Hacker Group Threatens to Wipe Over 600 Million Accounts Unless Apple Pays Ransom

Apple released am update of its current firmware for iOS devices after Egyptian journalist Ahmed Mansoor had been targeted on his phone with spyware made by an Israeli company that specialises in the intelligence gathering through personal, electronic devices. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

(Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Apple is the target of a bizarre blackmail scheme.

The tech giant is allegedly being extorted by a hacker group calling itself the Turkish Crime Family, which is threatening to remotely wipe iCloud and Apple email accounts unless a ransom is paid.

On Wednesday morning, the group raised the number of accounts being threatened up to 627 million.

The hackers reached out to Motherboard Tuesday to garner media attention for an extortion attempt that has been ongoing since last week. A video was posted on YouTube showing the hackers logging into some of the accounts.

According to Motherboard, The group shared screenshots of emails with Apple’s security team requesting them to take down the video and warning them about breaking the law.

The Turkish Crime Family are asking for $75,000 in Bitcoin or Ethereum, another type of online currency. The also said $100,000 in iTunes gift cards would also suffice.

An alleged Twitter account for the group was created after Motherboard‘s report first went live Tuesday, Mashable reports.

The hackers have given Apple until April 7 to deliver the ransom.

—RealClearLife