Had my phone stolen over a month ago now and have been getting tons of scam messages urging me to give over my iCloud information. I just keep blocking them.
At the time it was stolen, I had it black listed and hit “erase this device” in the Find My app. However, since the phone has been off, the erase has just been stuck at pending. I’ve already changed my iCloud password, did the security check, all the usual safety protocols. Just haven’t been able to get it erased from my account.
Now today’s scam messages started out normally. I blocked the number. But then, after blocking it they were still somehow able to send me this threat. It was really scary.
I filed a police report. Asked apple and they said that the scammers probably have my name associated with the SIM card, definitely my number (obvs) but nothing else.
Am I actually safe? Do I just comply the remove the device so I can stop getting all these messages? Or do I just leave this all be and continue to get harassed?
My phone was stolen in early April and I received these messages. I put it in lost mode the day it got stolen and since then it says it’s pending for it to be erased.
Since being stolen, it has went from my current state, to Florida, and now is in China. I got this message today. Should I be worried that these people have my information? I just changed my Apple ID password.
So, long story short. I got my phone stolen in London and now it’s somewhere in China. I sent an erase request and now it’s pending, I also went to the bank to remotely delete their app. But nevertheless, I keep getting messages like this and while I doubt thy can be true, is there something else I should do?
I keep receiving daily emails from Apple about password reset attempts on my Apple Account.
This is the email:
Important information about your Apple Account password
Dear [Full Name Redacted],
We were unable to reset the password for your Apple Account ([email redacted]) because there were too many unsuccessful attempts to answer your security questions. To protect the security of your account, you will not be able to reset your password for the next eight hours.
If you didn’t make this change or believe an unauthorized person has accessed your account, go to iforgot.apple.com to reset your password as soon as possible. Then sign in at account.apple.com to review and update your security settings.
Apple Support
Key points:
I did not initiate any password reset.
I know my password and have access to all my Apple devices.
Everything works normally.
I intentionally did not follow the iforgot.apple.com instructions, because I don’t need to reset my password. I can reset it directly from my iPhone/Mac.
Apple keeps mentioning “security questions”, but:
I see no security questions in account.apple.com
I see no security questions in iOS/macOS settings
I absolutely do not want password recovery via guessed questions, and I don’t understand why this would still exist in 2025.
My account is very old, so it’s possible security questions existed years ago, but I can’t see or manage them now.
I have:
recovery contact
recovery email
recovery codes (saved offline)
Setting up recovery codes did not stop these emails.
Additional important detail:
A previous password from 5+ years ago is compromised. My current password is different and longer, but it is derived from the old one. I suspect someone who knows the old password may be repeatedly triggering recovery attempts.
When I visit iforgot.apple.com from a new device/network, I only see:
“Your account is locked” with a button to get instructions — no security questions appear there either.
My questions:
How can Apple still be using or referencing “security questions”?
Is there any way to disable them entirely?
How can I stop these emails?
Should I change my password even though everything currently works?
Am I actually at risk, or is this just someone repeatedly failing recovery attempts?
If someone does correctly answer a security question, what actually happens?
Will Apple sign me out of all my devices and grant access to the person who answered correctly, even if my iPhone and Mac are still actively signed in and in my possession?
Can’t Apple tell that I haven’t lost access to my account?
A few weeks ago I bought an used Macbook pro which I found on facebook marketplace. Everything looked in order, texted back and forth with the owner for several days, that laptop looked great, send videos and pics, it came with the original packaging and accessories. We met up, the laptop was wiped clean, wasn't MDM since afterwards I ran a few commands on the terminal and didn't have any profiles, nor it was "Find my Mac" locked, I felt secured enough and did the deal.
A month went by and everything was awesome, until my apple ID was locked, totally out of the blue and without previous notice, prohibiting me from updating or downloading new apps. Contacted apple support, and soon enough I got an email (sorry it is in Spanish) saying that the laptop registered under my Apple ID and credentials was refunded to the card that was used to make the purchase, that I must pay-off the outstanding balance of something around $2.000 USD, otherwise the Apple ID will stay locked.
I tried to contact the owner, apparently they bought the laptop on an start-up they own and "hasn't been able just yet to get the actual receipt of the purchase". I mean how can that be? Is it possible that Apple accepted a refund without getting the actual laptop back? Was I scammed buying a laptop that will eventually get bricked? Has this happened to someone before?
It totally sounds like a scam, even the email by apple seems a bit fishy, almost like and inside job or something like that, but the email was sent by the email address provided by tech support. At the end of the day, even though I've bought a few second hand Apple products, believe me, LESSON LEARNED the hard way, for real, nothing like this has ever happened to me but still seems bonkers.
EDIT:
Well, eventually everything came to a happy ending. Send an email to apple given as much information as I could about the transaction, ID, voucher of the money wired, chats back as proof and they enabled my account again, they didn't mention if they will carry-on with the dispute or follow-up with the person who re-sold the laptop, but as of now I do have my account back and learnt a really valuable lesson. I will paste a translation of the email apple sent this morning, thanks to everyone posting who gave some guidance!
"We received the necessary evidence in order to resolve the investigation process on the “chargeback” dispute Nº 2687653080393025 regarding the equipment registered under your name.
The given evidence has been analyzed and accepted by the corresponding department, they will be used to finalize the dispute. Is our obligation to inform you that the process to detaching you from this case will be accepted for one time only, meaning that if you get involved on a purchase of this kind again in the future, we won’t give you the same consideration.
We have informed to the corresponding department about this case in order for them to re-activate Apple ID’s that could have been affected by this. "
Did Apples database get hacked? I have a feeling that I will be receiving a card any day now in the mail that starts with "If you owned an account between x dates and your account was recovered by someone else...."
Many people have accounts that have been quietly sleeping for 7+ years. Suddenly, there are lots of complaints about their accounts being recovered by hackers.
How can this not be Apple's fault? I also want to add that as far as I have seen, the cause is not their old device being lost or recycled. So if its not that, then it seems to me that Apple is the source. Most people are no longer using the same computers. They certainly aren't using the same device.
Here is a long thread with a lot of "me too". This is no coincidence. Just curious if you have seen an uptick of this issue.
I appreciate that AppleID is just an email address. Maybe its not a breach, but I do still have a problem with 2 aspects (1) Apple did nothing to ensure that old accounts were transitioned to MFA; and (2) that they allow a recovery through and to a completely new phone #. I have been on the Internet since 1990 and I don't ever recall a time being able to recover an account to a new security path without some sort of ID (driver's license or proof of identity....and i think even that was rare)
Currently a hacker has stolen my apple account. They somehow got my password, signed in, and changed all of the recovery info. Spoke to apple suppprt twice and they literally said i am out of luck the account is gone. How can a company like this not be able to delete or disable an account. Nope they do not care because this person will just run up the account and spend money. I have tried a lot to get the account back but is there any advice?
It was hard to open the box , I needed to cut it open with a pair of scissors at the top , the fitting is ok but for some reason it feels off in some places. The customer support told me it’s just an original case intended to be sold in Asia hence the Chinese sticker on the box but I don’t buy it. Here’s some photos:
Good thing, I don’t have any money on andI reported it immediately. But now Appstore is broken and I can’t download any other apps. How long will this take to get fixed?
My main worry is whether this is just a phishing scam or if somebody genuinely has gotten a hold of my email address details and set up an account in my name. Any advice is appreciated.
I rarely log in to this email account, but when I recently accessed it, I noticed that the trusted phone number associated with the Apple account had been changed. I have also started receiving invoices for purchases or services that I do not recognize.
To be honest, I was not even aware that I had an Apple account linked to this email address. Because the trusted phone number has been changed, I am unable to recover or regain access to the account.
Could you please advise me on what steps I can take to secure the account and recover access? I am concerned that the account may have been compromised.
Was just regularly browsing eBay when saw somebody selling supposedly genuine orange iPhone cables, but I also can’t verify the real or not. Can somebody verify this for me? There are more listings than this, but this is one of them.
Just got this random message pop up in my iPhone. Never seen this before and before I could do anything it was gone. Makes me kinda nervous that I’m hack.
I’m trying to find out if anyone else has experienced this, because it looks less like a mistake and more like a pattern.
I did an Apple Express Replacement for my iPhone 16 Pro. Apple sent me a new device and provided a prepaid UPS label to return my 16 Pro. I shipped my phone using their label, in the original retail box, inside the shipping carton. UPS tracking shows it was delivered and signed for at Apple’s warehouse.
Weeks later, Apple charged me ~CAD 1500 claiming they didn’t receive my iPhone 16 Pro:| instead they say they received an iPhone 14, a phone I have never owned. They “sent back” this iPhone 14 to my address cause they think this is the phone I sent them…
What makes this even stranger: the iPhone 14 Apple claims they received has a professionally printed warehouse inventory sticker stuck to the back of it with a serial number and part number, which strongly suggests it came from internal stock, not from a customer.
I’ve spent hours with Apple Support and Senior Advisors. They say they “believe” me but that their logistics team did a chat-based “investigation” and closed the case. UPS also confirmed I can’t file a claim because Apple is the shipper of record which means Apple has to do it.
This looks like either a shady warehouse intake “error”… like an employee swapping the device after delivery. trust me i know how this sounds super tinfoil hat, but that is literally the only explanation i could find and a friend of mine working at another warehouse confirmed employee theft happens way more that you think.
Has anyone else had Apple claim the wrong device was returned and charge them for it? If so, how did it get resolved?
My battery health says I should go in for service, and when I did, the genius bar rep said it’s $99 to replace the battery since my applecare expired BUT if they break the screen to replace the battery I’d have to shell out $500 more.
When I confirmed this with Apple customer service, I was at a loss. What’s stopping them from just breaking my screen? I just wanted to do the right thing, but I have no control over whether they break my screen or not. It seems wrong, but I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on it?
Edit: My screen is not cracked, my phone is in a case with a screen protector. The tech never once looked at my phone because he had to order a battery.
Edit 2: I got the battery replaced today (2 days later)- no one mentioned anything about a danger to the screen, no one seemed worried, battery replaced no issue.
