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Malware or hacked from text message

I received a text message from an unknown number. I opened the text message and there was a random picture with a download icon. I didn’t click on anything and immediately deleted the message. Hours later my husband received a text message from an unknown number (different picture). Also immediately deleted. Is there any way that something malicious could have happened to our phones? Thanks so much in advance!

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 15

Posted on Feb 23, 2022 8:14 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 23, 2022 9:08 PM

I got hacked from a spam text message or Facetime msg that I didn't even open or click on it. Make sure you call all your banks and credit cards first and then sort the rest out. Good luck, It was a real pain and Apple doesn't have a solution (except doing your security updates as soon as they come out because it's an ongoing investigation. I transitioned to 3 phones. I for finance/payments/bills. One for accessing the rest of the web and the last to just make calls on. If you get hacked again you're lessening the chance that they got to 1 phone and you'll know who's affected vs bringing your entire phone/communication to a standstill. Plus you add the additional phone numbers as "safe" which really helps a great deal should you even have to put things back together. Because you'll want to wipe out your phone and restore from factory defauly.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 23, 2022 9:08 PM in response to Melissa-Ann-34

I got hacked from a spam text message or Facetime msg that I didn't even open or click on it. Make sure you call all your banks and credit cards first and then sort the rest out. Good luck, It was a real pain and Apple doesn't have a solution (except doing your security updates as soon as they come out because it's an ongoing investigation. I transitioned to 3 phones. I for finance/payments/bills. One for accessing the rest of the web and the last to just make calls on. If you get hacked again you're lessening the chance that they got to 1 phone and you'll know who's affected vs bringing your entire phone/communication to a standstill. Plus you add the additional phone numbers as "safe" which really helps a great deal should you even have to put things back together. Because you'll want to wipe out your phone and restore from factory defauly.

Feb 23, 2022 9:52 PM in response to deggie

The full circumstances of this hack haven't been revealed because it's still under investigation. Hacks are getting very sophisticated. The cameras can be turned on. Outbound calls redirected to different numbers. 2FA looked like it was coming from the source of the issuer but it wasn't, iTunes the store was a copy, and whatever you bought to put a beacon on your phone. I could go on! You have NO idea! And most of Apple's support isn't aware. This type of hack was escalated to the investigation dept, who will prosecute.

I stand by my advice ... If you think there's ANY chance you've been hacked secure your bank, credit cards, etc. FIRST!

The rest of the story is the levels I had to put in place. That's was my experience.

Malware or hacked from text message

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