My iphone was hacked by scammers and turned to "Activation lock" under unknown apple ID. I provided evidence of purchasing and hacking. Why apple support refused to help me to restore my rights.
iPhone 14 Pro
NO. Your phone wasn't HACKED. You willingly signed out of your Apple Account and into someone else's Apple Account, likely to get something you couldn't get on your own. This was a FATAL mistake you made and one which was completely avoidable.
The scammers, who now own the key to your iPhone have most assuredly now put the phone in Lost Mode, which means even with the right documents Apple would traditionally accept, Apple cannot get you back in the phone.
And the scammers will most certainly try to get you to pay a ransom, with the promise that once paid, they'll give ownership of the phone back to you. But they won't. And you'll not only be locked out of your phone, but you'll lose your money.
We are seeing this daily comping out of several countries. And you will need to go buy a new cell phone as there is virtually nothing anyone here nor at Apple can do to help you.
NEVER EVER sign out of your account and into someone else's account no matter what they promise you.
So, you were scammed, but you were NOT hacked.
NO. Your phone wasn't HACKED. You willingly signed out of your Apple Account and into someone else's Apple Account, likely to get something you couldn't get on your own. This was a FATAL mistake you made and one which was completely avoidable.
The scammers, who now own the key to your iPhone have most assuredly now put the phone in Lost Mode, which means even with the right documents Apple would traditionally accept, Apple cannot get you back in the phone.
And the scammers will most certainly try to get you to pay a ransom, with the promise that once paid, they'll give ownership of the phone back to you. But they won't. And you'll not only be locked out of your phone, but you'll lose your money.
We are seeing this daily comping out of several countries. And you will need to go buy a new cell phone as there is virtually nothing anyone here nor at Apple can do to help you.
NEVER EVER sign out of your account and into someone else's account no matter what they promise you.
So, you were scammed, but you were NOT hacked.
MMBBVV wrote:
My iphone was hacked by scammers and turned to "Activation lock" under unknown apple ID. I provided evidence of purchasing and hacking. Why apple support refused to help me to restore my rights.
You were not hacked. The scammers could not have remotely logged your phone into an "unknown Apple ID".
It sounds as if you logged your phone into an Apple Account that the scammers told you to use. Once you logged into that account, it would have been trivial for the scammers to remotely lock the phone. No hacking involved, or required. The criminals probably promised you "goodies" (music/movies/games you couldn't get otherwise, etc.) for logging into their account, but it was all a lie, to lull you into compromising your own security.
No doubt the criminals are demanding a ransom, perhaps in hard-to-claw-back forms like cryptocurrency or gift card codes, but it would be unwise to pay. If you pay the ransom, they might decide to keep extorting more and more money without ever releasing your phone. Apple will not remove Activation Lock on a phone that is in Lost Mode. The phone is now a paperweight, fit mainly for recycling.
Learn from this painful experience – and never, ever log into someone else's Apple Account on your next phone.
MMBBVV wrote:
Why apple support refused to help me to restore my rights.
If you believe your iPhone has been hacked, compromised, or is now in someone else’s possession, you should report the incident to your local law-enforcement authorities in writing without delay. Keep a copy of the complaint or acknowledgement for your records.
This is important because the device is legally associated with you. If someone uses your iPhone for fraudulent, criminal, or otherwise unlawful activities, the device could potentially be traced back to its registered owner. Having a documented police complaint will establish that you had already reported the device as compromised or stolen and that you had no involvement in any subsequent misuse.
The fact that you have also been targeted through phishing attempts makes the situation more concerning. It may indicate that whoever has access to the device or your information is attempting to obtain your credentials, personal information, or access to other accounts. You should therefore treat this as a potential security incident rather than merely an iPhone malfunction.
At this stage, Apple cannot investigate or control what an unauthorized person does with a device that is no longer securely under your control. Apple can provide technical and account-security assistance, but it cannot act as law enforcement or prevent someone from attempting to misuse information they may already have obtained.
To protect yourself, document everything—including the date and time you lost control of the device, suspicious messages or phishing attempts, phone numbers, email addresses, screenshots, and any other relevant evidence—and provide this information to the authorities. Also secure your Apple Account and other important accounts from a trusted device, change compromised passwords, and review your account activity for anything you do not recognize.
The priority is to create a clear written record that the device was compromised and to take immediate steps to prevent any potential misuse from being attributed to you.
It is not possible to remove the Activation Lock when a device is in Lost Mode.
MMBBVV wrote:
My iphone was hacked by scammers
If you feel an unauthorized person/app is remotely using, controlling or monitoring your device, then that is possible only if you have done one or more of the following Don'ts...
If one of the above is true then quickly change the Apple ID Password and Return iPhone settings to their defaults.
If a person has ever had your passcode, they could’ve installed something quietly — so the full erase and setting up as new is the safest option. How to factory reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Keep the iPhone updated to the latest iOS always and never Jailbreak. That's it.
iOS / iPadOS devices cannot be hacked or infected with Viruses / Malware / Spyware *** unless you have intentionally downloaded spurious software or unauthorized apps directly from the internet and installed them on your device, and/or have Jailbroken.
It (Hacking) also depends on how careful you are in sharing sensitive and valuable information pertaining to your iPhone such as Passcode, Password, etc with your friends and family members.
Be judicious when sharing the device's sensitive and valuable information with friends and family members.
**The primary reason for this is Sandboxing. All third-party apps are “sandboxed”, so they are restricted from accessing files stored by other apps or from making changes to the device. Sandboxing is designed to prevent apps from gathering or modifying information stored by other apps.
Security of runtime process in iOS and iPadOS - Apple Support
The sandbox on an iPhone is a security feature that creates a restricted environment for each app to run in isolation from other apps and the operating system. It is a core component of iOS's security architecture and plays a crucial role in making iPhones more secure.
If you doubt the authenticity of the information provided earlier, you have two alternatives:
Did you go through the account recovery process?
How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple Account password - Apple Support
My iphone was hacked by scammers and turned to "Activation lock" under unknown apple ID
