I sold a locked iPhone, what should I do? This is what we're talking about. Video: iPhone hacked! what to do

Owners iPhone smartphones report a new type of extortion of money. The phone suddenly becomes locked and the following message appears on the display: “Your device is blocked due to a complaint. I can help you and unblock it. Check your email!

At this point, the user sees that he has received a letter from [email protected], which reports the possibility of unlocking the device at a service center for 1,500 rubles. However, another option is offered: you can do it yourself by sending 500 rubles to the specified Qiwi wallet. “Savior” promises to help solve the problem within 1-2 hours.

Habrahabr describes how attackers manage to do this with a smartphone: “It’s all banal: your email linked to your Apple ID is hijacked. Then the scammer, using Find service My iPhone, locks the phone."

Previously, Doctor Web specialists established that in May cases of fraud against owners Apple devices have become significantly more frequent. Ransomware exploits people's desire for paid content.

First of all, this applies to services such as App Store, iCloud and iTunes. To access them, you must use your own Apple ID account. Nowadays you can find many advertisements on the Internet offering for a reasonable fee paid content: great amount programs, games and music.

However, among the options available to the account owner is the function Activation Lock, which appeared in iOS 7, working in conjunction with the Find My iPhone service. Using it, you can lock your device, and you won’t be able to unlock it without entering your Apple ID password. This is what scammers take advantage of.

Certainly, iOS developers 7 provide the ability to reset the lock without entering a password, however, to do this, the owner of the device should contact the service technical support Apple must present a receipt issued by the store when purchasing the device and a document confirming the identity of the user of the company's services.

This type of fraud Apple lock ID with a subsequent demand for money for its cancellation appeared recently, says Qiwi representative Yulia Mansurova, whose opinion is quoted by the Vedomosti newspaper. So far, Qiwi has been contacted about this twice, and its security service has blocked the attacker’s wallet, says Mansurova. Victims (owners of account Apple records ID) she recommends contacting law enforcement agencies in fact unauthorized blocking account for the purpose of subsequent extortion of money by an unidentified person.

Leading expert on information security Infowatch company Andrey Prozorov gave recommendations to iPnone owners on the Kommersant website: “There are classic measures, do not disclose your passwords to anyone, check email address, where you enter it, to avoid falling for phishing pages, be sure to use antivirus agents so that some kind of malicious software didn't steal your passwords. This reduces the risk of theft, and also, if such accounts are compromised or stolen, you should definitely contact technical support, and in most cases they help one way or another.”

Apple representatives have not yet commented on the situation. In the meantime, users have access to the Apple ID: Security Considerations and Your Apple ID ID" on the company's official website - it makes sense to take into account the company's already available recommendations on how to keep your Apple ID safe and contact support if you have questions.

We contacted service center Tech-Town to find out how often specialists have to deal with similar problem. Alexander Levchenko confirmed that indeed many clients contact the service with a request to unlock Apple.

“These are either those who, we assume, found someone else’s iPhone, or those who bought a smartphone from unscrupulous seller. Typically, in such situations, we recommend returning the device to its rightful owner or, as a last resort, selling the iPhone for parts. But in May there were significantly more similar requests, with the only difference being that the clients are the legal owners of the iPhones. There are no problems here - everything is resolved within an hour by calling Apple support. The victim can call himself or we call on his behalf in his presence. This the new kind The Apple ID “hijacking” scam is designed for alarmists - for those who will not figure out what’s what and will rush to pay the “ransom.” For those who know how the system works, such “hijacking” is not a problem, but only a temporary inconvenience. The main thing is to have all the data about Apple owner ID, that is, about yourself", says Alexander.

Mobile phones and tablets are often stolen - everyone knows about it. But today, in the age of advanced telecommunications technologies, scammers make money in a different way. They hack mailboxes, steal Apple ID passwords and block iPhone smartphones, demanding a certain amount from unfortunate users Money. Your iPhone is blocked and they are asking for money – what should you do? You need not to panic, but to act - we will tell you what to do in such cases.

How is blocking carried out?

Locking iPhone smartphones using Find My iPhone helps you block stolen or lost device. Owners have the opportunity to track the location of their smartphone and display a message on its screen, for example, “If you found this phone, call 8-555-123-45-67.” The person who finds the handset can be promised some kind of reward - this will speed up the return of the device.

You need to pay attention to the fact that along with turning on the Find My iPhone function, activation lock is turned on. This feature prevents you from activating a found or stolen iPhone under a different Apple ID., even if you flash the device. Thus, it is practically useless to steal these smartphones - owners can block them in remote mode. But this blocking opens up a whole field for fraudulent activity for fraudsters.

If the smartphone cannot be stolen, then it can be blocked. Fraudsters gain access to Apple IDs, block their victims’ smartphones and demand a ransom. The ransom demands are sent directly to the victim's smartphone - they are displayed on the display using the Find iPhone function. For example, scammers can display on the screen the requirement “To unlock this iPhone, transfer 5,000 rubles to Qiwi wallet 8-555-123-45-67.”

And in many cases, users are persuaded by scammers by sending them money. We will try to do without unnecessary expenses. At the same time, we’ll tell you about precautions that will minimize the risk of Apple ID theft.

Steps to take when iPhone is locked

Your iPhone is blocked and they are asking for money – what should you do? You can go the following ways:

• Transfer money to the scammers - it is quite possible that they will actually unlock your device. But there is no guarantee for this. Moreover, the blocking situation may repeat itself - don’t pay again;
• Send a request to Apple - sending scans of documents confirming the purchase of an iPhone will help you regain control of the device. Only the specialists from Apple are not very quick in solving this problem - it can take 2-3 weeks to receive an answer;
• Restore password - great way, which many users conveniently forget about.

If scammers have blocked your iPhone and are asking for money, send them away - don’t even think about sending them money. You can try sending a request to Apple, but it will take too long. Therefore, now we will learn how to recover your Apple ID password.

First of all, you need to make sure that you have access to your mailbox. If you have access, that’s good – go to the Apple website and try to log in with your Apple ID. The attempt will be unsuccessful, so feel free to click on the password recovery link and wait for the arrival of an email with a recovery link. We indicate New Password, log in and turn off the blocking. After a couple of seconds, your smartphone will be unlocked and you can continue using your iPhone.

You can recover your password not only by email, but also using security questions - they are asked at the Apple registration ID. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you approach this matter responsibly, saving or remembering the answers to the questions asked.

Precautionary measures

Since they “hijacked” your Apple ID and blocked your iPhone, asking for money for it, it means that scammers have access to your data. For example, they may have access to email. The most cunning and sophisticated scammers set up filters in mailboxes to delete password recovery emails, thereby forcing users to part with their money. If you've recovered your Apple ID password but are concerned it might be stolen again, follow these steps:

• Change your email password immediately;
• Check the computers from which you access your account, antivirus programs and scanners from the Antimalware category;
• Install complex password to the Apple ID you are using.

All these measures will help protect against repeated theft of your Apple ID password. You must understand that the security of your data and your smartphone is only in your hands - so you must do everything possible to protect your authorization data.

Another recommendation from experts is not to use mailboxes on Mail.ru. Passwords for them are stolen quite easily, which is taken advantage of by scammers who steal Apple IDs. We recommend that you urgently change your mailbox using a more secure service. You can also activate two-factor authentication, which will make impossible entry via email without a confirmation SMS.

When attackers gain access to someone else's Apple ID, after which they block the corresponding iPhone or iPad as stolen, and then extort money to return the device to functionality.

Maxim Batalin on Facebook writes in detail about this scheme and how you can unlock your iPhone/iPad yourself. Surely this will be useful to many.

For those who do not have a FB registration, I present Maxim’s post here.

Apple ID fraud or how to unlock iPhone.

A couple of hours ago, my best friend contacted me; the message “Your phone is locked, to unlock, write a letter to [email protected]"

Naturally, she wrote and received the following letter:

Well, in short, my friend was taken away Apple account ID.

Of course, hackers will not be able to buy applications, but they cannot use a locked iPhone. And Apple technical support will be able to unlock it only under certain conditions: the presence of a box with IMEI, a receipt, or other documents confirming the legality of ownership of the phone. Again, this takes a long time, during which the phone cannot be used.

She was already ready to part with 1000 rubles, but my interest in figuring it out, understanding the fraud scheme and not paying money to the criminals took its toll. :))

She gave me her passwords for Apple ID and @mail.ru and I started to figure it out.

First of all I went to Apple service (https://www.icloud.com/#find) to disable Find My iPhone because... You can only lock your phone using it.

But, as one would expect, the criminals changed the password and actually demanded 1,000 rubles for it.

You can recover your Apple ID password here ( https://iforgot.apple.com/password/verify/appleid). You can do this using your linked email address, or by replying to Control questions.

The essence of the scam is this: using many methods (Trojans, phishing, viruses, stupidity) criminals gain access to your mailbox. Using a regular search, based on the presence of letters from Apple, they find out whether the Apple ID is linked to it and, using the above-mentioned service (all for people, yes!) change the password.

After the password is changed, the criminals go to the iCloud service, in the “Find iPhone” menu, block all linked Apple devices, leave contact information and begin to extort money.

(at this stage the password for mailbox I have already changed it to mine in order to limit any unauthorized access to mail)

But, let's return to our sheep. It seemed so simple, use the service, recover your password, gain access to your Apple ID and voila... But that was not the case!

The wait for a confirmation letter from Apple with further instructions for action turned into a long and tedious one. Repeated attempts led to nothing.

I simulated the same situation with my account, tried to recover my password, and lo and behold! I instantly received a letter in my inbox.

It's about my friend's box, which I began to look closely at. In the settings I found this filter:

From it it became clear that all letters received from Apple are immediately deleted, thereby the user will never be able to recover the password.

I turn off and delete the filters, go through the recovery procedure again Apple password ID and receive the treasured letter.

What we have in the bottom line:

1. Working iPhone

2. Updated and more secure passwords for email and Apple ID (not date of birth, as is usually the case) :))

3. Saved 1000 rubles (A friend, on my advice, bought an antivirus license with this money)

4. "hackers" without money

5. Instructions for unlocking your account without money

Then I also corresponded with the “hackers” to find out the Qiwi wallet number for its subsequent blocking.

Here it is: QIWI 79057812014

Take it, I will be glad if someone finds this experience useful.

Developer from Nizhny Novgorod Artyom Kulikov outwitted the scammers who tried to trick him into entering them on his iPhone iCloud data, who could then remotely block the phone and demand money for unlocking. He told TJ about this.

By words Kulikov, the type of fraud used by attackers is relatively new. The programmer’s friend Mikhail managed to fall for him: from a fake VKontakte account, a stranger asked him to help change iCloud password on an allegedly stolen iPhone.

After Mikhail entered someone else’s iCloud username and password on his phone, the scammers remotely blocked the device through the Find My iPhone service. They demanded to transfer 7 thousand rubles to an account in Yandex.Money, in return promising to unlock the iPhone and provide a “guide” on how to avoid falling for such tricks in the future.

Mikhail contacted Apple by phone with a request to return access to the device. A company representative told him that the phone was put in a queue to be unlocked.

On November 11, Kulikov himself received similar messages twice. The first time he logged in using the scammer’s data, but not through his phone, but through the iCloud website.

It turned out that he already had an iPhone linked to this account, and Kulikov himself blocked the attacker. Judging by data from iCloud, “Ksyusha” turned out to be someone under the name SeReGa H@CK3R.

The other scammer did not have a linked phone number. However, in iCloud there was Notebook with numbers apparently belonging to a relative of the “victim.”

Kulikov was unable to continue the conversation - the scammer’s account on VKontakte was blocked by the administration of the social network.

According to Kulikov, returning a locked device through Apple can take from two weeks to a month. To do this, you need to provide a photo of the IMEI, receipt for the purchase of the device and the locked iPhone itself.

Previously, scammers had already “hijacked” other people’s iClouds and blocked phones remotely, but they used phishing links for this, rather than deception during direct communication. One of the victims, Yulia Saraeva,

Nowadays it is almost impossible to imagine the world without new technologies. Everything is moving towards faster development and technology is becoming more vulnerable. Now, almost everyone who owns a new phone, laptop or tablet prefers to protect their data with a well-designed password. This is especially often used by those who work with different bank transfers and personal data.

To protect their iPhone data, most users set passwords. But there are small gaps in memory that make it impossible to unlock it. The device can also be blocked in other ways, for example, when a hack occurred telephone set. You will learn how to unlock a locked iPhone in certain situations in this article.

How to unlock an iPhone without a password?

If your iPhone is locked, then there is no need to worry too much, because there are proven ways to unlock it. First of all, it is desirable to be able to connect to iTunes on a PC, laptop or netbook.

If the password was entered incorrectly a certain number of times, as a result of which the iPhone was locked, then you can still synchronize with iTunes. Before changing the password to log into the device, you need to connect the phone to USB using standard cable from the kit. It is necessary to synchronize all information so that you can restore it.

Steps to restart iPhone

Your iPhone is locked, but you urgently need to use it? To do this, you can use a special DFU mode. Restart your iPhone using the following steps:

1. Press the lock key and the Home button at the same time and hold them for a few seconds.
2. When the logo appears on your iPhone, you need to release the lock button, but still hold the Home button.
3. Next, you should wait for a notification about synchronization with iTunes.
4. When the phone is detected by the computer, the recovery mode will be visible.
5. Now you need to confirm this procedure.

Now the iPhone is locked (if the password is lost) only for a while until the synchronization process is completed. The phone will return to DFU mode, but without a password.

The procedure for unlocking a locked iPhone without a security code is simple but lengthy. Often, owners disconnect the phone from their PC in advance. It is not advisable to do this, since if resumed incorrectly, all information may be completely erased. In addition, during future use, system failures may occur during the operation of the iPhone.

If you are faced with this problem, then the above method will definitely help you, but remember that you can unlock your iPhone without iTunes support unreal.

Other unlock methods

Many users say that it works operating system iOS there are gaps that allow you to bypass the security code by doing emergency call. But Apple company closed this error, so try to hack an iPhone without security code will not work.

There is also another method - when using iExplorer it is recommended to get rid of the file with iPhone password, but this option is unlikely to help achieve the goal.

Some iPhone owners say it is possible to change the password on an iPhone through special program Find my iPhone. Unfortunately, this method is also invalid.

iPhone 5 S is locked: what to do

How to unlock iPhone 5 S if it is locked? The device can be unlocked using jailbreak. This method is very easy, you just need to download the SemiRestore program. OpenSSH is required to perform the reset and can be obtained from various available sites. Next, you need to connect your iPhone 5 S, launch the application and, after the program is running, click on the SemiRestore button in the main application window.

How to unlock iPhone 5 if it is locked

This can be done using one more method. A locked iPhone 5S can be unlocked using iCloud service. To carry out the necessary actions, you need to make sure that the Internet on your PC is working. In addition, the Find my iPhone program should work.

1. Go to iCloud Search.
2. Log in to the site using your ID and password.
3. Make sure that this service I found the iPhone in online mode (a green circle should be displayed).
4. Click on the phone and press the “Erase” key.

This technique will delete all data from the iPhone, so it is advisable to save it in advance.

Fight against scammers

If your iPhone is blocked by scammers, what should you do? First, we need to discuss how to prevent attackers from gaining access to the Apple ID, which is what makes it possible to remotely block the phone.

1. Don't use email addresses for Apple IDs. These addresses are easily accessible to attackers.
2. Making the Apple ID password difficult and less easy to crack. This method is recommended by Apple itself. Moreover, if the password turns out to be easy, then the Apple ID, figuratively speaking, will “force” you to change the password to a more complex one, this will happen when you enter the web page Apple management ID.

Now let's move on to the main answer to the question. What to do if the “iPhone is blocked” message appears.

• Make sure that the iPhone is really locked, and you can’t unlock it yourself. To do this, you need to log in with your data to the “Find iPhone” program on the official website icloud.com. If you manage to enter this program, you should immediately remove the lock and quickly change the password for your Apple ID.
• Often, scammers hack Apple ID very simply, that is, they know the account password in advance, but do not immediately change the password. Therefore, there is a great chance to solve this problem quickly and independently.
• If the “bad people” took this matter seriously and changed the password to their new one, they may demand money from you to unlock it. Without any hesitation, you should contact Apple technical support. This service will help you solve this problem even without presenting documents stating that the iPhone is personal property.
• There are all sorts of situations, and if technical support still does not help, then you will have to hand over the money to the scammers, because the phone will no longer be unlocked. Immediately after unlocking the gadget, you should change the password and create a new and very complex one.

Don’t immediately panic and list a certain amount attackers, first need to try all the solution options that were outlined above.

Unlocking iPhone 5 S if you forgot your Apple ID

People who forget their Apple ID or mailbox address are faced with the awkward situation of having to prove that the iPhone is in their possession. In this case, you need to perform certain actions.

Before selling your phone, you should definitely disconnect the connection and also deactivate the Find iPhone service.

Thanks to this, the future owner will be able to use all functions without obstacles.

When purchasing an iPhone, you should always check this function, it is turned off or on.

To check, you need to go to the website icloud.com in the activationlock tab, you will only need to fill in the IMEI of the device you are purchasing. This will help avoid problems with activating your iPhone if you lose contact with the previous user.

Unlocking iPhones is a difficult process that is not easy for everyone. Most important point During the unlocking process there is a receipt that confirms the purchase of the device.

Why is blocking needed?

One of the circumstances is iPhone update until 7th iOS versions, which created the Find My iPhone feature to reduce the number of iPhone thefts. But along with the scammers, users who purchased the device from previous owners also suffered.

So, if the owner of an iPhone does not disconnect it from his personal account, then the buyer has a great chance of purchasing a locked phone. Now there are many specialists who offer iPhone unlocking services, but, unfortunately, many of them turn out to be criminals.

Now you have some knowledge about what to do if your iPhone is locked. What to do - now you know!