Hoolahoop
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Q: iPhone sending out texts without my knowing?

I recently purchased an iPhone 4S (manufacturer refurbished) from eBay. The phone has been fully reset and is already unlocked, with no previous accounts set up on it as far as I know.

 

After doing initial set up, I noticed it had some settings from "Three" carrier in Hong Kong.  I am in the UK.

 

So I presume the phone has been imported from HK for resale in the UK.

 

I checked my recent bill online for my provider and there are numerous international texts showing up all to the same number in HK!

 

I am in the process of resolving this with my UK provider so they should hopefully waive the charges but what could possibly be causing these?

 

I set up an apple store/cloud ID just fine with all my correct details. I went through the settings and turned off as much as I could to preserve battery and limit data use.

 

So for example:

location services OFF

facetime OFF

iCloud OFF

 

and most other things off where possible.

 

What could this be and how can I resolve it? I have upgraded the phone to the newest iOS version from iTunes, after doing a hard reset too (then disabling settings as above)

 

Just to clarify I set all locales/time zones etc. correctly to UK (nothing as far as I know is HK in settings anymore)

 

Thanks

iPhone 4S, iOS 8

Posted on Oct 8, 2014 3:43 AM

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Q: iPhone sending out texts without my knowing?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Oct 8, 2014 3:52 AM in response to Hoolahoop
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Oct 8, 2014 3:52 AM in response to Hoolahoop

    before you used it, did you restore as new?

  • by Hoolahoop,

    Hoolahoop Hoolahoop Oct 9, 2014 6:04 AM in response to ckuan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2014 6:04 AM in response to ckuan

    Hi there,

     

    When I first turned it on it went through the whole set up thing asking locale etc so I assume it was reset before I used it? But I set it up as a New iPhone in iTunes as well as doing a hard reset and upgrade of iOS later on.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Oct 9, 2014 6:16 AM in response to Hoolahoop
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Oct 9, 2014 6:16 AM in response to Hoolahoop

    Restore as new again.

    Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

    After this you should not have anything from the previous owner.

  • by Alfred DeRose,

    Alfred DeRose Alfred DeRose Oct 9, 2014 6:19 AM in response to Hoolahoop
    Level 5 (7,169 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2014 6:19 AM in response to Hoolahoop

    Did you insert your own SIM card or is it possible that there is a HK SIM still in the device? During activation of some iCloud services, a text is sent.

  • by Hoolahoop,

    Hoolahoop Hoolahoop Oct 9, 2014 6:41 AM in response to Alfred DeRose
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2014 6:41 AM in response to Alfred DeRose

    Hi I already did erase all contents and settings again. The phone has a UK carrier sim.

     

    I have a hunch its still somehow trying to send texts to a HK number, because the firmware is a Three HK one, not generic/blank. Quite distressing as I got a big bill from it. I've put restrictions on to turn off FaceTime and turned off FaceTime as I suspect it could be that.

  • by Alfred DeRose,

    Alfred DeRose Alfred DeRose Oct 9, 2014 7:21 AM in response to Hoolahoop
    Level 5 (7,169 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2014 7:21 AM in response to Hoolahoop

    What do you mean it has HK firmware? iOS is iOS with only some exceptions for operator settings.

  • by Hoolahoop,

    Hoolahoop Hoolahoop Oct 9, 2014 9:22 PM in response to Alfred DeRose
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2014 9:22 PM in response to Alfred DeRose

    Hi, is there any way I can add a screenshot here? I mean, when I do a hard reset and restore even as new phone some sections come prefilled eg APN shows something like mobile.three.hk as default. Those settings I set to my UK provider settings. I only have a UK sim never had HK. It picks up carrier voice settings ok just fine over the air.

     

    There is also a "Three" menu somewhere, have to check where again.

     

    So it has some kind of operator customisation from Three HK which I can't seem to get rid of, even after upgrading from the iOS 7 it came with to latest iOS via iTunes.

     

    I got a refund from my carrier in the end and they have put a block on international texts and calls so I should not get charged again but I would like it to stop it trying even.

     

    Some research tells me there are system files in the phone which could contain, for example, number that FaceTime sends a hidden activation text message to. Is this confirmable and any way I can check/edit this number? Phone is not jailbroken or hacked. Apple id is new as well, so not shared and I have tried hard reset, restore from recovery mode, upgrade from iTunes and reset as suggested above too.

     

    Alternatively how can I get rid of the old carrier bits as they persist no matter what I do?

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Oct 9, 2014 9:24 PM in response to Hoolahoop
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Oct 9, 2014 9:24 PM in response to Hoolahoop

    Read this:

    iOS: Updating your carrier settings

  • by Hoolahoop,

    Hoolahoop Hoolahoop Oct 9, 2014 11:43 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2014 11:43 PM in response to ckuan

    Tried that, it already shows my UK provider.

     

    If it's any help 0085263455477 is the number the texts go. A quick google shows quite a few results (Chinese? Can anyone translate?) It appears to be some kind of number for activating Facetime/iMessage or something...

  • by Alfred DeRose,

    Alfred DeRose Alfred DeRose Oct 9, 2014 11:54 PM in response to Hoolahoop
    Level 5 (7,169 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2014 11:54 PM in response to Hoolahoop

    Yes, as I said in my previous post, during activation of some iCloud services, a text is sent from your device.

     

    I would contact the seller and request a refund because this sounds less like a "manufacturer refurbished" iPhone than one that may have been locked to a carrier and unlocked in an unofficial way.

  • by Hoolahoop,

    Hoolahoop Hoolahoop Oct 10, 2014 12:16 AM in response to Alfred DeRose
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2014 12:16 AM in response to Alfred DeRose

    ok thanks, I have contacted the seller about it now! Only had it a short time so hopefully can get resolved