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Notice from Apple

mlw4411

mlw4411

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 16, 2011
77
4
Anybody else receive one of these? My phone is activated and working fine.



Dear Apple Customer,
Thank you for your recent iPhone purchase at the Apple Online Store.
We're getting ready for the activation of your iPhone. However we have identified a problem with your AT&T account.
To resolve this issue, please call us at 1-877-284-6834 and reference your Activation ID: B2xxxxxxxxx.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Thank you for choosing Apple.
Sincerely,
The Apple Online Store
 
I'm guessing it's a delay on Apple's system and nothing to worry about if you already have your phone and everything.
 
It looks like a scam to me.

That phone number doesn't scream official to me.

Why is Apple dealing with AT&T account problems?

Your device is activated and working fine - how can there be an issue with activation?

Couldn't they have contacted you via the phone itself?

One option would be to call AT&T or Apple using the numbers on their web sites and to ask them whether it's a legitimate email.
 
Daveoc64 said:
It looks like a scam to me.

That phone number doesn't scream official to me.

Why is Apple dealing with AT&T account problems?

Your device is activated and working fine - how can there be an issue with activation?

Couldn't they have contacted you via the phone itself?

One option would be to call AT&T or Apple using the numbers on their web sites and to ask them whether it's a legitimate email.
Click to expand...

Good point. Call 1-800-MY-APPLE.

However, a Google search of 877-284-6834 turns up some MacRumors threads from 2009 about activation issues.
 
Yes I received this email also..along with an email from "att" that my email address had been updated... both emails came within 1 minute of each other I did not bother responding or calling I figured it was a scam
 
It's not a scam....phone arrived Friday and was locked to be activated on November 9th according to AT&T. They said that Apple had sent out locked units and AT&T was helping getting these phones activated, they helped in our case and everything was fine until the email arrived and it shut off the data portion to our phone. Again, had to call AT&T they gave us temp. Data (3gb) until they can fix the issue (want unlimited back). So long story short its an issue which started with Apple and is finishing with AT&T...by the way both of them had good customer service and helped us with the issue.
 
If you scroll down through the postings from today, at least two other threads, maybe more were discussing this.

So, to answer you question, yes, others have seen this.
 
Why is Apple sending out emails with "dear Apple customer" at the start? Such a generic way of addressing people is a technique commonly used by scammers.
 
It's not a scam. I got one of these as well. The basic scenario here is that the activation through the AT&T system never went through completely, setting up a flag in the Apple's system. Why is this important? The subsidized price you pay for the phone requires you to commit to a new 2 year agreement. That isn't done at the sale of the phone, it's contractually committed to at the time you activate the line. So, if you get it at the discounted price and never activate it, then you'd be on the hook for the remainder of the full, non-subsidized price. It's important for this loop to be closed, otherwise they can charge your card for the rest. Don't believe me? Check the fine print. It's all in there.
 
I called the 800# Apple number on apple.com. Tech said he hadn't heard of anything like and that my account didn't have anything noted. Said not to worry about it. As far as closing the loop with Att, I have bought and sold iPhones on release day almost every year without activating under my number. This phone is activated and running fine. ATT couldn't care less, I already agreed to a two extension and paid them for the phone. The loop was closed the minute I bought the phone, they wouldn't care if I took it and threw it in the lake, they have their money and their 2 yr contract signed sealed and delivered.
 
Not a scam. I received the exact email after I had ordered my phone on the 14th. Called the number, gave them that activation number, and all they did was verify my name and address and that was it.

It is not a scam.
 
mlw4411 said:
The loop was closed the minute I bought the phone, they wouldn't care if I took it and threw it in the lake, they have their money and their 2 yr contract signed sealed and delivered.
Click to expand...

The difference here is that you bought your iPhone directly from AT&T and signed a 2 yr contract with them at the same time.

Where as, OP bought the iPhone directly from Apple and had not yet signed the 2 yr contract with AT&T. But OP was getting a subsidized on-contract pricing for the phone.
 
mlw4411 said:
I called the 800# Apple number on apple.com. Tech said he hadn't heard of anything like and that my account didn't have anything noted. Said not to worry about it. As far as closing the loop with Att, I have bought and sold iPhones on release day almost every year without activating under my number. This phone is activated and running fine. ATT couldn't care less, I already agreed to a two extension and paid them for the phone. The loop was closed the minute I bought the phone, they wouldn't care if I took it and threw it in the lake, they have their money and their 2 yr contract signed sealed and delivered.
Click to expand...

You're completely wrong and will find out if that loop isn't closed one way or another. Either they'll need info from the customer or from AT&T in order to confirm things.
 
Dstopsie said:
Not a scam. I received the exact email after I had ordered my phone on the 14th. Called the number, gave them that activation number, and all they did was verify my name and address and that was it.

It is not a scam.
Click to expand...

When you say "verify my name and address", what do you mean by that?
 
mlw4411 said:
Anybody else receive one of these? My phone is activated and working fine.



Dear Apple Customer,
Thank you for your recent iPhone purchase at the Apple Online Store.
We're getting ready for the activation of your iPhone. However we have identified a problem with your AT&T account.
To resolve this issue, please call us at 1-877-284-6834 and reference your Activation ID: B2xxxxxxxxx.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Thank you for choosing Apple.
Sincerely,
The Apple Online Store
Click to expand...



Someone on this forum got that same email and when he called they asked for his pin and passwords so I'm pretty sure it's a scam.
 
Check who the email is actually from. It sounds fishy to me even if other people have done it successfully. You would think the number would turn up more search results if it was legit for either company. I wouldn't give account info to a number someone emailed me unless I was for sure it was an official number listed publicly on their site.
 
NismoRoadster said:
Giving your password and pin over the phone sounds like a good idea to me.
Click to expand...

The legit process doesn't. Someone else is making that BS up. I went through it and suspected that I might have to because my initial activation was left unresolved (the person handling the upgrade swap looked to have initially botched it). Once I went through this process I got both an email from apple.com (verified SMTP header info) and an SMS from AT&T. My account also reflected the change. By contrast, someone else would have us all believe that some hacker targeted exactly the right people and were able to bounce emails off of both Apple and AT&T and also update my AT&T account correctly? That would be pretty genius.
 
I went to Apple.com/contact/, did a simple search on the page for that number, no results found. Be cautious and don't give out any information that wouldn't normally be asked for.
 
It's not a scam, I got the same email. Something hiccup'd while I was doing an upgrade swap so they went ahead and completed the activation on their end. I got another email soon after the call ended that said the activation was completed.
 
I just had to call it and see what it sounded like. Right as soon as I hit the call button I briefly heard an automated female voice but I didn't catch what she said. Then music started playing. The music was very tacky (not like you would hear on Apple's phone system) and sounded like a mixture of brass and woodwinds playing bad elevator music in an up beat tempo. Only played for about 10 seconds and then a man that sounded american answered saying something to effect of "Thank you for calling Apple. Good evening, my name is ******, how may I help you......" then I hung up. He had a very monotone voice and didn't sound happy to be working. Which normally, when I've called Apple, I've always been greeted with a very friendly voice on the line. Maybe this is just some quick temporary hires they have to sort out this issue every launch or maybe it's a scam. I won't know for sure.
 
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