London iPhone thieves text victims to force Apple ID unlinking
- Source
- New York Times
- Time
- 5:23 PM
- Weight
- 94/100
Thieves in London are increasingly using aggressive social engineering and intimidation tactics to bypass Apple’s anti-theft security features. While the company's Activation Lock is designed to make stolen iPhones useless for resale, criminals are now targeting victims with threatening text messages shortly after a robbery.
These messages, often sent to the victim's backup contact numbers, demand that the owner remove the stolen device from their Apple ID account. By forcing a victim to unlink their account and disable the Find My service, thieves can factory reset the device and sell it on the secondary market at a much higher value.