Someone airdropped me a pic with airdrop and bluetooth turned off... Got hacked?

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Level 1

8 points

Someone airdropped me a pic with airdrop and bluetooth turned off... Got hacked?

Hi,

I don't use bluetooth or airdrop. They were both turned off... A few days ago, I was on subway using my iphone (newset ios 12.3.1). All of sudden, someone airdropped me a picture. Of course I didn't accept it. But the real question is why can someone airdrop me a picture when both bluebooth and airdrop were turned off... My wifi was on but it didn't connect to any AP (I was on the subway).

Was my iphone compromised? Was I hacked? Is there a security bug in ios 12.3.1 that allows others airdrop you something even airdrop and bluetooth were off?

I can't trust this iphone anymore. Can that picture contain a malware or virus or somthing?...

Should I reset my iphone to factory and restore from my backup? I just made a backup but don't know if the malware or virus is in the backup...

Any help would be appreciated!

iPhone 7

Posted on Jul 9, 2019 1:00 PM

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Answer 1

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SravanKrA

Community+ 2024

Level 10

411,310 points

Jul 10, 2019 11:31 AM in response to Sam-S

It is not hacking. You probably have received the airdrop when the bluetooth was ON. you may be viewing it much later.

If you have set AirDrop setting to everyone turn it off and make it Contacts only, to be safe.

Following criteria must be met for the Airdrop to work:

Make sure that the person you're sending to is nearby and within Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range.
Check that you and the person you're sending to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. If either of you have Personal Hotspot on, turn it off.
Check if the person you're sending to has their AirDrop set to receive from Contacts Only. If they do, and you’re in their Contacts, they need to have your email address or mobile number in your contact card for AirDrop to work.
If you're not in their Contacts, have them set their AirDrop receiving setting to Everyone in order to receive the file.

You can put your AirDrop receiving setting to Contacts Only or Receiving Off at any time to control who can see your device and send you content in AirDrop.

Use AirDrop on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204144

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Answer 2

Sam-S Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 11, 2019 8:42 PM in response to SravanKrA

No, I definitely had both bluetooth and airdrop receiving OFF. I don't use bluetooth or airdrop. So it's either a big bug in iOS 12.3.1 or someone found a way to airdrop you something when both bluetooth and airdrop were off... I'm afraid that picture that someone send had a virus or malware in it although I declined airdrop...

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Answer 3

Jul 27, 2019 7:51 PM in response to Sam-S

Someone sent me 3 weird and scary photos in quick succession on iPhone tonight on the subway via AirDrop. My Bluetooth was On but AirDrop was set to Receiving Off. Why did I get them if it was Off? I did not Accept and managed to turn off Bluetooth to stop them. It was unsettling and I want to ensure my phone could not be hacked and that it won’t happen again. Thanks for any info

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Someone airdropped me a pic with airdrop and bluetooth turned off... Got hacked?

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