Weird Messages Received from Non-Existent Numbers and More

I have been receiving messages from weird (and non-existent) numbers since 2nd of june, 2018. My phone is the iPhone 7 GSM model running ios 10.3.1. It is not jailbroken before anyone asks. And yes, I bought it from an apple store, it is a legitimate device/it is not a knock off.
The first weird message I got was from "19". It was a blank message:

User uploaded file

I didn't think much of it back then. I googled if anyone received a blank number from 19 and surely, some people did! It was apparently a network cell broadcast from EE that keeps my device/SIM card updated. I am not a member of EE though, and I found this to be very strange...
In 6th of June, 2018, while I was using my phone; the apple two-factor auth notification popped up, saying someone from China was trying to access my account (I'm from Turkey and have never gone to China). The notification obviously had the "accept" and "deny" buttons. Before I could do anything my phone automatically tapped on accept and the 6 digit security number stayed on screen for a brief moment. Then it immediately closed (without me tapping on the "close" button.) My phone started acting erratic later. It started having ghost taps, swipes.. As if someone was trying to control my phone. I switched airplane mode on and all the symptoms stopped. I don't know why I haven't written this then. I was scared. I went ahead and changed my apple id password, my recovery e-mail's password, I tried changing SIM cards, I checked if any spendings were made with my card information, etc... I returned my iphone to factory settings with all the applications deleted. Reinstalled some applications back. The problem was gone for now...

Then I received another message from another number in 8th of July, 2018:

User uploaded file

This time nothing else changed... No errors, no notifications. Noone tried to enter my apple id (though I was sleeping when this happened, so I couldn't see what exactly happened... To be sure, I checked if my account password was changed etc., and everything seemed fine... I was getting real scared this time. But the final blow happened today(22nd of July, 2018):

I received another message again while I was using my phone. And this time my phone automatically sent the exact same message back... The messages app opened by itself... Here is the message itself:

瀢႐!

Something wrong is going on.. Google translate translates the message to "Hey!". I put my phone into flight mode now, checked everything. I was also using a VPN at this point(not that a VPN protects phones from SMS messages(lol), It was just after my second factory reset.. I wanted to make sure my phone did not get "hacked" like before..) My phone is all good now, but I'm scared to turn off the flight mode.

What is causing these? Am I getting hacked? If changing sim and factory resetting did not work, then what else can I do about these? I have googled and have not found any answers for this... Please help. Quick if possible.

PS: I'm thinking of switching phones if this is going to keep happening.

Thank you for your time.



[Image Edited by Host to Remove Personal Information]

iPhone 7, iOS 10.3.1, non-jailbroken genuine device

Posted on Jul 21, 2018 4:21 PM

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3 replies

Jul 24, 2018 11:39 AM in response to -Plague-

I believe the main concern is that somebody tried to sign in to something somewhere with your Apple ID and correct password for you don’t get the 2FA verification popup on your trusted device until somebody actually enters your Apple ID and correct password on an untrusted device or browser. 2FA doesn’t kick in without the correct password. If you use the same email address for multiple online accounts including your Apple ID and you use the same password on some or all of those online accounts, then somebody could have hacked your password from one of those accounts including the email account itself and then just guessed that you might have an Apple ID account and might use same for it. If your Apple ID is signed into iCloud or iTunes or App Store or Messages et c. on any iOS or macOS device, the device will show up in your Apple ID devices list. I believe the attempt was defeated by the 2FA verification process but you should check your Apple ID devices list any time something like this happens. On the iPhone, go into your Apple ID settings and scroll down to the bottom. You should see your iPhone and any other iOS or macOS devices your signed into with your Apple ID and hopefully none other. If somebody signed into icloud.com via a browser, though, I don't think that would cause the the device to show up there.


iOS doesn’t support remote control. Remote viewing can be done with specifically designed apps but not without such app running and you approving the session. The 2FA verification request that seemed to get approved without your help didn’t happen by remote control and the verification code that seemed to get dismissed without your help wasn’t remotely viewed by anyone so I’d be concerned if I had any other 2FA-trusted devices that somebody else had access to. Otherwise I’d chalk that and the other similar effects up to some kind of touch screen digitization fault maybe related to some combination of ESS environmental conditions including the material science of the iPhone jacket and screen protector. You can always mitigate that possibility by holding the iPhone up off the table or file cabinet in one hand while massaging it with the other. Anyway, you would not be the only one to experience these types of display digitization fault effects lately.


The “Hey!” text was obviously just spam. The other unexpected texts, as you may have by now surmised, are just iMessage iPhone phone number SMS capability re-up texts. A common but not so well-known thing. Presumably any time you enable or re-enable or activate or re-activate either iMessage or FaceTime or install or re-install a SIM, these SMS messages occur in order to verify that the iPhone phone number is SMS capable as it needs to be in order to be used as an iMessage or FaceTime address. With some carriers e.g. big-time carriers in the U.S., these messages are silent, free, and un-billed (literally don’t show up anywhere including the bill) at least while on their network. Otherwise it all depends on the carrier, location and whether you’re roaming. Sometimes if you’re roaming internationally, they are silent but billed. In your case they aren’t exactly silent and I assume they are billed. Per agreement between Apple and Turkcell, Turkcell is responsible for all iPhone support for Turkcell subscribers. That plus the fact that SMS is a core cellular function, you either lump it or get ahold of Turkcell or visit their support website to resolve your concerns.

Jul 22, 2018 3:26 PM in response to -Plague-

Hello -Plague-,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities! I understand that you are experiencing unexpected behavior related to your Apple ID and receiving messages from unknown senders. Having your Apple ID as secure as possible is important. I would be happy to point you towards a resolution.

Changing your Apple ID password was a good step to take. Here are some additional ways you can regain control of your Apple ID:

If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support

You may also want to check if you have any profiles installed on your iPhone, which could allow for monitoring of your data:

How to delete an app that has a configuration profile on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Consider contacting Apple Support directly to determine if there are any additional steps that could be taken to protect your Apple ID:

Contact Apple About Security Issues - Apple Support

Take care!

Jul 22, 2018 3:12 PM in response to MichelleT18

Thank you very much for your time. I have already done all the steps mentioned in "If you think your Apple ID has been compromised" article. I don't think I use any sketcy apps, (not that I think there are any sketchy apps with over 100 000 downloads or more in the App Store anyways). The only profile I have on my phone installed is METUNCConAir. This is the profile my university provided me with so that I could connect my phone to wireless networks inside my campus. (The campus network requires the device to have SecureW2 (with EAP-TTLS protocols) and PAP along with the MAC address of every device that completes the prerequisites mentioned in order to prevent strangers from penetrating their network.) I have had this profile installed on my phone for over a year and I have not detected any unexpected behaviour so far; therefore I think that this profile is not the culprit. Also as I mentioned earlier, I have factory reset my phone two times, which means defaulting to factory settins, and losing all the data on the device. I still experienced similar problems occur on my phone. Thus, I believe this is an active hack attempt or some annoying bug, and it is not caused by anything (whether applications, profiles or something else) I have installed on my phone.

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Weird Messages Received from Non-Existent Numbers and More

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