Unauthorized Apple ID access after iPhone was stolen

I recently had my iPhone stolen, and it ended up in China. The phone had an eSIM and wasn’t set with a lost message in the Find My app. After some time, I received a message asking me to remove the device from the Find My app, which raised concerns about how the scammers could have obtained my Apple ID.

I’m wondering:

  • Could they have accessed my Apple ID through unauthorized means?
  • Is it possible they have connections with Apple insiders?
  • Are there any known exploits or vulnerabilities that could explain this?

I’d appreciate any insights or similar experiences from the community. Thank you



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Jan 17, 2025 06:48 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 17, 2025 07:09 PM

No, no, and no to the three questions. The only way to get into your Apple ID was to guess your password. If you had your iPhone set to lock up after ten tries at entering your password that wouldn’t happen. If you didn’t then they could keep trying. There are sophisticated ways to break into an iPhone but common thieves do not have the means to do so. Only state actors , i.e. governments have the financial and technical means to do so. So unless you are some kind of political dissident, troublesome journalist, or other person of interest to a government entity, you are not a target.


By the way, no one at Apple has access to your password, period. That information is simply not available to anyone. It’s encrypted and stored on your device.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 17, 2025 07:09 PM in response to TReckx

No, no, and no to the three questions. The only way to get into your Apple ID was to guess your password. If you had your iPhone set to lock up after ten tries at entering your password that wouldn’t happen. If you didn’t then they could keep trying. There are sophisticated ways to break into an iPhone but common thieves do not have the means to do so. Only state actors , i.e. governments have the financial and technical means to do so. So unless you are some kind of political dissident, troublesome journalist, or other person of interest to a government entity, you are not a target.


By the way, no one at Apple has access to your password, period. That information is simply not available to anyone. It’s encrypted and stored on your device.

Jan 17, 2025 07:27 PM in response to TReckx

The bad guys want you to log on and remove your iPhone from the list of devices that are using your Apple ID because they have no way of doing this themselves.


If you do this, that will remove the Activation Lock on your phone, which will allow the bad guys to erase the phone......(they cannot get at your data on the phone, but they can erase the phone). This will allow them to set up the phone and sell it as a used phone.


Do NOT remove your iPhone from the list of devices that are using your Apple ID. You may receiving more threatening messages. Ignore and delete them.


True, you will never see the phone again, but you can really frustrate the bad guys who have your phone because it will be useless to them. If you can actually still locate your phone using Find My, it may likely be at a huge plant in Shenzhen that will take the iPhone apart and sell the parts or use them to try to remanufacture phones.



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Unauthorized Apple ID access after iPhone was stolen

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