A mother from Charlotte reached out to WBTV stating that her iCloud account had been hacked. She mentioned that Apple informed her they were unable to assist in recovering the account.
She discovered through experience that even with her photos and videos stored in her iCloud, she could still end up losing access to and control over them.
"I was at my home office on my computer during a meeting when I received a notification that someone was attempting to access my iCloud account from Jakarta," Samantha explained.
She was unaware that the subsequent events would permanently bar her from accessing that account.
“She stated that it offered only two options: accept or reject, and she chose to reject it.”
That's when she began receiving emails.
Approximately five to ten minutes afterward, I receive an email notifying me that my iCloud password has been updated," she stated. "Once more, I am still in the meeting and cannot take any action. Then, just five minutes later, I get another message stating that my verified phone number has been modified.
Right after the meeting concluded, she dialed Apple.
“I found out basically that I've lost all access to my iCloud and everything inside it, despite having clicked 'reject,'” she explained.
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Theresa Payson, a cyber security expert and founder/CEO of Fortalice Solutions based in Charlotte, notes that incidents similar to what happened with Samantha occur frequently.
"Initially, your tendency may be to refuse, but the issue is that this could potentially be what they're counting on," Payton stated.
Payton mentioned that even if Samantha’s phone wasn’t already compromised, it might well have become so at that very moment.
Always retreat, halt, and reflect since scammers desire for you to react hastily," Payton advised. "Next, visit the official webpage of that service, and check 'should we suspect fraudulent activity, here’s how we will reach out to you,' ensuring compliance with their procedures.
Payton mentioned that it has never been simpler for hackers to evade accountability.
“Whatever you can think of, there’s probably a company that holds your information which has experienced a data breach, and this breached data is simply floating around for AI algorithms and scammers to use in running scripts to try and deceive someone,” Payton stated.
In Samantha’s situation, they swiftly retrieved her Apple Pay.
"They incurred recurring fees from gaming applications, so that if I failed to notice it each week, a charge of around $100 would be deducted automatically," Samantha explained.
In mere moments, she had also lost tens of thousands of cherished recollections.
"The footage of my son encountering me bringing my daughter home from the hospital, along with pictures of them playing around the house," Samantha mentioned.
This was something she believed she could continue downloading from her phone.
"I revisited the video only to discover that it was stored in iCloud rather than on my phone, which means I ended up losing it," Samantha explained.
The mother additionally mentioned that she lost her feeling of safety.
Whoever took them in Jakarta can do as they please," she stated. "They might sell them, share them online, or erase them... and Apple won't take any action.
Samantha is aware of phishing scams, but she was unaware that this could happen to her.
"I am quite cautious regarding which links and text messages I choose to click," she stated.
Samantha is recounting her experience with the hope of stopping it from occurring for anyone else.
"I want everyone to understand, particularly mothers, that when we take photos of our children, it's important to remember that once you upload them to iCloud, they're no longer completely private," Samantha explained.
What you can do
Should you possess data on your device that you wish not to lose, it would be prudent to back it up onto an external hard drive.
WBTV similarly contacted Apple seeking a statement. Although a representative declined to comment on the matter, they recommended that customers enable Stolen Device Protection in your iPhone settings.
Enabling these settings introduces a security lag—consequently, if someone attempts to alter your password, they will be required to wait one hour before being prompted for Face ID or Touch ID verification to proceed.
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