So, my wife's phone seems to be acting weird, and we're concerned it might have been hacked. Earlier today, she received two FaceTime calls from her friend around noon, but she didn't respond until the morning. In their chat history, you can see the texts she sent in the morning, but the last messages before that were from November. Her friend sent us screenshots showing that my wife supposedly texted her at 3 AM asking, 'Who is this?' along with a few other random messages. The issue is, we were both asleep at that time, and my wife definitely didn't send those messages. How can someone send texts from her number without them appearing in her iMessage chat?
2 Answers
You should definitely reach out to your carrier because it's possible that her SIM could have been compromised through a SIM swap attack, which is pretty common. If she's using an eSIM like in the iPhone 15, there's still a chance for this type of attack, but it’s not as simple. One thing to do is to add a lock to prevent unauthorized access to the eSIM. Another thing to consider is whether her iCloud account might have been compromised, though that usually happens to higher-profile targets. Better to be safe than sorry!
Here’s a list of steps you should take immediately:
1. Check out Find My on her devices and enable 'Lost Mode' for any old devices before erasing them. Don't remove them till you’re sure they’ve been wiped.
2. Reset her password and make sure to sign out from all devices.
3. Log out of Messages and FaceTime on her iPhone and log back in.
4. Setting a SIM PIN can add an extra layer of security too.
5. Go to Privacy & Security settings, and use the Safety Check feature to review everything.
6. It’s also wise to contact Apple Support and explain the whole situation; be sure to include screenshots from her friend and any suspicious activity on her end.
Thanks for these steps! How long has your wife's phone number been active? And does she have any devices on her Apple account that aren't listed? Sometimes old devices can still show up. Also, were those texts green or blue on her friend's end?
I think it's been over 10 years for the number! She's checked her devices and doesn't see any she forgot about. And the messages from her friend were green, which means those were texts, not iMessages.