iCloud Loan Scam: A New Threat to Asia

Victims give up their iCloud accounts to receive fast loans. More on the emerging risk trend in Vietnam

An ongoing scam in Vietnam makes people borrow money using their iCloud and iPhone as collateral. Lenders provide easy and fast loans only asking their borrowers to log into special iCloud accounts. Victims fall prey to loan sharks having access to their iPhones and all data stored on them.

To get a loan, borrowers need to have an iPhone or iPad, log out of their iCloud and log into a newly provided iCloud account, turn on the "Find My Phone" option, and sync their contacts. An easy process gives borrowers access to an amount of money close to the phone's value. Most of the lenders promise 80-90% of the value although, in reality, people get about 50%. 

The lender becomes the "owner" of the iPhone and has access to locations, photos, emails, contacts, and all other information of the borrower. A missed payment leads to lenders remotely locking the iPhone and forcing victims to pay more to unlock the phone. 

An example of a Facebook post looking for victims

Some lenders refuse to provide money at all switching directly to a ransom plan by using borrower's private photos or videos or reporting phones lost and locked and collecting a significant amount of money before unlocking the device. Other lenders track down the borrowers by using the "Find my iPhone" function and threaten them in person.

Ads for iCloud loans are often published on social media and easily searchable by the terms "Vay tiền qua iCloud", "Loan via iCloud iPhone", or "Borrow through iPhone/iCloud" with a loan amount depending on the iPhone model. The loans are given almost immediately with no documents or credit checks.

Facebook post is suggesting to give loans in exchange for the iCloud

Some post on social media call for collaborators with high commission rates. The scam is spreading out quickly with social media groups and pages counting thousands of subscribers including in the English language targeting users outside of Vietnam.