Recovery Contact Request Sent with Wrong Person

Question

Level 1

16 points

Recovery Contact Request Sent with Wrong Person

When I logged into my MacPro laptop this morning, I had a dialogue box from my Settings, telling me I needed to set-up either a Recovery Key or Recovery Contact. I couldn't recall if I had previously done this so I chose to set-up a Recovery Contact, choosing my wife. Upon clicking "Recovery Contact", I was given the option of selecting someone from my Contacts app. It auto-generated a Messages statement which I slightly edited to personalize it so my wife (at work) didn't think it was a scam.

A few minutes later, she sent me a screenshot showing a Recovery Contact request from a completely different (unknown) person. Anyone else experience something like this?

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Feb 13, 2026 5:42 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Mac Jim ID

Community+ 2026

Level 9

66,770 points

Feb 13, 2026 8:22 AM in response to SteveR312

The screenshot you see is from the Apple Support article about how to use the Account Recovery contact. Ashley Rico is not a real person and is one used by Apple for their examples in those Support Articles. Review this Support Article and you will see that exact picture (same time stamp and everything).

Help a friend or family member as their account recovery contact - Apple Support

I don't see the request made to your Wife in the Message and it is a simple Accept/Decline message from the invite you would send. I also assume you added the text "this is not a scam", as that would not appear in an automated text by Apple.

Trying to follow the message thread, it appears what you posted is from your device, including the Ashley Rico pic and not the actual invite for the Account Recovery contact. Not sure why that is the case or if you were researching what the Account Recovery Contact is and sent that information.

The only time you would be required to set up either a Recovery Contact or Recovery Key is if you were setting up Advanced Data Protection on your device. Were you attempting to turn this on?

How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud - Apple Support

I don't disagree with neuroanatomist with the suggestion to contact Apple directly, but did want to let you know that you did not send/receive a request from Ashley Rico. It is unclear how that came to be in your message.

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 13, 2026 7:08 AM in response to SteveR312

Very odd. Given the privacy concerns about such an occurrence, I'd suggest contacting Apple directly:

Official Apple Support

Reply

Answer 3

SteveR312 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 13, 2026 9:32 AM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thanks for your reply. What you see in the screenshot is the entirety of the message regarding having my wife serve as a Recovery Contact. If what you say is true regarding Ashley Rico, I think it's a mistake for Apple to use that as an "example" as that is not how I or my wife interpreted it.

As previously mentioned, after all this occurred, I checked and found that I already had my wife set-up as a Recovery Contact but I continue to have a System Notification requesting I set-up a Recovery Method.

I've been on the phone with Apple Support. They had me reinstall Tahoe 26.3 but the issue continues after install. Waiting on their callback.

Reply

Answer 4

SteveR312 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 13, 2026 8:06 AM in response to SteveR312

I see you edited the contact info in the screenshot. Probably for the best though the setup.icloud.com link at the bottom of that image isn't a real link so who knows if Ashley is real either.

Also, I checked and already had my wife as my Recovery Contact.

I'll reach out to Apple

Reply

Answer 5

SteveR312 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 13, 2026 7:11 AM in response to SteveR312

This is a screenshot of what my wife received (I am not Ashley).

[Edited by Moderator]

Reply