2023-12-20 16:52:18
At the beginning of last week, following many requests, the Apple finally presented an appeal to curb the theft of iPhones and prevent criminals from having a party with their victims’ cell phones if they become aware of their access code — which, as we have already explained here, gives several powers even over a person’s Apple ID.
As welcome as this new feature is, the truth is that it took a long time to reach iOS (in fact, it hasn’t even arrived yet, right, as it’s in the beta phase) and, in the meantime, many people have had their iPhones hacked and even their bank accounts were wiped out following falling victim to a thief.
To confirm the size of this problem, o Wall Street Journal recently interviewed a self-confessed smartphone thief which would have stolen even US$2 million of his victims’ accounts, according to the criminal himself. The vast majority of them, as you may have already suspected, were Apple smartphone owners.
This preference for iPhones, according to Aaron Johnson, who is currently serving time in a United States penitentiary, was precisely because of how far you can get if you discover a person’s access code. For him, this credential, originally designed to protect the user, “can be the real devil” sometimes.
The interviewee said he started stealing iPhones because he was living on the street and mightn’t find a job, in addition to having children to look following. His favorite targets were university men, who can easily be found drunk in bars during the night/early morning.
His trick was basically to approach these students and convince them that he was a rapper and that he wanted to add them to the Snapchat. After that, he asked to borrow the victims’ iPhone to “give their username” and said that the device was locked — and that is precisely when the victims ended up saying their access code out loud.
I say, “Hey, your phone is locked. What is the password?”. They say, “2-3-4-5-6,” or something like that. And then I just remember this [do código de acesso].
Once he had the access code memorized, Johnson would then find a way to leave the place where he was with the victim’s iPhone — usually with the help of accomplices. If everything went as planned, he used the access code to change the victim’s Apple ID password and disconnect the device from the network. Look for (Find My) and register your own face/fingerprint on the Face/Touch ID.
Still according to Johnson, he managed to steal up to 30 iPhones in a single weekend and make a profit US$20 mil at once by using the victims’ money to make purchases in a series of establishments, often via Apple Pay. After the money ran out, the smartphone was then finally sold.
According to the police, the interviewee and his associates had stolen around US$300,000. He, however, talks regarding much higher figures, with the numbers hovering around US$1 million e US$2 million.
All of this, of course, happened well before Apple introduced the Stolen Device Protection (something like “Stolen Device Protection”) in the iOS 17.3 beta. Even so, as advised by Johnson himself, the wisest thing is obviously to never give your access code to anyone.
via AppleInsider
1703094061
#Criminal #explains #iPhone #passcode #rob #victims
