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How to tell if my iPhone is hacked or not?

Think one of my phones is hacked



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


Posted on Aug 4, 2021 1:04 PM

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Posted on Aug 4, 2021 2:04 PM

Speedsimon1 wrote:

Phone was not personally jail token but many of my contacts received a text from a different number not associated with my phone or business. The text gave the contacts first name, said they needed my assistance, then signed it with my full name and business name.

There are a couple of possibilities:

  • All of that information can come from a friend’s or associates (who has you as a contact and contacts in common with you) hacked email account, or from your hacked email account, having nothing to do with your phone.
  • If they came from your iCloud email address consider the possibility that your Apple ID was hacked and see this→If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support. If you have 2 factor authentication on your Apple ID this is highly unlikely.
  • Your email address was spoofed, and wasn’t sent by your account. This is easy to determine by examining the headers of one of the bogus messages. And email spoofing is very easy; anyone can do it with about 30 seconds of instruction.


Anecdote about email spoofing. A close friend is a novelist, writing techno-thrillers. His first book, Singularity, followed a computer consult, Jon Knox, who gets drawn into investigating a plot by some Very Bad Guys. Bill sent me an email asking how hard it would be for someone to impersonate email from Jon Knox. I sent him a reply from Jon Knox.



8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 4, 2021 2:04 PM in response to Speedsimon1

Speedsimon1 wrote:

Phone was not personally jail token but many of my contacts received a text from a different number not associated with my phone or business. The text gave the contacts first name, said they needed my assistance, then signed it with my full name and business name.

There are a couple of possibilities:

  • All of that information can come from a friend’s or associates (who has you as a contact and contacts in common with you) hacked email account, or from your hacked email account, having nothing to do with your phone.
  • If they came from your iCloud email address consider the possibility that your Apple ID was hacked and see this→If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support. If you have 2 factor authentication on your Apple ID this is highly unlikely.
  • Your email address was spoofed, and wasn’t sent by your account. This is easy to determine by examining the headers of one of the bogus messages. And email spoofing is very easy; anyone can do it with about 30 seconds of instruction.


Anecdote about email spoofing. A close friend is a novelist, writing techno-thrillers. His first book, Singularity, followed a computer consult, Jon Knox, who gets drawn into investigating a plot by some Very Bad Guys. Bill sent me an email asking how hard it would be for someone to impersonate email from Jon Knox. I sent him a reply from Jon Knox.



Aug 4, 2021 1:59 PM in response to KiltedTim

People from my contacts received a text using there name in the heading and asking for assistance to go to a CVS and purchase 3 $200 Google play cards, scratching them then texting a pictures, ending the text with my full name (spelled correctly btw it’s a unique spelling) and my business name. But the phone number it originated from is not mine or associated to my phone at all. They didn’t ask for the Google cards right away I asked what they wanted and that was after texting back and forth about 5 times.

Aug 4, 2021 6:34 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Um... you know Bill DeSmedt?

I can't recommend Singularity highly enough to anyone who happens to stumble on this thread. I've probably read it 4 or 5 times now. I pick up something new each time.


Please pass on my compliments to him. Haven't read Dualism yet, but it's on my short list. Just saw he has a 3rd novel on the way. I imagine that will be a must read as well.


Cheers!

Aug 4, 2021 6:43 PM in response to KiltedTim

Yes, quite well. Had lunch with him a few weeks ago. We’ve worked together on and off for 30 years. I recently provided a little technology guidance to him for Triploidy. One of the characters in Singularity (as well as Dualism) is loosely based on me. Now that you know that identifying him should be easy. The name is a giveaway. Although it’s actually Bill who lives on a mountaintop.

How to tell if my iPhone is hacked or not?

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