Crime blotter: Arrest in case of iPhone taped to airplane toilet

The 36-year-old inmate was charged with online solicitation of a minor under 14 years of age, and the investigation turned up something unusual, per the report. He had been using the iPad for "communicating with his wife, who is also his first cousin," and the wife is also married to another man, leading to potential bigamy charges. 

Wow!

I am experiencing the same thing as the executive whose phone was stolen. In my case, a scammer called me stating that he was from Goldman Sachs Apple Card. He said a large charge against my card had occurred. Sure enough, I looked and $11K had been charged. I assumed he was legit because Apple has told us all how secure their card is and unhackable. After an hour of talking to him (thought he was legit since he already had my info - don't know how since we are very careful) and with my wife talking to Goldman (who refused to verify whether the guy was theirs or not) he hung up. In the process, he changed my second-level verification phone number and locked my iPhone. It is now approaching month 2 of Apple's "Elite Investigator Team" refusing to release my iCloud account or unlock my phone. As did the executive, I have over 30 years of data on the phone. It is all backed up on 2 different drives and in iCloud, but Apple's backup system won't let another phone restore from it. I cannot update my Home Pods or Apple TVs (3 in all) since they are linked to the phone. My $850 brand new Ultra 2 Watch is a brick for the same reason. I had to buy another phone just to use my phone number and very minimal data exchange. Even stuff I use on my MacBook Pro cannot be shared even though I can use some of it on the MacBook because that data is tied to the phone. I am about to talk to a lawyer. I have been working with Apple's team, but now I think they are ghosting me. I am at a loss and the mental strain has been extreme. I have been using Apple stuff exclusively since 1985. I was one of their best evangelists. Never again will I tie so many things to one platform. I advise others not to now.

respencer said:

I am experiencing the same thing as the executive whose phone was stolen. In my case, a scammer called me stating that he was from Goldman Sachs Apple Card. He said a large charge against my card had occurred. Sure enough, I looked and $11K had been charged. I assumed he was legit because Apple has told us all how secure their card is and unhackable. After an hour of talking to him (thought he was legit since he already had my info - don't know how since we are very careful) and with my wife talking to Goldman (who refused to verify whether the guy was theirs or not) he hung up. In the process, he changed my second-level verification phone number and locked my iPhone. It is now approaching month 2 of Apple's "Elite Investigator Team" refusing to release my iCloud account or unlock my phone. As did the executive, I have over 30 years of data on the phone. It is all backed up on 2 different drives and in iCloud, but Apple's backup system won't let another phone restore from it. I cannot update my Home Pods or Apple TVs (3 in all) since they are linked to the phone. My $850 brand new Ultra 2 Watch is a brick for the same reason. I had to buy another phone just to use my phone number and very minimal data exchange. Even stuff I use on my MacBook Pro cannot be shared even though I can use some of it on the MacBook because that data is tied to the phone. I am about to talk to a lawyer. I have been working with Apple's team, but now I think they are ghosting me. I am at a loss and the mental strain has been extreme. I have been using Apple stuff exclusively since 1985. I was one of their best evangelists. Never again will I tie so many things to one platform. I advise others not to now.

1) I'm sorry for the issues you're having and scammers are truly horrible, but personal responsibility is also key to protecting yourself (and your family).

2) When did Apple say that their card was "unhackable"?  There is better security when using Apple Pay over a physical card due to the virtual number and tokenization, but that's everything in Apple Pay, and does not translate to the physical Apple Card. The same goes for Samsung Pay and Google Pay (or whatever Alphabet calls it now).

3) Does it really need to be said that you don't engage in-bound finanical/account calls? In the past, you could if you recognized the voice, like if your personal broker called you, but these days you need call them back at the number you have saved in your contacts or from a number you find on their legitimate website.

4) You can avoid nearly all of these issues with complex passcodes, unique passcodes, and 2FA. I'm guessing you don't use a robust password manager so I would implore you to consider one moving forward. People balk at a few dollars a month for 1Password, but when I hear stuff like this I know that it's well worth it. With a family plan it can be as low as 99¢ per user per month.

Xed said:

respencer said:

I am experiencing the same thing as the executive whose phone was stolen. In my case, a scammer called me stating that he was from Goldman Sachs Apple Card. He said a large charge against my card had occurred. Sure enough, I looked and $11K had been charged. I assumed he was legit because Apple has told us all how secure their card is and unhackable. After an hour of talking to him (thought he was legit since he already had my info - don't know how since we are very careful) and with my wife talking to Goldman (who refused to verify whether the guy was theirs or not) he hung up. In the process, he changed my second-level verification phone number and locked my iPhone. It is now approaching month 2 of Apple's "Elite Investigator Team" refusing to release my iCloud account or unlock my phone. As did the executive, I have over 30 years of data on the phone. It is all backed up on 2 different drives and in iCloud, but Apple's backup system won't let another phone restore from it. I cannot update my Home Pods or Apple TVs (3 in all) since they are linked to the phone. My $850 brand new Ultra 2 Watch is a brick for the same reason. I had to buy another phone just to use my phone number and very minimal data exchange. Even stuff I use on my MacBook Pro cannot be shared even though I can use some of it on the MacBook because that data is tied to the phone. I am about to talk to a lawyer. I have been working with Apple's team, but now I think they are ghosting me. I am at a loss and the mental strain has been extreme. I have been using Apple stuff exclusively since 1985. I was one of their best evangelists. Never again will I tie so many things to one platform. I advise others not to now.

1) I'm sorry for the issues you're having and scammers are truly horrible, but personal responsibility is also key to protecting yourself (and your family).

2) When did Apple say that their card was "unhackable"?  There is better security when using Apple Pay over a physical card due to the virtual number and tokenization, but that's everything in Apple Pay, and does not translate to the physical Apple Card. The same goes for Samsung Pay and Google Pay (or whatever Alphabet calls it now).

3) Does it really need to be said that you don't engage in-bound finanical/account calls? In the past, you could if you recognized the voice, like if your personal broker called you, but these days you need call them back at the number you have saved in your contacts or from a number you find on their legitimate website.

4) You can avoid nearly all of these issues with complex passcodes, unique passcodes, and 2FA. I'm guessing you don't use a robust password manager so I would implore you to consider one moving forward. People balk at a few dollars a month for 1Password, but when I hear stuff like this I know that it's well worth it. With a family plan it can be as low as 99¢ per user per month.

It depends. When I had a bogus charge on my AMEX card, one of the reps called my house. I was highly on alert when the rep asked me for my card number over the phone. I asked why I needed to that if they (the rep) already have my info. Now granted her English wasn't so good nor my Japanese any better so I asked for an English speaker. Once I made that clear I wasn't going to give out such info without knowing for sure as to why it was needed. The rep explained about the procedures on verifying card holders and walked me through on the bogus order and how how to void my card being charged. I was lucky. Here in Japan there is a site that you can check the phone number to see if its the real company number or fake. Even if they say we have such and such info, don't be afraid to ask them tons of question as to why over the phone such info is needed. I hope respencer that such a site is in your country to check the next time such a call in the future.

Wolfen said:

Xed said:

respencer said:

I am experiencing the same thing as the executive whose phone was stolen. In my case, a scammer called me stating that he was from Goldman Sachs Apple Card. He said a large charge against my card had occurred. Sure enough, I looked and $11K had been charged. I assumed he was legit because Apple has told us all how secure their card is and unhackable. After an hour of talking to him (thought he was legit since he already had my info - don't know how since we are very careful) and with my wife talking to Goldman (who refused to verify whether the guy was theirs or not) he hung up. In the process, he changed my second-level verification phone number and locked my iPhone. It is now approaching month 2 of Apple's "Elite Investigator Team" refusing to release my iCloud account or unlock my phone. As did the executive, I have over 30 years of data on the phone. It is all backed up on 2 different drives and in iCloud, but Apple's backup system won't let another phone restore from it. I cannot update my Home Pods or Apple TVs (3 in all) since they are linked to the phone. My $850 brand new Ultra 2 Watch is a brick for the same reason. I had to buy another phone just to use my phone number and very minimal data exchange. Even stuff I use on my MacBook Pro cannot be shared even though I can use some of it on the MacBook because that data is tied to the phone. I am about to talk to a lawyer. I have been working with Apple's team, but now I think they are ghosting me. I am at a loss and the mental strain has been extreme. I have been using Apple stuff exclusively since 1985. I was one of their best evangelists. Never again will I tie so many things to one platform. I advise others not to now.

1) I'm sorry for the issues you're having and scammers are truly horrible, but personal responsibility is also key to protecting yourself (and your family).

2) When did Apple say that their card was "unhackable"?  There is better security when using Apple Pay over a physical card due to the virtual number and tokenization, but that's everything in Apple Pay, and does not translate to the physical Apple Card. The same goes for Samsung Pay and Google Pay (or whatever Alphabet calls it now).

3) Does it really need to be said that you don't engage in-bound finanical/account calls? In the past, you could if you recognized the voice, like if your personal broker called you, but these days you need call them back at the number you have saved in your contacts or from a number you find on their legitimate website.

4) You can avoid nearly all of these issues with complex passcodes, unique passcodes, and 2FA. I'm guessing you don't use a robust password manager so I would implore you to consider one moving forward. People balk at a few dollars a month for 1Password, but when I hear stuff like this I know that it's well worth it. With a family plan it can be as low as 99¢ per user per month.

It depends. When I had a bogus charge on my AMEX card, one of the reps called my house. I was highly on alert when the rep asked me for my card number over the phone. I asked why I needed to that if they (the rep) already have my info. Now granted her English wasn't so good nor my Japanese any better so I asked for an English speaker. Once I made that clear I wasn't going to give out such info without knowing for sure as to why it was needed. The rep explained about the procedures on verifying card holders and walked me through on the bogus order and how how to void my card being charged. I was lucky. Here in Japan there is a site that you can check the phone number to see if its the real company number or fake. Even if they say we have such and such info, don't be afraid to ask them tons of question as to why over the phone such info is needed. I hope respencer that such a site is in your country to check the next time such a call in the future.

1) Numbers can be spoofed.

2) I've had CC companies call me about charges. Since I have saved the contact info on the back of my cards into my password manager and contacts I politely ended the call and called the card issuer back with the number I had stored. Never accept incoming calls as legit (when having to hand over sensitive data) and you are much less likely to be a victim.