Hello, my wife’s iPhone 14 was stolen. She first thought it was lost and set it in “lost mode”, but the phone was turned off. It stayed off the the next day when she set it to erase. Can the thief somehow access her eSIM and steal her data?
[Re-Titled By Moderator]
iPhone 14
Your wife had a passcode set up on the phone.......correct?
There is no way that anyone could ever guess the correct passcode in less than the 10 tries allowed before the phone locks and will not allow any more passcode attempts.
So, the data on the phone is always protected by the passcode.
Watch out though for scam messages from "Apple" or "Apple Support" claiming that the phone has been found and they just need "a bit more information" so the phone can be returned.
Apple does not get involved with lost or stolen phones, so you know that anything like this is a scam that is trying to trick the user into providing their passcode, Apple ID and Password so the bad guys can get into the phone.
Ignore any messages like this and do not respond.
Your wife had a passcode set up on the phone.......correct?
There is no way that anyone could ever guess the correct passcode in less than the 10 tries allowed before the phone locks and will not allow any more passcode attempts.
So, the data on the phone is always protected by the passcode.
Watch out though for scam messages from "Apple" or "Apple Support" claiming that the phone has been found and they just need "a bit more information" so the phone can be returned.
Apple does not get involved with lost or stolen phones, so you know that anything like this is a scam that is trying to trick the user into providing their passcode, Apple ID and Password so the bad guys can get into the phone.
Ignore any messages like this and do not respond.
A SIM contains information about your cellular plan.
If you are using a physical SIM, a thief can take that SIM out of your phone, and put it into another phone – which may let them learn your cell phone number. If you then have your carrier transfer that number to the replacement phone, the thief "has your number" and may send "phishing" scam messages to it.
Physical SIMs can contain a small amount of data (like a contact list), but I do not believe that iPhones use them to store anything other than information about your cellular plan. So if your phone is locked and the criminals do not have your credentials, removing a physical SIM will not give them access to the data on your phone.
An eSIM, or electronic SIM, is stored electronically in built-in storage on your iPhone. If your phone is locked, and the criminals do not have the credentials to get in, they won't even be able to view what eSIMs you have installed, let alone transfer any of them to other phones, to learn your phone number for a "phishing" expedition.
Thank you, much appreciated!
Can eSIM from a stolen iPhone be accessed to steal data?
