Explainer: Why you might be getting weird Apple ID log-in requests from China

If you've received a notification about your Apple ID being used to sign in to a place in China, here's what you need to know. 

Some Apple users have received notifications on their phone about their Apple ID being used to sign in to a device in locations across China, as you can see below. 

Explainer: Why you might be getting weird Apple ID log-in requests from China
Photo credit: Supplied

This is a legitimate Apple notification in the two-factor authentication (2FA) process, a Netsafe spokesperson told Newshub. But these notifications are also likely the result of a phishing scam impersonating Apple. 

"If the request is coming from an account, device or location the customer is not familiar with, and if the genuine account holder isn't the person who attempted this log-in, the request should be denied," the spokesperson said. 

Account details are often stored by scammers and then used to try and hack into the accounts later on. 

In October, Apple apologised for hacked Apple IDs in China, saying the account details were "phished", a term referring to fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information by disguising as a trustworthy entity. 

Phishing scammers will contact a large number of people in the hope that some of them will fall for the scam. These scams can seem like they're being sent just to you, but in reality the same scam is being sent to hundreds, if not thousands of people at the same time.

"We are deeply apologetic about the inconvenience caused to our customers by these phishing scams," Apple said, adding that it affected a "small number" of user accounts. 

The company said the affected accounts were not secured with 2FA, Apple news site 9to5Mac reported. The company recommended doing so to defend against these kinds of attacks. 

If two-factor authentication is enabled, users must independently approve account access for new device log-ins. This reduces the chance of phishing attacks succeeding, as unknown log-in requests can simply be denied. 

But even those who have secured their accounts with 2FA may have had their details obtained during a phishing scam, Netsafe says, which is why someone could be trying to log-in to their account somewhere in China. 

Netsafe said it has only received a few reports about the log-in requests, but says the best way to have it stopped is to re-secure the account, and to deny any requests to log-in. 

The full process to re-secure a compromised Apple ID account can be found online here. It includes setting up 2FA security, as well as having log-in credentials reset. 

China has come under the spotlight over cyber affairs after US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer accused the country in a new report of failing to change its behaviour around cyber espionage. 

It adds to revelations this week that China is behind espionage attacks on Australian businesses and other "Five Eyes" countries. 

The Government Communications Security Bureau has not confirmed this. 

Newshub.