Stolen iPhone 14 Pro: iCloud compromised, removal pending

kamil220 wrote:

However, I have noticed that someone has requested to remove my device from my iCloud account after 5/6 hours, and the system is showing that the device will be removed on 8 February 2025 if it does not go online before then. I am very concerned that this will compromise the Activation Lock and allow unauthorized use of my device.

If Apple's systems are showing that the device "will be removed on 8 February 2025", that implies that either

• You made the mistake of removing the phone from the list of devices associated with your account, or
• The thieves obtained the credentials needed to do this themselves, e.g. by sending you "phishing" messages where they pretended to be "Apple" or the "Police."

Either way, Activation Lock is cleared, and the thieves can reset your phone and "make your phone their own".

By this time the thief was able to break into my iCloud account and removed lost/stolen option my iPhone and subsequently requested to remove my device from my iCloud account.

In this situation I urgently need help to:

1. Prevent the unauthorized removal of my iPhone from my iCloud account. 

2. Secure my iCloud account and assist me without requiring access to my stolen device. 

3. Ensure that Activation Lock remains in place to protect my stolen iPhone.

Too late for #1 and #3. The barn door is already open and the horse has escaped. If the thieves are kind enough to keep the phone offline and unmolested for a month and then let it connect to the Internet, Activation Lock may turn itself back on (it's a strange corner case) – but realistically they're not going to do that.

Please advise me on the next steps and confirm that my account and device will remain protected.

If your Apple Account has been compromised – as you indicated – we cannot assure you that your Apple Account will "remain protected." By definition, it is compromised, and the thieves could have ransacked it for any data that might be there (backups, synchronized data) or used it in other ways that I do not care to describe.

You need to regain control of the compromised account - but also assume that the criminals might have examined everything stored in it, or even deliberately vandalized some of your data.

If you think your Apple Account has been compromised - Apple Support

I am the legal owner of this device and I have its original IMEI matched box and documents.

It is a matter of deep concern that how a person can get into my iPhone when it was Face ID locked, Security key locked, protected with iCloud account and marked stolen!!!

The thieves might not have been able to get into your iPhone, itself, if it was passcode locked.

However, you indicate that your Apple Account was compromised. That definitely would have been enough for the criminals to clear Activation Lock, to get into any backed up or synchronized data stored in iCloud, and for them to "make your phone their own" (by doing a reset that would wipe the phone and let it be set up as a new phone).

The only way someone could have gotten into your iCloud account is if they knew your iPhone Passcode and Apple Account credentials. Did you by any chance receive a message your phone had been found and all you needed to do was confirm your account details? If yes and you confirmed the details, you gave ownership of the phone to someone else and Apple can't stop the device from being removed from your account.

You didn't get an email from Apple. Apple doesn't send such emails. But you likely signed into the fake account they sent you, which gave the thieves your login credentials. You were scammed and there is no way for Apple to stop the phone from being removed from your account. Sorry, but it's a lost cause at this point.

You fell for a phishing message from the thief who has your phone and logged into a bogus Apple account web page, providing them with the credentials needed to remove the activation lock.

You'll never see that device again.

Apple can't help you.

You need to change the password for your Apple account NOW.