Emergency SOS message because I am the contact
I received a SOS emergency text with my son’s name because I am their emergency contact. I contacted my son and said he never called anyone. Is this a scam that is going on?
iPhone XS
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User profile for user:
DerekM87
User level:
Community Specialist
Hi 1953sgl,
As part of the Emergency SOS feature, along with contacting emergency services it will send a text to the emergency contacts they're set up.
If he didn't call anyone it is possible, he may have activated the feature accidentally. The steps to intentionally activate Emergency SOS are below:
"Call emergency services
Make the call on iPhone 8 or later:
- Press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
- Drag the Emergency Call slider to call emergency services. If you continue to hold down the side button and volume button, instead of dragging the slider, a countdown begins and an alert sounds. If you release the buttons after the countdown, your iPhone automatically calls emergency services.
Make the call on iPhone 7 or earlier:
- Rapidly press the side (or top) button five times. The Emergency Call slider will appear.
- Drag the Emergency SOS slider to call emergency services.
After the call ends, your iPhone sends your emergency contacts a text message with your current location, unless you choose to cancel. If Location Services is off, it will temporarily turn on. If your location changes, your contacts will get an update, and you'll get a notification about 10 minutes later.
On iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, your phone can call emergency services and send a message to your emergency contacts when a severe car crash is detected. Learn more about Crash Detection on your iPhone or Apple Watch."
If this continues to happen, but he hasn't contacted emergency services intentionally, we'd recommend having him reach out to Apple Support for assistance.
Take care.