Fraudsters have learned to block other people's smartphones. How to protect yourself?

[Man]

No photos, no iPhone​

A 21-year-old guy met a girl named Marina through a dating group. They started talking, but then the girl suddenly disappeared. A day later, the boyfriend finally received a message from her: according to her, she lost her iPhone and wanted to at least get back the photos stored on iCloud.

At Marina's request, the guy logged into her account from his iPhone. There were no photos in the cloud, but the smartphone was immediately blocked. Marina suggested transferring 6,000 rubles to her as a way out of the situation. Otherwise, the guy could "throw away the phone, because it will turn into a brick."

Restoring access to an iPhone is not easy: only Apple support carries out such operations. There, the victim of the fraud was promised that they would sort it out only in three weeks.

According to a cybersecurity specialist from Group-IB, such cases of iPhone "hijacking" occurred several years ago. If you log into your iCloud account from a new device, it will automatically be considered the property of this user. Using the Locator service, the owner of the device can remotely determine its location and block it.

This mechanism is designed to prevent a stranger who finds the smartphone from freely viewing its contents. But the owner can display his contacts on the screen.

How to protect yourself​

Experts do not recommend paying the scammers: there is no guarantee that after transferring the required amount, they will give you access to the iPhone. It is better to contact Apple technical support, which continues to work with Russian users. They may ask for a photo of the receipt or box with the specified serial number of the smartphone. The process is not fast, but safe.

Among the preventive measures, experts name standard recommendations: mandatory use of two-factor authentication, ignoring links from strangers and using biometric protection. Naturally, under no circumstances should you enter someone else's account data.

The scheme can also be carried out with an Android smartphone. However, access to a Google account can be easily restored via a letter to the specified backup email.