The iPhone locking scam that originated in Australia and Russia earlier this year has made its way to Vietnam.

Recently, iPhone users in Vietnam have been picking up their up their handsets only to find them locked, followed by a message demanding a ransom to unlock it.

Tuoi Tre interviewed a construction engineer who was a victim of the scam, “The message asked me to text a phone number, and when I did, the hacker insisted that I pay him VND3 million (US$141) to reactivate my iPhone,” he said.

He added that the email address that was used to register his Apple ID had been hacked and five minutes later, his phone was locked.

Other victims reported paying VND4 million to unlock their iPhone.

And it all stems from the Find My Phone feature:

“Nguyen Hong Phuc, IT security expert, said hackers have taken advantage of the Find My iPhone feature supplied by Apple to remotely lock the devices and ask for ransom.

Users of Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads need an Apple ID or iCloud account to connect their handsets with the Apple App Store or iTunes Store for downloading apps, music, movies or ebooks, and storing their data on the cloud database iCloud.com, Phuc said.”

And iCloud:

“Since an Apple ID is also required when people lose their phone, as Apple’s Find my iPhone feature allows them to track their lost devices, send messages, and most importantly, lock the phones and delete all data remotely.

“Hence, with an iCloud account in hand, hackers can easily lock the victim’s iPhone and send a request for ransom,” Phuc said.”

Making matters worse, many iPhone users take their phones to local “Apple stores” to install free apps. This means that hackers are able to access multiple handsets that have shared Apple IDs.

Apparently, phone snatchers aren't the thing to watch out for these days. 

Let's see them try to pull this stunt on my Nokia.

[Tuoi Tre]