mauran that their manager would call her to confirm. Since then, no one has called Mauran claiming to be from Verizon.
"Most importantly, we sincerely thank you for connecting with Verizon customer support right after the trick call was completed," the organization said. "That's exactly what we suggest every one of our clients do, assuming they ever get a call or request that doesn't feel right."
“There is no issue with your iPhone 15 that would justify any effort by Verizon,” the Verizon representative continued. "Our direction is if someone calls you and says you're Verizon and you're in doubt or just not sure, hang up and call [Verizon].
It's unclear how effective this trick was, as it depends on the recently sent item. It's also unclear exactly how the scammer tagged Mauran.
Realizing that Mauran was a Verizon customer, the scammer also seemed to know that she had recently ordered another iPhone 15, which she had not received within the hour of their most memorable call. Mauran says the scammer also had an old email she recently noted with Verizon, giving a potential situation where Mauran's data was found through an earlier leak of a Verizon client.
As Mashable recently revealed, of the range of issues the iPhone 15 looked at, the overheating problem was the most prevalent. Be that as it may, Apple has since fixed the problem… and not with a review, but rather with a fundamental programming update.
Any iPhone 15 client experiencing overheating issues should make sure to install the iOS 17.0.3 update. Various tests have shown that this product update has solved the iPhone 15 overheating issue. So please don't fall for this review trick. Simply update your iPhone.
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