iMessages sent from my account that I did not write

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iMessages sent from my account that I did not write

Last night I noticed a couple of messages sent from my Messages account to two conversations with friends from days and weeks ago, messages that were direct replies to the last messages in the conversations. They were blue bubble messages, too, so not SMS. I did not write them. I immediately suspected my account was compromised so I changed my password and checked if any unknown devices were using my AppleID. I didn’t find anything suspicious. I’m trying to figure out how my account could have been hacked. I use a password manager: all my passwords are unique, long, and random. I have 2-factor authentication on. I received no notification of a device asking for an authentication code or an email from Apple about a password change. Some of my information —birthday, my appleID email, and phone number— were compromised in the most recent T-mobile hack, so I was concerned a bad actor may have used that information through Apple Support to gain access to my account through Account Recovery, pretending to be me. But I received no email or other indication that my password had been changed and I was not logged out of any of my devices, which I believe should have happened if someone reset my password and gained control of my account. Neither of the mystery messages were malicious. I’m just trying to wrap my head around what may have happened and how, and hoping someone with more security knowledge can help me figure this out. Thanks.

iPhone 13 mini, iOS 16

Posted on Feb 19, 2023 01:15 PM

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Answer 1

Bill_T1

Community Specialist

Feb 21, 2023 08:51 AM in response to alex_bach

Hi alex_bach,

If you suspect your account may have been compromised, you've taken a great first step in changing your password. The site If you think your Apple ID has been compromised outlines examples of common indicators to detect if this was the case as well as further steps you can take to ensure your account remains secure and in your control:

"Gain control of your Apple ID

If you think your Apple ID is compromised, use these steps to gain control of it and review your account information:

Sign in to your Apple ID account page. If you can't sign in or you receive a message that the account is locked when you try to sign in, try to reset or unlock your account.
Change your Apple ID password and choose a strong password.
Review all the personal and security information in your account. Update any information that isn't correct or that you don’t recognize, including:

Your name.
Your primary Apple ID email address.* If you need to change your email address, update the features and services that you use with Apple ID, so that each one is using your updated Apple ID.
All alternate email addresses, rescue email addresses, and phone numbers.
The devices that are associated with your Apple ID, if you've already set up two-factor authentication.
Security questions and answers. If you think they might be easy to guess, you should change your security questions.

4. Check with your email address* provider to make sure that you control every email address associated with your Apple ID. If you don't control the email addresses associated with the Apple ID, you should change the password for the email address or use a different email address.

5. Set up two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. This additional security feature is designed to prevent anyone from accessing your account, even if they know your password."

Regards.

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iMessages sent from my account that I did not write

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