iphone hacked

[mukund]

Hi all
Good morning

My phone got hacked yesterday morning.

The hackers fooled me into pretending my WhatsApp number needed verification. Then they sent me a Code which I stupidly entered, and that was it. Within minutes they began sending messages to my contacts informing them that I urgently needed funds, and that my friends should loan me for a day!
It would seem that they have cloned my phone number on their own device.

I informed the bank not to permit any online transaction, and I blocked my Debit card.

Questions:
1. Is it enough to change my SIM and keep the same number, or do I need to get a new SIM card, AND a new number?

2. As they have hacked the phone, even if I change my SIM with the same or new number, they might have planted spyware in my phone.
Will a Factory Reset effectively remove any spyware they may have planted?

3. I have a second phone with a different service provider. One of my friends got a similar message from the second phone!! How could that have happened?
Yes, my second number is listed on the main phone which got hacked, but how is it possible for them to get into the second device?But cant take a chance so I plan to change the SIM and get a new number on the second phone as well.

4. My main phone is an iPhone 5S, and the second is an SE (not the latest SE, but the earlier version). Both are running 12.4.8.

5. How do I HARD RESET the phones to wipe all traces away?

Thanks
Mukund

 

[Rod]

When you say, "hacked my phone" my guess is they have only hacked your WhatsApp and consequently your list of contacts accessed by WhatsApp. I doubt they have cloned your phone, if obtaining your phone number was all it took everybody would be at risk. I suggest you delete your WhatsApp application, thus deleting all its data on your iPhone. Download and install it again after changing your password on the web site. You might also like to clear your message log. It's no worse than having your Facebook account hacked, something that has happened to many people, they didn't erase their computer HD's.
I haven't looked but I'm pretty sure that if you web search what to do if my WhatsApp account is compromised/hacked you will find a process to go through.
As for being hacked in the first place, firstly you have my sympathies. Phishing attempts are pretty sophisticated these days but my general rule is to ignore any request for personal details, phone number, email address, user name etc. If something stops working then I'll look into it, at the provider website. More often than not if I suspect something is a scam there will be a web site mentioning it and what to do.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Where did they send you a code and where did you enter this code? It is not possible to install random apps on an iOS device outside of the App Store with your Apple ID. And it's trivial to "spoof" your phone number, no need to do any sort of cloning, which is a totally different thing and not what you see on TV.

So explain in specific detail what you got and where you did everything so we can follow along.

You reset your phone by going to Settings->General->Reset->Reset All Content and Settings. This will make the phone like brand new again.

 

[mukund]

When you say, "hacked my phone" my guess is they have only hacked your WhatsApp and consequently your list of contacts accessed by WhatsApp. I doubt they have cloned your phone, if obtaining your phone number was all it took everybody would be at risk. I suggest you delete your WhatsApp application, thus deleting all its data on your iPhone. Download and install it again after changing your password on the web site. You might also like to clear your message log. It's no worse than having your Facebook account hacked, something that has happened to many people, they didn't erase their computer HD's.
I haven't looked but I'm pretty sure that if you web search what to do if my WhatsApp account is compromised/hacked you will find a process to go through.
As for being hacked in the first place, firstly you have my sympathies. Phishing attempts are pretty sophisticated these days but my general rule is to ignore any request for personal details, phone number, email address, user name etc. If something stops working then I'll look into it, at the provider website. More often than not if I suspect something is a scam there will be a web site mentioning it and what to do.

Thanks for your reassuring words.
When I tried to delete and reinstall WhatsApp, I found that I could not access it at all. They had probably blocked access for me.

Shortly thereafter, I got a msg from a friend that he had got a similar (send me money) msg from my other iPhone. That really alarmed me. How could they have got into my other WApp too!

Couldn't take a chance, so I contacted my Bank and told them to freeze all online internet banking transactions. Then I went to the store and bought two new SIMs with new numbers. I also asked them to suspend services on those two old numbers.

Needless to say, it is so painful to get used to new numbers, and I have to inform all the services linked to those m=numbers that they have changed. Quite a huge task, as omy main number I have had for about ten years.

Is there any way of knowing whether the hackers still have control on those two phones?
If they do not I would like to consider going back to the old numbers, if it is safe to do so. Yes, I could wait for a few months if necessary.

Thank for your help

 

[mukund]

Where did they send you a code and where did you enter this code? It is not possible to install random apps on an iOS device outside of the App Store with your Apple ID. And it's trivial to "spoof" your phone number, no need to do any sort of cloning, which is a totally different thing and not what you see on TV.

So explain in specific detail what you got and where you did everything so we can follow along.

You reset your phone by going to Settings->General->Reset->Reset All Content and Settings. This will make the phone like brand new again.

Hi Ashwin,
Thanks for your help.
This is how it happened. I got repeated calls from number +1 (267) 871-3785. I was rushing for a meeting and preoccupied with that. I wondered why anyone from Dublin PA would be calling in the middle of (their) night, because it was then 1130 AM here in India. But it was a hassle so I answered and heard a woman's recorded msg so I disconnected immediately. Again a call came from the same number, so I pressed the decline button and chose "Im busy, call me later"

About 30 mins later I was checking WApp and see a msg saying your number needs to be verified, please enter your number. Not thinking if it had any connection with the repeated calls I had received, I filled in my number, then I got a msg saying sending you a code which you need to fill. A code came. Then came another screen with blanks to be filled. I filled the code that they had just sent. Then my WApp just froze.

A short while after, my wife got a call from her friend (who was in my WApp contacts, asking whether we were OK. She said that they had got a msg on WAPP from MY number saying "I am very busy in a meeting, but need some money very urgently, so please could you loan me Rs 70,000 ($1000), and I will return it to you tomorrow".

Then others started calling me too, and I realised that I had been had.

Called the bank immediately to freeze my account. Went on internet and changed my Yahoo and Gmail pass words.

Then I went out the next day and bought new SIMs

Sent a msg to a number of friends that my phones had been hacked.
.......

Still suffering from shock!!

Thanks, Dude

 

[chscag]

You're probably better off keeping the new numbers and just chalk up that whole ordeal to a bad experience. Believe me, you are not alone in having been scammed. Stay safe and stay alert.