Phone rings but there is no way to answer the call

Hello notlimey,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

I understand that your wife's phone will ring, but there is no pop-up offering the option to accept or reject the call and the call doesn't appear in the recent call list. First think I would have to ask is are you certain this is an incoming call and not another notification that has the same sound effect? If you are certain it is a call, is she able to make an outgoing call without issues? How about sending or receiving a FaceTime call? Do you have a call filtering or screening app on the phone that may be blocking incoming calls?

The first thing I would recommend is making sure the software on the iPhone is up to date and also update the carrier settings. See the following support articles:

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Update your carrier settings on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you continue to have issues get back with us with as much additional information as you have, as well as other troubleshooting you have tried.

Best regards.

notlimey wrote:

I was suspicious of a hack because the day before this began happening my wife received two phone calls from someone speaking Chinese.

Getting a call from someone who speaks a language you don't understand cannot result in your phone being hacked. It was probably just a wrong number.