Virus scan for iPhone required by bank

I’ve recently had a banking incident involving clicking on a link and as a result the person that did it got into my account. The bank made me get a new account, but they revoked my mobile/online banking until I get my phone “scanned” and “wiped” of any virus. Research has shown it’s almost impossible for an iPhone to catch a virus, but they require documentation proving this has been done to my phone. Is this a service the Apple store can provide? Do I need to go elsewhere? Will I be laughed out of the tech store??? Any help or suggestions are welcome, thank you for taking the time to read about my problems.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone SE, iOS 17

Posted on Nov 6, 2024 8:51 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 6, 2024 9:12 AM

What documentation or reviews Apple might offer, you will have to ask them.


More generally, your bank is running a checklist intended to reduce their exposure. If it culminates with “install anti-virus” for an iPhone or iPad, probably also not providing the best security advice.


Your iPhone already has anti-malware, built in. All do. The app store and related are part of that, too. (That built-in security also blocks add-on anti-malware from scanning the data contents of an iPhone. The add-ons are left to connect into your network traffic.)


More interesting will be migrating to a password manager such as the built-in iCloud Keychain, as that makes getting phished much tougher.


Also migrating the bank login to two-factor authentication, as that also makes getting breached tougher.


Same for enabling two-factor on your Apple Account, too.


You will want to move to unique and robust passwords too, as re-using passwords is doom.


Got concerns about what apps are installed? Factory reset, and don’t restore a backup.


Related: Better Securing Your Data, and Apple Account - Apple Community


But again, for what Apple might offer, you’ll need to discuss that with them.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 6, 2024 9:12 AM in response to DiscNerd509

What documentation or reviews Apple might offer, you will have to ask them.


More generally, your bank is running a checklist intended to reduce their exposure. If it culminates with “install anti-virus” for an iPhone or iPad, probably also not providing the best security advice.


Your iPhone already has anti-malware, built in. All do. The app store and related are part of that, too. (That built-in security also blocks add-on anti-malware from scanning the data contents of an iPhone. The add-ons are left to connect into your network traffic.)


More interesting will be migrating to a password manager such as the built-in iCloud Keychain, as that makes getting phished much tougher.


Also migrating the bank login to two-factor authentication, as that also makes getting breached tougher.


Same for enabling two-factor on your Apple Account, too.


You will want to move to unique and robust passwords too, as re-using passwords is doom.


Got concerns about what apps are installed? Factory reset, and don’t restore a backup.


Related: Better Securing Your Data, and Apple Account - Apple Community


But again, for what Apple might offer, you’ll need to discuss that with them.

Nov 6, 2024 1:17 PM in response to MrHoffman

PS1: Why use password managers? Password managers will automatically fill in the correct passwords, but that fill only happens on the actual website, and not on phishing websites. If the password doesn’t auto-fill for a website, some caution is warranted.


PS2: The bank should really have passkeys available, as those can’t be entered on other websites, and are more difficult to compromise, and can’t be re-used on other websites; the equivalent of no password re-use with passkeys. Basically, passkeys can’t be phished.

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Virus scan for iPhone required by bank

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