If something appears too good to be true, that’s probably because it is.
Ely residents have been shocked to receive links to an apparent scam, advising them to sign up to test the new iPhone 7.
A pop up advert has been appearing while people have been browsing some local newspapers online, advising people that they have been randomly selected to trial the phone.
The message reads: “CONGRATULATIONS! You were randomly selected to test the brand new iPhone 7 (arriving 2016)! This is not a joke! You’re invited to test our brand new iphone 7 before it’s released to the public.”
The suspected scam goes on to say that the company is searching for 20 additional users for feedback “so we can make this the best iPhone ever”.
The advert asks people for their personal details as well as four questions, including “Do you currently own any Apple products?”
According to Scam-Detector.com, “If you get this pop-up, close it. Apple does these testings within the company and never offer free iPhones to random people for such things. There are certain procedures that need to happen before a release and asking for testers via operating systems is not one of them.”
Macworld calls this type of advert “data capture” and advises: “The data is your information: phone number, address, email, age, hobbies, interests. That is worth a surprisingly large amount of money to companies.”
Spotted in Ely will never make its readers trawl through adverts before accessing a news story.
For more information see http://scam-detector.com/online-auctions-and-tech-scams/iphone-7-tester-scam
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July 8, 2025
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