I'm concerned that the Russians have hacked Apple's database.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Users Report Some iPhone 7 and 6s Models Activation Locked With Wrong Apple IDs
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'm concerned that the Russians have hacked Apple's database.
This video kind of freaked me out. I always assumed there was a way around, but now that I see it done simply with a bit of handywork and some yellow hardware...
One point to add that supports this possibility: Shortly after my phone was unlocked by Apple I had a Support ticket opened under my account and got a phone call and email from an Apple Support member looking for a woman.
When reaching back out to my original contact at Apple I was told that yes, this was a legit apple rep but they confirmed that it was a mistake and the rep keyed in the email address wrong saying the person who wanted the ticket opened had an email very close to mine.
The strange part of it all... the lady's name who they were looking for has no letters even remotely close to my email address. DB mix up? who knows but it might have something to do with this.
I wonder if this what happened with the 6S Plus I sold Gazelle. I sell my phone to them every year and I can do the deactivation process in my sleep. Got a nasty from them saying that I hadn't deactivated my phone. Long story short instead of getting $285.60 they adjusted the offer to $75 which I declined and the phone is coming back to me. Will be a bit upset if I lost out on $285 due to a corrupted Apple database.
One time, my mom bought a new iPod touch from Apple, and it was already logged into someone else's Apple ID. Luckily, this was well before Activation Lock (I think iOS 4 era). I guess we weren't the only ones... I wonder if this is some really old bug that's been sitting around undetected, affecting only a few users until now. Maybe an off-by-one error in their login system.
[doublepost=1475702002][/doublepost]
[doublepost=1475702002][/doublepost]
Maybe compare the SHA2 hashes of your email addresses instead.
Last edited:
2016 is not a good year for smartphones it seems. Samsungs blowing up. iPhones locking people out.
Steve Jobs would've never signed off on activation lock being a feature in the first place.
It's funny how is Apple focusing mostly on smartphones and related software and even can't get that right. We are slowly getting used to buggy software releases and similar issues.. with Apple focused on their key areas along with improved QA.
Yeah. Maybe samsung and apple should join forces and invent a new kind of activation lock which says
"Unlock activation in 10 seconds or else your phone will explode"
Anecdote time.
On Wednesday September 21st, in the afternoon I could no longer send nor receive iMessages on my iPhone 5S. Upon rebooting I got the activation lock screen. At the same time I got an email from Apple (which I couldn't see at the time) that "'iPhone Name' was automatically removed as a trusted device from two-step verification for your Apple ID (xxxx@xxxx.xxx)." Fortunately, that email address was my own, and after re-authenticating I got another email from Apple saying "The following information for your Apple ID (xxxx@xxxx.xxx) was updated on September 21, 2016. Trusted Device Added - iPhone Name."
I spent that evening going through my Apple ID as thoroughly as possible, making sure all info and settings were legit. My initial fear was that somebody hijacked my Apple ID, but that didn't seem to be the case.
No backup or restore or reset was at all involved in the above situation.
My personal experience, plus the reports here, leads me to believe Apple is having some difficulty with the relationships between devices and Apple IDs. Which is odd, because I thought this was something stored on the phone, not Apple's servers. If it's something controlled by Apple's servers, that means it's subject to exploits by an entity posing as Apple.
On Wednesday September 21st, in the afternoon I could no longer send nor receive iMessages on my iPhone 5S. Upon rebooting I got the activation lock screen. At the same time I got an email from Apple (which I couldn't see at the time) that "'iPhone Name' was automatically removed as a trusted device from two-step verification for your Apple ID (xxxx@xxxx.xxx)." Fortunately, that email address was my own, and after re-authenticating I got another email from Apple saying "The following information for your Apple ID (xxxx@xxxx.xxx) was updated on September 21, 2016. Trusted Device Added - iPhone Name."
I spent that evening going through my Apple ID as thoroughly as possible, making sure all info and settings were legit. My initial fear was that somebody hijacked my Apple ID, but that didn't seem to be the case.
No backup or restore or reset was at all involved in the above situation.
My personal experience, plus the reports here, leads me to believe Apple is having some difficulty with the relationships between devices and Apple IDs. Which is odd, because I thought this was something stored on the phone, not Apple's servers. If it's something controlled by Apple's servers, that means it's subject to exploits by an entity posing as Apple.
This has been happening for awhile. It happened on my iPad Mini 2 back in the day. It also happened on my iPhone 5S. When I brought it up to Apple they fixed it immediately and when I called them out about it potentially being a refurbished device despite being "new" the rep steadfastly refused to comment on that accusation. I don't mind buying refurbished units whatsoever, but at least be up front about it.
Could be wrong, but that's my guess.
Could be wrong, but that's my guess.
If it were a corrupt database the problem wouldn't reoccur on the same phone after Apple cleared the lock.
Yep. Happened to me with my iPhone 6s Plus that I was about to trade in for a 7 plus.
It took apple's online tech support 3 days to do nothing (actually it ended up getting locked to some other Apple ID.)
I took it into the local Apple Store and the manager unlocked it in 5 minutes. Got my new phone.
But seriously. I'm not impressed.
It took apple's online tech support 3 days to do nothing (actually it ended up getting locked to some other Apple ID.)
I took it into the local Apple Store and the manager unlocked it in 5 minutes. Got my new phone.
But seriously. I'm not impressed.
It wouldn't require a flaw in the Activation lock mechanism - only a way to alter the IMEI/serial number of a locked phone, since the lock is associated to that.
Same thing happened to me.. I went to sell my 6s Plus, i had been the only owner, and it ended up Activation locked to an account not associated with me at all..
https://twitter.com/jasonr/status/780435029277237248
https://twitter.com/jasonr/status/780435029277237248
Happened to my iPhone 6 Plus after updating to iOS 9.0.2 when it first came out. DFU restored and, like everyone else, an email address I've never had came up. I assumed at the time it was due to jailbreaking, but played dumb when contacting apple. I sent them my receipt and they sorted the issue.
Same here it was Saturday and I had to send a proof of purchase and wait until monday to get it unlocked by apple.
Folks spoofing the activation process? If so, to what end?
Could it be someone activating iPhone clones using a genuine IMEI guessed, or surreptitiously recorded during manufacture or transport?
Could it be someone activating iPhone clones using a genuine IMEI guessed, or surreptitiously recorded during manufacture or transport?
Apple is really annoying when it comes to issues like these. they never openly admit anything thats wrong. Clearly this should be handled and communicated accordingly?
When I set up my 6S for the first time and went to restore from an iCloud backup, it showed a random email address, then my sister's, then finally mine once I restarted the phone.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯