What should i do to get rid of this malware?

• Review the apps that are allowed to access your Camera and Microphone at Settings > Privacy & Security.
• Run Safety Check to see information you are currently sharing to others

Safety Check for an iPhone with iOS 16 or later - Apple Support

• Describe what you are seeing that makes you believe your camera has been hacked allowing someone to remotely record your audio and video calls. If that truly was the case, you would see it as a top story on every news broadcast.

Did you get the “hello pervert” spam reporting compromising videos and photos, and a cryptocurrency wallet address, or whatever else those folks are claiming?

If so, they lied. It’s creative fiction.

If they had compromising photos, they’d show you some of what they claim they have.

Versions of this have been circulating since 2018 or so, and probably earlier.

The “hello pervert” mail is getting spammed to everybody, if that is what triggered your concerns here.

The “here’s your old password” mail got spammed to everybody after some data breaches (those with bad password storage implementations), too.

There are lots of these spam messages around.

Panic is the whole point of these.

Here is a write up on one of these scams from 2018, and one more recentlywith info on the street view images some of these messages now include:

• https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/07/sextortion-scam-uses-recipients-hacked-passwords/
• https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/09/sextortion-scams-now-include-photos-of-your-home/

Delete it. there’s no hack, no camera, no secret photos, nothing but lies.

Again, ifthese folks had what they claim, they’d show you compromising photos.

Given the access they are claiming (and lying about), they’d have also directly pillaged all of your data, all your passwords, your credit card info, your camera roll, and everything else, too. And again, they lied. They don’t have that data, or that access. They want fearful people to send them free money.

And for completeness, and very unlikely the case here, there is malware around that targets iPhone and iPad, though that immensely-expensive exploit tooling is rare and targeted, based on available evidence. If Apple detects that tooling, they can send those targeted a message: About Apple threat notifications and protecting against mercenary spyware - Apple Support

Whatever is happening is not from someone having remote access to your phone or camera if it has not been jailbroken.

• A Jailbreak is something that would have to intentionally be done by you, or on a phone you had purchased, or if someone knows your credentials and has physical access to your phone for a considerable amount of time. The solution to this is to Factory Reset the phone and do not restore from a backup. One clue your phone is jailbroken is if you have the Cydia app on it. It would be concerning if you had no idea if your phone has been jailbroken as that would indicate either you do not protect your credentials and allow others to use them or did not Factory Reset the phone if it was purchased used.
• If your WhatsApp account has been compromised, that is something you will need to consult with them as your data is sent to their servers and it is not occurring on your device.
• If the person you are talking to records your conversation and gives it to this person, that also has nothing to do with your phone.
• You have not indicated how you are communicating with the person or the circumstances. Are they asking for money from you? Do you know this person? Is this an email, message, or WhatsApp Message? Can you post this communication without providing any username or identifiable information?

iphoneuse10 wrote:

No. I live with that person. I know him.

yeah you are right i was talking to someome via whatsapp. But how can he record video ? And one thing for sure that when he was tracking my call he was not with me in apartment. He was at some other place. But he has recording of WhatsApp video call made at that time.

This is an issue with WhatsApp and any other social media accounts you may have shared your sign on credentials with. Change your WhatsApp Password and the password to all other social media sites you visit. This has NOTHING to do with Malware or your iPhone.

You'll have to decide what to do about the relationship you have with this person. That is outside the scope of this forum.

iphoneuse10 wrote:

Could be jailbroken. I am not sure about this

If your phone has been jailbroken, we can't help you here. Apple won't help you if your phone is jailbroken. If it's possible the phone has been jailbroken, erase the phone, then set it up again from scratch, not from backup.

iphoneuse10 wrote:

No. I live with that person. I know him.

yeah you are right i was talking to someome via whatsapp. But how can he record video ? And one thing for sure that when he was tracking my call he was not with me in apartment. He was at some other place. But he has recording of WhatsApp video call made at that time.

It would be far easier to believe somebody with direct physical access to your gear also having your passcode and passwords, rather than assuming the use of millions of dollars in exploit tools.

Options:

• Toss them out, or leave.
• Discuss the breach with the police, if that’s an option here.

These cases don’t get better.

What (else) to do: assume account and passcode compromise, and tighten your security.

If you got an email claiming that, it’s a scam. You have not been hacked. Hacking an iphone that has not been jailbroken is virtually impossible.

iphoneuse10 wrote:

I have done all.

but i still don't know how it is possible

i mean this is 100% true that there is something hacked. And how i know is that person has the record of my that day video and audio call recording which he made when he was not around me. This is true that he can track my whatsapp audio video calls which i thought might be due to camera hacking or maybe due to some malware. But this is actually happening.

Options there include, and in no particular order, and with no offense intended:

• They’re lying; they don't have the recording (people lie, associates lie, and spammers including the “hey pervert” spammers lie, too.) They might socially engineer you into revealing info from the call or might lead you into believing they know more than they do, or they might similarly engage others party to the call, or a combination.
• they have a recording provided to them from one of the other parties of the call
• they do have a recording, albeit made from other surveillance devices installed near you, or others party to the call.
• the call was made with insecure tools, or maybe the conferencing tools themselves provided a recording to those with access.
• your own security is, well, lacking badly. Folks with old versions and old hardware, and those with compromised passwords and passcodes, etc. Having a passcode and physical access to your device means access to your data.
• they’ve targeted you with immensely valuable exploit tooling, mercenary and espionage and exploit tooling worth a chunk of a billion dollars. That’s around, but all available information indicates it is targeted, and not widely deployed. There are roles and activities that you can be involved with that can potentially make this targeting with this tooling somewhat more likely.
• This didn't happen, or didn’t happen as described; no offense is intended here, but I have had folks do things, and then forget, and have met folks that are fond of gaslighting others for any of various reasons, and have had medical conditions as have had a few folks of my acquaintance.

None of that is particularly going to get sorted here, either. We’re not going to know how this happened. Except maybe for compromised passwords or passcodes, or cases involving older and known-insecure software or hardware. Or if your adversary tells you, and doesn’t lie about it. The rest of the possibilities you’re going to have to consider and test yourself, or to collect evidence, or pay for forensics (and those forensics might not find anything). And don’t expect free forensics, absent at least some evidence that you yourself have collected.

iphoneuse10 wrote:

That hacker person told me the conversation i had with other person including my acts during video call, while that hacker person was far away.

It is more likely that the other person told the hacker the information, unless of course you have a jailbroken phone and have not erased it yet. This would require a deliberate action by you, or someone who has physical access to your phone along with your credentials, or you received the phone from someone else and did not perform a Factory Reset.

Or even more likely, as KiltedTim pointed out, a phishing scam that you believe is true.

iphoneuse10 wrote:

Hey, i have a feel that my iPhone camera has been hacked due to which someone is able to record my audio and video calls.

what should i do to get rid of this malware or ambiguity?

There is no known hack/malware/spyware/virus for a non jailbroken phone.

Please read this article from Apple Support and let’s discuss if you’re hacked or you’re working towards being hacked.

Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Your camera has absolutely nothing to do with recording audio and video calls.

Somebody is lying to you and maybe trying to intimidate you into doing something for them. Are they asking you for money? If you communicated with someone via video on WhatsApp or other app they may have recorded the video on their end but they can’t control your camera

Your phone has not been hacked. If you think someone has access to your WhatsApp calls, you need to take that up with WhatsApp.