Warning to everyone with an iPhone over hidden threat

It feels like we're constantly living with the threat of people trying to steal our details and money. And that's because they are, with new problems being encountered on an almost daily basis - just look at the iPhone.

There's a big problem right now on the direct rival to iPhone's iOS, with an urgent warning issued to everyone who uses WhatsApp on Android phones.

And in the world of cryptocurrency, a new Bitcoin scam alert has been issued following the resurgence in value of the virtual currency.

Unfortunately, the iPhone is not exempt when it comes to criminals targeting those of us who have them. And with the majority of phone owners in both the United Kingdom and United States owning one of Apple's phone products, you'll probably want to take notice.

iPhone users are now being targeted in a scary new way that can create deep fake images of whoever owns the phone.

Criminals will then use the fake images of you to steal your cash through face recognition. The con artists will also spy on your text messages and collect them for their use.

The issue was first found by cyber security company Group-IB, who confirmed the threat across iOS devices. It was an existing threat on Android and has now migrated on to the rival operating system.

Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence unit says it has been 'constantly monitoring this evolving threat and unearthed an entire cluster of aggressive banking Trojans'.

A Trojan virus is type of malware that downloads onto a computer disguised as a legitimate program.

Named GoldDigger by the security firm, it came after the same kind of virus was being used to target Android users and financial institutions in Vietnam.

The virus on iOS is a newer, sophisticated form of GoldDigger, which has been dubbed GoldPickaxe. It's based on the GoldDigger Android Trojan and regularly updates itself in order to evade being found on your device.

CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

After being booted off of iOS by Apple when it had been using the TestPilot app to sneak on to people's phones, GoldPickaxe now finds its way on to devices via enterprise-level 'MDM' or Mobile Device Management profiles.

Once you download it, the organised criminals will have total control of your device.

So far it has only been detected in Vietnam and Thailand.

The easiest way to stay safe from these kind of malicious apps is to only download content from the official app stores in the case of both Apple and Android users.