Normally, loan sharks require borrowers to mortgage their citizen identification, real estate documents, valuable assets, etc. However, iPhone owners in China are required to use their Apple ID account to mortgage the loan.

Each iPhone is associated with an Apple ID account. This account allows users to back up data, download and purchase software, and store important payment information. When the Apple ID account is lost, the iPhone cannot be restored and is no different from a "brick" phone.

Once a bad guy gets hold of an Apple ID, he can take control of a user's phone, get some sensitive data, and can make demands that are not in line with the original loan agreement.

If the user fails to repay the loan on time, the lender will disable the phone and threaten to disclose sensitive personal data.

Statistics show that one in five smartphone users in China owns an iPhone.

Therefore, the number of people who mortgage their Apple ID accounts and then become victims of loan sharks in China is huge.

Specifically, the number of victims has been identified to be more than 20,000 people in 21 provinces and cities with a total amount of money involved up to 130 million yuan (451 billion VND). Large-scale scams in many places across China show the serious threat from bad guys in cyberspace.

Gizchina said that Chinese authorities recently made more than 40 arrests related to fraud involving mortgage of Apple ID accounts of iPhones.