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My devices have been hacked. What do I do?

i was using my ipad a short while ago when suddenly it locked itself, and was askiwhich I'd never previously set up. I went to check my phone and there was a message on the screen (it's still there) saying that my device(s) had been hacked by 'Oleg Pliss' and he/she/they demanded $100 USD/EUR (sent by paypal to ****) to return them to me.


I have no idea how this has happened. I am not aware of having been exposed to malware or anything else, although i did recently purchase some new apps - perhaps one of these has something to do with it? I don't know. I am not sure what avenue has been used to reach my devices - I'm about to use my husband's laptop to check through some of my accounts (gmail, etc) and see if there is any clue there.


Has this happened to anyone else? What can or should I do? Many thanks

<Email Edited by Host>

iPhone 5

Posted on May 26, 2014 4:57 AM

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456 replies

May 26, 2014 5:48 AM in response to Rojmer

hi Rojmer, thank you for your reply. I was pretty sure that whoever Oleg Pliss is, it's not really the name of the person who hacked my iDevices 🙂


I think that what you described is what happened - I have gone into iCloud and when i used the 'find my iphone' feature i did indeed see the message and that both the devices were locked.After a bit of research my husband suggested that i turn off 'lost mode' to see if that would restore functionality but this isnt working - each device says 'pending: stop lost mode' but are both still 'lost' despite being turned off before i tried to stop lost mode (if that makes sense).


I'm going to see about changing my icloud password now, as well...

May 26, 2014 5:25 AM in response to veritylikestea

Oleg Pliss is a well known software engineer and technology scientist. He would not go about asking for money to unlock iDevices.


Is it possible someone has had access to your Apple ID and password? Through iCloud they would be able to lock your devices with a passcode and send a message like the one you have received. Using your computer go to iCloud.com and log in with your Apple ID and password and see if you can see your devices and their status.

May 26, 2014 5:54 AM in response to veritylikestea

In order for you to stop lost mode from iCloud.com, the devices must be powered on and connected to the internet. I suggest you turn them back on so that they can get connected and then try to stop lost mode for them again.


Changing your password is a good idea but remember when you unlock your devices you must sign out of the Apple ID and sign back in again with your new password for the App and iTunes Stores, iCloud, iMessage and FaceTime.

May 26, 2014 6:09 AM in response to veritylikestea

Well, if you cannot get them out of the locked status, one thing you can do as a last resort is erase them and set them up again.


I hope you do have a backup from before the lock was put on the devices so you can recover your stuff by restoring from a backup after you have erased them.


You can always redownload apps, music, etc. bought from iTunes and resync contact, calendars, etc. from iCloud or from your computer.

May 26, 2014 6:24 AM in response to veritylikestea

I have the same problem, with the exact same message. Affecting both my iphone and ipad. Have reset passwords on all my applications (banking, email, social media etc) just in case.


I'll be visiting apple in the morning also.

I'm assuming there is going to be a lot of people affected by this hacking. I wonder if this is associated with the recent icloud hacking in the media:

http://www.nltimes.nl/2014/05/21/apple-icloud-hacked-dutch-gang/

My devices have been hacked. What do I do?

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