Sold my parents iPhone 4's two years ago and now resurfaced. Personl info taken?

[bigred7078]

So I sold both my parents iPhone 4's two years ago. The phones have resurfaced recently because someone had been submitting unlock requests.

I typically would not be worried, but my parents have been receiving strange AT&T case tracking emails sent via text message.

Here is the strange part... My parents are on a family plan with my Aunt who is the main account holder. After all these strange text messages and emails, I told my parents to call AT&T and see what the cases were referencing.

After spending an hour on the phone with them it was discovered someone has been calling in for the past week trying to get the phones unlocked. They told AT&T they were on a trip in China and need to use the phone on another carrier. The scary past is that the individual is impersonating my Aunt and are giving her name and last four of her social...

How in the world could they have found her name and last four of social? Let alone know she was the main account holder? Remember these are my parents phones. I always hear people trying to ask the original owners to put in the unlock request but this is totally different...

Any insight on how this could have happened?

 

[Applejuiced]

You restored and wiped cleaned completely their iPhones before you sold them?

 

[bigred7078]

You restored and wiped cleaned completely their iPhones before you sold them?

Yes I did, that's why this is so strange.

 

[Applejuiced]

Very odd.
Not sure how they would get all that info.

 

[nateo200]

So I sold both my parents iPhone 4's two years ago. The phones have resurfaced recently because someone had been submitting unlock requests.

I typically would not be worried, but my parents have been receiving strange AT&T case tracking emails sent via text message.

Here is the strange part... My parents are on a family plan with my Aunt who is the main account holder. After all these strange text messages and emails, I told my parents to call AT&T and see what the cases were referencing.

After spending an hour on the phone with them it was discovered someone has been calling in for the past week trying to get the phones unlocked. They told AT&T they were on a trip in China and need to use the phone on another carrier. The scary past is that the individual is impersonating my Aunt and are giving her name and last four of her social...

How in the world could they have found her name and last four of social? Let alone know she was the main account holder? Remember these are my parents phones. I always hear people trying to ask the original owners to put in the unlock request but this is totally different...

Any insight on how this could have happened?

Uh that's really creepy...are you absolutely SURE you wiped the phones? Short of taking destroying the flash memory I REALLY like to make sure devices are wiped. Make sure AT&T knows the story. Sounds like someone trying to do something they really shouldn't. I find it weird they are going through AT&T with the last four of the social when they could easily find an online IMEI unlocker....

 

[bigred7078]

Uh that's really creepy...are you absolutely SURE you wiped the phones? Short of taking destroying the flash memory I REALLY like to make sure devices are wiped. Make sure AT&T knows the story. Sounds like someone trying to do something they really shouldn't. I find it weird they are going through AT&T with the last four of the social when they could easily find an online IMEI unlocker....

It is super creepy. I am absolutely confident I securely wiped the phones. I have done it countless times with my personal phones and relatives phones.

The situation is just so strange that I am forced to think they somehow either gathered info from the phones OR they somehow slowly phished information from AT&T...

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Yes I did, that's why this is so strange.

Did you take the SIM cards out or leave them in? They contain info.

 

[rigormortis]

this might just be AT&T knowing you previously had service associated with that serial number, and that is all

when you submit an unlock request you need the account number and phone number of a current or past subscriber as well as the imei ( serial number) of the iPhone

 

[bigred7078]

Did you take the SIM cards out or leave them in? They contain info.

I always take out the SIM cards but it's been two years so who knows. Maybe I forgot that time around...

this might just be AT&T knowing you previously had service associated with that serial number, and that is all

when you submit an unlock request you need the account number and phone number of a current or past subscriber as well as the imei ( serial number) of the iPhone

I'm not quite sure what you mean.

These were phones I sold for my parents 2 years ago to a stranger. I'm not sure how they would have any of the info other than the IMEI. They did not have the phone numbers and certainly did not have an account number... A person called AT&T impersonating the actual main account owner and which is my aunt not either of my parents.