Received message after iPhone was stolen

This is a scam and they are asking to remove the phone from your devices, which will permit them to erase and use the phone themselves. DON'T DO IT. They don't have your data and we see people here daily who are lied to and coerced into removing the phone from their account, which is just the wrong thing to do. I wouldn't remove the phone from my account EVER. Ignore them. Contact your carrier and ask them to Blacklist the phone, so it can't ever operate on another network.

You did NOT receive a legitimate email from Apple and by giving the thieves exactly what they wanted, they can now completely reset your iPhone and either sell it or use it. Apple NEVER EVER sends such emails. EVER.

Yes, they have access to your data, but your data isn't really what they want. They want full access to the phone.

Since you did this however, you need to cancel your credit cards and get replacement cards. You need to change your passwords to all accounts. You need to change your Apple ID password.

You will never see this phone again, so of course you'll need to buy a new iPhone.

Whiteout2024 wrote:

I got the same email and now receive another text ~ when did they stopped txting?

Your old phone is recycled by us, we are just recycling merchants, we are not the ones who steal your phone, if you don't remove it, your old phone motherboard will be sold to other customers, maybe they will hack your phone or steal your credit card, or contact your family, so we recommend you remove it as soon as possible so we can restore the factory Settings and erase all data.

SCAM. Don't remove the phone from your account. They cannot do what they say they can.

I had the same text message yesterday. My phone was stolen in February. I asked them to send me proof and they then came back saying they had bought the phone for their daughter and they now can’t use it and that I am really upsetting them. Even said they would kill themself if I didn’t remove! I still didn’t budge. Not heard from them again.

Never engage.

That will only bring more fraudulent mesages going forward.

”Hey, we’ve got one on the hook !!! “

L0stnSpace wrote:

That’s a great idea; simple and effective. With my mind spinning with the possibilities, asking for proof never crossed my mind. TY.

Follow Apple's instructions to remove the phone from your account. Do not get involved in discussions with the thieves. They will most likely just try to get you to give them information they shouldn't have.

The bad guys would not even be trying to contact you if they already had access to the data on the phone.

They are trying to trick you into providing personal details so they will have access to the phone.

You will never get the phone back, but at least you can frustrate whoever is trying to trick you by not replying to the scam messages.

Re: “… How would they have got my number? … “

Presumably your phone had a nanoSIM without SIM PIN protection ???

SIM is removed, placed in an another device and voila; they make calls w/ your number until you cancel the SIM thru your carrier.

(Use an eSIM on your replacement phone if offered by your carrier.)

Mn120 wrote:

I have just received an identical test message, this is definitely a scam. My iPhone was stolen too in Spain in December 2023. I could see it in “Find my” for weeks after, they shipped it to Morocco. Then it disappeared from the map but the erase is still pending.

question is - how did they get my phone number. I had an eSIM!

When you marked the phone as Lost, did you, by chance, include contact information which would be useful for sending a message in the message that you asked it to display?

Someone who was thinking of their phone being simply lost – and not stolen by a bunch of low-life criminals – might include contact information in the message. Having read about these threats by criminals, I think that if I ever have my phone lost/stolen, the contact information in the message would be for a police station …

What “answer” are you looking for?

Activation Lock presumably WAS requesting a password. That’s what it DOES.

The message posted by Anoy37 - presumably from Apple - is “Infomational Only” - completely accurate by my reading - and NEVR requests or even suggests that the user do anything.

The fact that Apple now apparently informs the legit user is indeed a new wrinkle; perhaps intended to give the real owner some “piece of mind” that Activation Lock IS working.

But removing the phone from one’s account only makes one an unwitting accomplice to the criminal activity.

If you removed your device, you gave the bad guys open access to the data on your phone.....and.....they are now free to reset the phone and sell it.

You already know that you will never see the phone again.

Contact your carrier and ask them to blacklist the phone so whoever has it will not be able to use it.

jastheper wrote:

This actually got me worried that my personal info would be leaked.

Now the person is trying to get me to delete and unlink this device from my Apple ID...

What should I do?

You delete the message and block the sender. Nothing else.

I have just received an identical test message, this is definitely a scam. My iPhone was stolen too in Spain in December 2023. I could see it in “Find my” for weeks after, they shipped it to Morocco. Then it disappeared from the map but the erase is still pending.

question is - how did they get my phone number. I had an eSIM!

I would assume, that the sender might have your phone, but no access to data. Ask him to share one of your last photos as evidence, or a screenshot with one of your mails, or anything that proofs it. I guess he wants to reset it, but cannot as it still belongs to your Apple ID.

pakabear76 wrote:

Same i removed my device. Did you get an answer on this?

If you removed your device from your device list, you have given whoever has your phone the full ability to erase the phone and use it for themselves. That was a most unfortunate thing to do. You'll never see the phone again.