Scam call from 0457 502 322? The Apple ID “press 1” reset scam — where the popup is real

Most scams ask you to trust something fake. This one is nastier: it manufactures something real — an actual Apple security prompt — and then poses as the rescuer. Every artifact checks out except the person on the phone. Here’s a report that reached us this week, during Scams Awareness Week of all weeks:

How it actually works

The attacker starts a password reset on your Apple ID using details from a data breach. Apple — doing its job — sends a real prompt to your device. Some people get one; some get dozens in a row, a tactic called push bombing, designed to wear you down until you tap Allow by reflex or by accident.

When declining works, the phone rings. A recorded voice, or a calm “security specialist”, says your account is under attack — from Russia, from China, from wherever sounds frightening — and offers to secure it. Press 1, stay on the line, speak to the team. The entire performance exists for one moment: getting you to read out the six-digit code that lands on your phone. That code is your account. Hand it over and they change the password, lock you out, and work through everything attached to it.

One detail from the report is worth noticing: when they didn’t press anything, the call simply hung up. The menu isn’t there to help you — it’s a filter. Pressing 1 marks you as someone who follows instructions under pressure, and only then do they spend a human scammer’s time on you.

About that number — and why it barely matters

The call in this report displayed 0457 502 322 (you might see it written as 0457502322 or +61 457 502 322). Two honest things need saying about it. First, caller ID is trivially faked, so these digits are a costume, not an identity — the same call arrives from endless other numbers, and blocking one does almost nothing. Second, and for the same reason, the number may belong to an uninvolved person whose caller ID was borrowed. Don’t ring it back, and don’t give whoever answers a hard time — they may be a victim of a different kind.

We’ll add newly reported numbers for this script here as they come in, but read the list as sightings of a costume: 0457 502 322 (reported 26 August 2026). If this call reaches you from a different number, forward the details to us or run them through the free check — it helps the next person who searches.

And if a call claims to be your bank, the ATO or Australia Post, you can check the number against their official numbers in a few seconds — free, nothing stored. A match still means "ring them yourself"; a miss means "we can't vouch for it".

What to do

1. On the popup: Don’t Allow. Declining is always safe. Never approve a reset you didn’t start, no matter how many times it appears.
2. On the call: hang up. Don’t press 1, don’t stay on the line, and never read out any code, to anyone, ever.
3. If you’re rattled, secure it yourself. On your own device: Settings › your name › Sign-In & Security › Change Password. While you’re there, check the device list and remove anything you don’t recognise.
4. If a code was shared or you pressed 1 and talked: change the password immediately, then contact Apple only through channels you find yourself — the Apple Support app or support.apple.com. If money or banking is involved, ring your bank on the number from your card, call IDCARE on 1800 595 160, and report it to Scamwatch.

Got a number on your screen right now? Our free official-number checker tells you whether it's genuinely the ATO, your bank or Australia Post — and why even a real number can't be trusted on an incoming call.

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