I received some emails saying that my password and security questions had changed for an old Apple ID I barely use anymore. When I checked, I confirmed that the password had indeed been changed. I managed to reset it via an email verification, but when I tried to log in, I was prompted with security questions that are in Chinese, and none of my attempts to answer them worked. The only method available for changing the security questions is answering one of those questions, which is impossible since they were altered by whoever accessed my account.
I reached out to Apple support through live chat, but it was frustrating— they asked the same questions repeatedly and only directed me back to an article I had already tried without success. I then attempted logging into my Apple ID on an old device (iPad Air 2), but I kept getting an error message: "Cannot sign into iCloud (34608)." I looked up the error code online, but most of the suggestions were vague and didn't help at all. I've checked that the device is connected to the internet, so I don't think that's the issue. Is there anything else I can do to confirm my identity to Apple and regain access? The Apple ID should be under the same name as my current one, which I hope is relevant.
3 Answers
I had a similar issue, and I know it's frustrating. If all else fails, consider if there's any way to verify the account through past purchases or subscriptions linked to that Apple ID. Sometimes showing proof of purchase can help get support on your side.
Apple Support typically can’t make direct changes to accounts. You can request a senior advisor and clearly explain that your account has been compromised, and you need to ensure that any payment methods on that account are disabled. Your options pretty much boil down to either answering the security questions correctly or trying to sign in on a different device to upgrade your security to two-factor authentication, but you'll likely need those questions answered first to set that up. If you still can’t do this, then the account may be lost. Make sure to update passwords on any other accounts that might have used the same passwords and check your email provider’s portal to remove any unrecognized devices.
If you've already tried all the recovery options at iforgot.apple.com, you might be out of luck. That Apple ID might not have been set up with two-factor authentication, which many older accounts didn’t transition to automatically. Unfortunately, without that security option, regaining access can be trickier.
Yeah, I think mine was way too old to have 2FA enabled too, so I just got stuck when I had issues.