Apple Inc. urged its users to enable two-factor authentication on all Apple ID accounts as it acknowledged that "a small number" of Chinese customers without the multistep login had seen their accounts hacked via phishing scams, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 16.

"We are deeply apologetic about the inconvenience caused to our customers by these phishing scams," Apple said in an English statement provided to the Journal. It did not specify the number of customers impacted or provide further details about the hack.

Chinese mobile-payment giants Alipay, owned by Ant Financial Services Group, and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat had earlier said some customers lost money due to the Apple ID hack. Apple IDs are used to access services on Apple's App Store.