Locked out of Apple ID and iCloud

Question

Locked out of Apple ID and iCloud

Phone stolen out of my hand while I was on it.

The thieves changed my Apple ID login credentials, including my Apple ID password and trusted phone number. They also enabled a Recovery Key.

The sort of crime affecting me was the subject of two recent Wall Street Journal articles:

- “A Basic iPhone Feature Helps Criminals Steal Your Entire Digital Life” via Wall Street Journal on February 4, 2023: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-iphone-security-theft-passcode-data-privacya-basic-iphone-feature-helps-criminals-steal-your-digital-life-cbf14b1a

- “The iPhone Setting Thieves Use to Lock You Out of Your Apple Account” via Wall Street Journal on April 19, 2023. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-iphone-setting-thieves-use-to-lock-you-out-of-your-apple-account-716d350d

In the Wall Street Journal Article from April 19th, one of the victims who was interviewed said that “After months of calls to Apple customer support and letters to the company about how the thieves had his 28-digit recovery key, he said he finally reached a representative who was willing to do more. Once Mr. Allen answered additional verification questions, Apple disabled the recovery key, he said. He then reset his password, regaining access to the account.”

Anyone have any idea how exactly he did this? I have been on the phone with Apple for countless hours and to no avail. I have a police report and a detective working the case and yet still a month and a half after the theft, I remain locked out of my 2 terabytes of iCloud data.

Posted on Jun 2, 2023 5:13 PM

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Answer 1

Mr-Helper

Level 3

526 points

Jun 3, 2023 7:17 AM in response to ApplesToOrangeJuice

Hi There,

If you forgot your Apple ID Password there are many ways that we can attempt to reset the password depending on the type of security your account has.

If you have Two-Factor Authentication account security (where you receieve a Two-Factor 6 digit code) then you can follow the steps located in this article: If you forgot your Apple ID password - Apple Support (CA)

If you have Secondary-Authentication where you have to answer security questions then you will want to go to: https://iforgot.apple.com to reset your Apple ID password. Once you reset your password it is a good idea to upgrade your account security to Two-Factor Authentication to recieve the highest level of security on your account. More information about Two Factor can be located here: Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support (CA)

Thanks!

Mr-Helper

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Answer 2

Jun 4, 2023 5:36 PM in response to Mr-Helper

Hey Mr-Helper,

I must admit I'm a bit confused as to why you replied to my post when it's clear you didn't even read what I wrote.

Literally my first two sentences:

"Phone stolen out of my hand while I was on it."

"The thieves changed my Apple ID login credentials, including my Apple ID password and trusted phone number. They also enabled a Recovery Key."

If I go to the first link you included: If you forgot your Apple ID password - Apple Support (CA), all roads lead to "Enter the phone number that you use with your Apple ID." but as you can see from my second sentence, "The thieves changed my Apple ID login credentials, including my...trusted phone number"

If I go to the second link you included: https://iforgot.apple.com, this also takes me right back to "Enter the phone number that you use with your Apple ID."

Having written all that, what I was asking wasn't how to reset my Apple ID password (as the only way to do that is with your trusted phone number). Instead I gave an example from a Wall Street Journal article of someone who, like me, had their iPhone stolen and had all their log in information changed, but claims Apple disabled the recovery key, allowing them to get back into their account. I was asking if anyone has any idea how this interviewee might have gone about getting Apple to disable his recovery key.

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

427,151 points

Jun 4, 2023 8:23 PM in response to ApplesToOrangeJuice

Refer to this support article about how to contact Apple for help with Apple ID account security --> Contact Apple for help with Apple ID account security - Apple Support

"This article provides country-specific Apple Support contact information for customers seeking help with their Apple ID password or other security-related issues."

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Answer 4

Nov 22, 2023 5:22 AM in response to ApplesToOrangeJuice

@OP - did you ever figure out how to get Apple to support you and use security questions to verify you? Having a very similar situation with a robbery in Colombia. Thanks for your help!

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Locked out of Apple ID and iCloud

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