Inside the illicit world of “iCloud unlocking”, where cybercriminals trick iPhone owners or Apple staff into removing an iCloud account to resell the iPhone
In a novel melding of physical and cybercrime, hackers, thieves, and even independent repair companies are finding ways to “unlock iCloud” from iPhones. Tweets: @josephfcox , @jason_koebler , @jason_koebler , @josephfcox , @jason_koebler , @josephfcox , @jason_koebler , and @josephfcox Tweets: Joseph Cox / @josephfcox : Last month, Philadelphia police warned about a load of armed robberies, where the muggers pointed guns at victims and told them to log out of iCloud, hand over their iPhones. The reason? They can't reset the phone if it's linked to an iCloud. https://motherboard.vice.com/ ... pic.twitter.com/1mYEiqvZSC Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : There are people out there who have access to Apple servers who look up info about a phone, give it to a scammer, who then phishes the original owner and gets their password. They then sell this “unlock” to thieves and, in many cases, repair pros too Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : Alternatively they look up info about the original owner, create a fake receipt, go to the Apple Store, and pretend to be the original owner. Managers get between 5 and 10 unlocks per day. Joseph Cox / @josephfcox : So thieves need to remove iCloud (if the victim didn't). Basically three ways: phish the victim's iCloud password after the robbery; social engineer Apple to unlock the phone (less likely for stolen, but could work on others), or tampering device https://motherboard.vice.com/ ... pic.twitter.com/N71SaXh6Yd Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : I've wanted to do a story about this for years, and started a few times last year but never made enough headway. Joseph separately came to me a few months ago, and had the hacking side nailed down. I had the repair side more-or-less figured out. Good to work together on this Joseph Cox / @josephfcox : For a months I've sat in chat rooms where hackers talk about stealing iCloud passwords. This is the clearing house, where your stolen iPhone ends up so it can be resold. USA, UK, SE Asia, China; victims from everywhere. Here are phones they share in chat https://motherboard.vice.com/ ... pic.twitter.com/jj3Fess4Gs Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : Lots going on here: repair companies come across huge numbers of “iCloud locked” iPhones, which means they are essentially bricks. Most of these devices are probably not stolen, but are returned to telecom companies and insurance companies, who apparently can't unlock them. Joseph Cox / @josephfcox : New: tricking Apple with fake docs, bribing Apple employees, using custom software to steal victims' passwords, and mugging people at gunpoint. We go inside the underground market of stolen/lost iPhones, and how criminals unlock them ready for resale http://motherboard.vice.com/ ...