Activation Lock engaged without being prompted

Will T. wrote:

"Where's My Device" is my feeble attempt to remember the app's name. I was using the web browser on my iPad when suddenly and unexpectedly the Activation Lock screen appeared and demanded that I sign in. The iPad is not lost or stolen, and neither are any of my other devices. I'm sitting here with them now.

That sounds like a phishing scam, not a legitimate feature.

OK, so if you Erased All Content and Settings, you would see the Activation Screen again. So, if that is what you did, then that is normal. However, I am still a bit dubious about the screen coming up out of the blue. That screen comes up when a new device is being activated (and by new, I mean one that is being set up from Factory Settings).

As for the rest - what Michael said....

Best of luck,

GB

I found this thread after my husband had an almost identical experience with his iPad Mini last night. He was browsing Youtube when suddenly, same as the OP, a white screen appeared which said "Activation Lock", it displayed his correct Apple ID and was asking for the password. The "Help" message also indicated that Find My iPhone had been activated (which it hadn't - his 2 MBPs were turned off and his iPhone was in standby mode). He wasn't able to get out of or bypass the screen without logging in. Once he did so, everything seemed to be working OK but he changed his Apple ID password and his email password (just in case) and also deleted his Safari browsing history and cookies.

It certainly seems from the posts in this thread that it was a phishing scam of some sort - the concern is of course that because we don't know where it came from, that it may happen again. My husband said the white screen didn't appear to be a "pop-up", but we've noted Michael Black's instructions (thank you!) on what to try if it does happen again. Is there anything else we could try if those instructions don't work for some reason - maybe a forced restart?

The instructions provided will do everything that needs to be done. They are web pages that come up based on where and what you are browsing, and what you click on when you are browsing. So, as Michael said, double-click the Home key, close teh window, and then go to Settings>Safari and delete all Website and Browsing data.

Cheers,

GB

Yes - it is disconcerting. But as long as you can recognize them, you are one step ahead of the lowlifes. I get at least one, sometimes more than one email from "Google" and "FedEx" telling me I have an important message. I kind of get a bit of a kick trashing them as fast as I see them...... 😁

GB

Have you tried doing a reset to see if that will remove it? Hold down the Home and Power buttons at the same time and continue to hold them down until the Apple appears (up to 30 seconds). Once the reset is complete, the Lock Screen will display.

See if that clears it up. Is there any chance you could attach a screenprint of the screen to a post here?

Cheers,

GB

That sounds like some kind of push notification or FLASH SMS message. Definitely do not respond to anything in that message (or any unexpected or unknown origin message of any form).

If you are concerned about your account, you can always use a computer and web browser to go to Apple's secure web server to manage your AppleID at https://appleid.apple.com and sign in and change your AppleID password there.

Did you try just unlocking the device with your fingerprint or passcode and then see if you could dismiss the notification?

Hi Gail, thanks for your suggestion. I did this, but once the reset was done, it booted back up to show ! Activation Required, and just the time, date, Verizon info in the top left and battery at 87% top right. I'm not aware of how I can screenshoot in the phone unless I can get in...I'm typing you on a MacBook Pro...any way to bring up iTunes and the phone will show there and I can screenshot from computer? I haven't hard wired the phone to the computer as it may just ultimately want my password there too.

Hi Michael, thanks so much for your reply and suggestions. Yes, I did try with the fingerprint (which works) and the passcode (which also works) but neither would budge the notification. Also, I tried to just turn off the phone with the side button, but that didn't solve the trick. Gail from Maine suggested I turn off the home button simultaneously with the side off/on button and that didn't work either!

I'm not able to respond to any SMS message at this point, but once back in will see if there is any unknown text there.

Do you think at this point I should just go onto the Apple site, per your suggestion, and change my password first, and then follow that up with the Activation on my phone? No matter what password I use to get into the phone, wouldn't whoever is hacking then have access? Thanks so very much.

Just a thought: yesterday afternoon Verizon put a new ZAGG glass plate on my iphone6 and it is just a smudge off, but hardly...the mic and camera and home button seem ok even though surrounded by the gold border on the Zagg which is a newer model. From experience on this phone, I know how sensitive the cover can be...any chance this weight or placement could have triggered the !Activation Notice? I will say, though probably also not related, the Verizon sales guy wanted me to upgrade to iPhone 7 for free, which ends tomorrow and I declined, headed out for a business trip. No likelihood they could manipulate such a thing as this, huh? Thanks for using your thinking caps, Gail and Michael on these posts! You're very kind to help us all.

The only reason to change your AppleID password is on the off chance it itself has been compromised, in which case your iCloud and other accounts linked to that AppleID would also be compromised.

And no, nobody can read your password entry at the screen, even if your current AppleID password was hacked. The only way to install software to steal your direct screen input would require someone having physical access to the device to install software.

However, if you wish to change your password, first sign out of iCloud, FaceTime and iMessage on the phone itself, then go and change your password. Then sign back in to everything on the device with your new password.

If it was a somehow stuck FLASH SMS phishing attempt hanging on the lock screen, just powering off your phone and restarting it should clear it - FLASH SMS are not stored on the device itself (and carriers in the USA will not allow FLASH SMS on their networks anyway, so if it was that, it had to be someone one the same wifi network using a FLASH spoofing tool - those are available for Android and jailbroken iOS devices unfortunately). And their are software hacks that allow people to send FLASH SMS from anywhere if they know your phone number (or even to randomly spam them en-mass to blocks of phone numbers).

As long as you did not respond to whatever it was, you should be fine. Changing your AppleID password is just a good practice any time you think, remote or not, that it may have been compromised. Just do it yourself, independently, from Apple's secure web site.

p.s. Michael, when I replied to your note just now, the last 2 sentences of your note didn't appear until I hit reply and just now read them! Odd. So I can now read your line that says to change the password independently on Apple's secure website from my computer. If I want to do that, can I avoid putting the current password in the iPhone that it's prompting?

Michael, fyi, I did nothing to the phone yet, but the Activation screen had gone to sleep, I assume, and then asked for my passcode (it wouldn't take the fingerprint) so once I put in the passcode, it asked me only for my iCloud password, and once I put that in, it said "Welcome to iPhone" and went straight to the home screen. I had a 2 texts that are normal and that is it. One is a Google Maps text. Since this is all so very strange, I will just change my Apple password from my computer. Thank you for all your help!

Very helpful Michael, thank you. I use 2 step verification for some other things and like it, but hadn't known about the 2 factor authentication. I was able to reset my password via MacBook Pro and it prompted my other devices. Phone seems ok for now, so hope that is it! Really appreciate your terrific communications and answers!