Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

tamaraa

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 8, 2021
8
3
When I woke up around 7am I had a message on my iPhone to change my password. It was the same screen you see when changing your password in settings. iCloud, I changed it because I was pretty out of it and needed to get into my phone. I don’t recall getting the message about logging out of all devices.

About an hour later I received a message that a new Mac was using iCloud. I went back in immediately and changed my password and logged out of all devices.

Others that o know received the same message. Anyone else?
 
Sounds highly suspicious. I assume you have 2FA on? (2 factor authentication)? If not you really should.

Any spouses/relatives that you know of that would have knowledge of your password?

Back in the day I used to share an Apple ID with people that lived with me and we’d use that account for our Apple TV purchases for the Apple TV downstairs. Every now and then they’d forget the password and lock it out requiring me to re-set it. Now days with 2FA sharing accounts is difficult/near impossible - and there’s no need to with family sharing (what I use now).
 
Sounds highly suspicious. I assume you have 2FA on? (2 factor authentication)? If not you really should.

Any spouses/relatives that you know of that would have knowledge of your password?

Back in the day I used to share an Apple ID with people that lived with me and we’d use that account for our Apple TV purchases for the Apple TV downstairs. Every now and then they’d forget the password and lock it out requiring me to re-set it. Now days with 2FA sharing accounts is difficult/near impossible - and there’s no need to with family sharing (what I use now).
I do have it on, it didn’t ask me for a code, just like when into settings, iCloud, password & security. No one would have knowledge of my password. It’s strange now because I see some people on my Facebook timeline saying they got the same notification this morning.
 
I do have it on, it didn’t ask me for a code, just like when into settings, iCloud, password & security. No one would have knowledge of my password. It’s strange now because I see some people on my Facebook timeline saying they got the same notification this morning.
How interesting - hopefully others will post as they read this. Good luck finding out what it is - watching myself. My family/myself didn’t get anything here (California). Will ask the rest of my relatives as they wake up.
 
When I woke up around 7am I had a message on my iPhone to change my password. It was the same screen you see when changing your password in settings. iCloud, I changed it because I was pretty out of it and needed to get into my phone. I don’t recall getting the message about logging out of all devices.

About an hour later I received a message that a new Mac was using iCloud. I went back in immediately and changed my password and logged out of all devices.

Others that o know received the same message. Anyone else?
I don't have any input on the change password notification... but the "new Mac using iCloud" could also be an old Mac using iCloud, such as logging into a Mac that you simply haven't used in awhile. I have one iMac downstairs which almost perpetually runs Windows in bootcamp mode, (for video games, of course) and when I rebooted it into macOS recently, I got that notification.

Come to think of it... wouldn't you have needed to re-login to iCloud on your Mac after changing the iCloud password that first time? Because maybe even something as simple as that could trigger the notification.

As an aside: those notifications usually identify the specific Mac that logged into your account. If your Mac isn't named in such a fashion that you can readily identify exactly which device is which, you might want to consider changing that.
 
When I woke up around 7am I had a message on my iPhone to change my password. It was the same screen you see when changing your password in settings. iCloud, I changed it because I was pretty out of it and needed to get into my phone. I don’t recall getting the message about logging out of all devices.

About an hour later I received a message that a new Mac was using iCloud. I went back in immediately and changed my password and logged out of all devices.

Others that o know received the same message. Anyone else?
I had the same alert at 12:38 AM, woke up to it this morning freaking out. Changed my password and logged out of all devices. Glad to see its not just me, sounds like something is up with hacker list of users or something on apple's end is sending these false alerts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
I had a similar experience this morning, however it came in the form of a pop-up on Chrome on my iPad. It looked like clickbait, so I just closed the browser and ignored it. Like @BigMcGuire, I use two-factor authentication (not just on iDevices - on everything) and I strongly strongly suggest y’all do the same.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
I had the same alert at 12:38 AM, woke up to it this morning freaking out. Changed my password and logged out of all devices. Glad to see its not just me, sounds like something is up with hacker list of users or something on apple's end is sending these false alerts.
That's what I'm thinking too. There weren't a lot of people that mentioned getting it, but definitely enough to see that something definitely took place.
 
That's what I'm thinking too. There weren't a lot of people that mentioned getting it, but definitely enough to see that something definitely took place.
Found this. It’s from a couple years back but perhaps this still has not been fixed? Basically it sounds like someone is confirming Apple ID & Phone number combinations. (Edit: my sister got a prompt like this a few days ago actually— but this thread made me decide to look again at this.)

 
  • Love
Reactions: smoking monkey
Out of curiosity… what carrier do those of you who’ve gotten this prompt use?
 
Apple won't ask via text to change your password. Always have 2FA on and change your password only thru the settings app and always select log out other devices.
If it’s like the screen shots in that article i linked above, it’s not a prompt telling you to change your password per se— it’s a notice that would appear on your phone after you’d attempted to initiate a reset from elsewhere, simply telling you “use this iPhone to rest your Apple ID password.” It could be mistaken for a prompt to change, but it appears to actually be a prompt to use your own device to change it.

9D0CB10D-0A63-4EF5-8C9F-D81CA57A8745.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: smoking monkey
Apple won't ask via text to change your password. Always have 2FA on and change your password only thru the settings app and always select log out other devices.
It wasn’t a text. It was a message on my iPhone when I woke up. I initially saw my notifications, I unlocked my device and the screen it was on was the one to change my password.
 
  • Like
Reactions: smoking monkey
Perhaps I should have prefaced this by saying I used to work for Apple support. So I know all about securing my account, phishing attempts, smishing and vishing attempts. Push notifications attempts at phishing.

I have two factor authentication set up, trusted devices and An account recovery contact set up. I’ve seen and heard all the horror stories. This wasn’t any of those things, but it was definitely something. It took me about an hour to process what had happened. I initially thought my phone did a software update overnight and it was having me go through additional steps to complete the update. Had I been coherent I wouldn’t have changed my password.

This is the screen I saw after using Face ID to unlock. Then I logged on face and saw a post from someone.
08D57C41-3BED-46BA-8B29-911DDC2519E5.png
 

Attachments

  • B5BEEBEA-F05F-4D5D-A147-1E7F0650EC45.jpeg
    B5BEEBEA-F05F-4D5D-A147-1E7F0650EC45.jpeg
    361.3 KB · Views: 104
  • 9EBEF00C-E9BB-4D2D-852F-8C04C5D5FCC3.jpeg
    9EBEF00C-E9BB-4D2D-852F-8C04C5D5FCC3.jpeg
    193.1 KB · Views: 123
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
.
Perhaps I should have prefaced this by saying I used to work for Apple support. So I know all about securing my account, phishing attempts, smishing and vishing attempts. Push notifications attempts at phishing.

I have two factor authentication set up, trusted devices and An account recovery contact set up. I’ve seen and heard all the horror stories. This wasn’t any of those things, but it was definitely something. It took me about an hour to process what had happened. I initially thought my phone did a software update overnight and it was having me go through additional steps to complete the update. Had I been coherent I wouldn’t have changed my password.

This is the screen I saw after using Face ID to unlock. Then I logged on face and saw a post from someone. View attachment 2030021
Honestly if I was tired I probably would have done that too. Not as obvious as the usual text scams
 
AT&T and T-Mobile
I just wondered if this is some inevitable fallout from all those T-Mobile data breaches if in fact that prompt came from someone using your email address and phone number to see if it’s a valid Apple ID combination. Hmm…
 
I just wondered if this is some inevitable fallout from all those T-Mobile data breaches if in fact that prompt came from someone using your email address and phone number to see if it’s a valid Apple ID combination. Hmm…
I’m interested now in knowing who others have. My T-Mobile is attached to my work number so that would make me even more nervous. I would almost expect it on my AT&T number
 
  • Like
Reactions: smoking monkey
I’m interested now in knowing who others have. My T-Mobile is attached to my work number so that would make me even more nervous. I would almost expect it on my AT&T number
My sister who got something like this a few days back is on my T-Mobile plan. She is not the primary and I don’t know that T-Mobile really has much data on her. (Not even a full name or emails address I don’t think— or maybe I’m massively naive), so maybe I’m way off and it’s not that particular breach… still. Unnerving anytime you become aware of someone poking at your credentials :S
 
It wasn’t a text. It was a message on my iPhone when I woke up. I initially saw my notifications, I unlocked my device and the screen it was on was the one to change my password.
Again, I understand it was a text. Best thing is to ignore such text and do it thru the app should you feel the need.
 
When I woke up around 7am I had a message on my iPhone to change my password. It was the same screen you see when changing your password in settings. iCloud, I changed it because I was pretty out of it and needed to get into my phone. I don’t recall getting the message about logging out of all devices.

About an hour later I received a message that a new Mac was using iCloud. I went back in immediately and changed my password and logged out of all devices.

Others that o know received the same message. Anyone else?
Exactly same scenario. Woke up in a haze and it got me. I'm usually super careful. It happened a couple of years ago. A mate had the exact same thing happen at the exact same time as well and we'd just found out we had both been in a data breach. We think it was somebody trying to hack our accounts and Apple flagging it for a need to change the password or the like. I did change it the way you did and got nervous and then immediately changed it again through system prefs. No issues and no problems.

I have used 2FA since then. I learnt a lesson. Now, I never follow a pop up like that. I will always do it either through Apple.com or via system prefs and navigate there myself. Plus now I use an apple ID email that is ONLY for my AppleID. Not possible to get it breached by using it elsewhere. Of course still possible, but cuts down the chances significantly.

EDIT: I saw someone confusing this thinking it's a text. It's def not a text. It's a pop up message. exactly as the OP describes it.

EDIT 2: As Rumz linked above you can see exactly what this is. And the answer given is exactly what I did. I changed my AppleID email. It's pretty easy to change your appleID email and it's worth the peace of mind knowing whoever did this won't be able to continue doing so. BUT, I recommend making a brand new email account and ONLY use it for your AppleID.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: rumz
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.