Signing Out of Your Apple Account and Into Someone Else's Account Could Have Catastrophic Consequences

This article is for people who have already made a Fatal Mistake, by signing into someone else's Apple Account on their device. Simply said: NEVER.....EVER.......Sign into someone else's Apple Account on your device. Doing so will be a hugely costly and impossible to recover from mistake. If you did do this, read on:

What Do You Do If You Signed Out of Your Apple Account and Into Someone Else's Account?

In many parts of the world, we are seeing people coming here daily (often multiple times a day) because they have been scammed. The scam is pretty simple, but has PROFOUND FATAL results. 

It works like this.

• You want something you can't update or download on your device yourself.
• Someone says they can get what you want if you just sign out of your Apple Account and into their account. You think GREAT and do what they tell you do to.
• Or you've applied for a job and they say you must sign into their Apple Account in order to apply. (Yes, this really has happened).
• You have just made a FATAL mistake by giving control of your device to a scammer.
• And EVERYTHING in your iCloud is now accessible to the scammer. That means your text messages, your email, Apple Wallet, EVERTHING.
• The scammer will most assuredly put your device in Lost Mode.
• The scammer will most assuredly demand you pay a Ransom to be given access back to your device.

If this sounds familiar, what do you do?

• Sadly, as mentioned above, you've made a FATAL mistake you likely cannot recover from.
• Apple, nor anyone here on this user to user only forum can help you regain access to your device.
• Even if you are the original owner, in possession of the original purchase receipt or box, which clearly notes the device serial number, Apple cannot unlock a device which has been put in lost mode.
• Paying the Ransom would be foolish as the scammers will get paid for scamming you and still not unlock your device. Typically, they then demand more because you're willing to pay.
• You also need to go through the arduous process of changing passwords to just about anything the scammer now has access to.

We've also seen instances where a stranger approaches someone with an iPhone and says their phone has just been stolen and they ask if they could just get into Find My on your phone to look for their stolen/lost iPhone. DON'T FALL FOR THIS. They may convince you to sign out of your Apple Account, so they can sign into their Apple Account and then you'll have just lost your phone. NEVER hand your phone to anyone you don't know. Doing so could be a very costly mistake.

Please don't think that loss of your device is your only problem:

Apple explains it in this article --> What happens after you choose Sign Out But Don't Erase - Apple Support

If the previous device owner [i.e. you] chose to sign out and not erase, and you [i.e. the criminal] sign in to that device with your [criminal] Apple Account, data on the device merges with your [criminal] iCloud data and then syncs to your [criminal] other devices.

Restated: Data synced to your device from your iCloud might be exposed and used by the criminal for any sort of nefarious criminal activity.

Clearly, this has the potential to be a severe breach of your online identity which needs to be aggressively mitigated as soon as possible.

The real simple and sad answer is - Go buy a new device and learn from your fatal mistake. NEVER SIGN OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT AND SIGN INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S ACCOUNT.