Identity Theft - A Very Personal Hacking Attack

Recently, a US woman was hacked and her personal data held to ransom. She contacted us to tell her story and has kindly agreed that we can tell it to you here. It's a grave warning about the dangers of identity theft and how vulnerable we can be when digital communications platforms are so easily exploited by online criminals.  Everyone needs to be aware of these dangers. 

This is her experience of trying to get help from social media companies and the police. 

“My Apple ID and Facebook were hacked from within an app. The hacker is from the Ukraine. He targeted me for a high profile game which, according to Apple, is the source of the breach. He changed all of my information so I can't verify my account. All of my personal information is now in their hands to include Social Security, ID's, mortgage application, bank accounts, credit cards, Google saved passwords to 87 accounts, my emails, messages, photo's." 

“I was contacted today by another person claiming to be a police officer from the Ukraine. He said he bought an iPhone on the Internet with a Lords Mobile game on it and now the game disappeared. The game disappeared because I disputed charges and they locked it. He now wants me to pay him the $1000 he paid for to get my accounts back. The phone isn't mine. The apple ID on it is mine. Both the hacker and the buyer of the phone now have access to all of my data."

“I had searched the Ukraine police and clicked a link that said it was their cyber security team but no responses. I have also contacted both Apple and Facebook multiple times but can’t get a positive response. 

“Apple can’t help me because the hacker changed everything that verifies me as me within 1 hour on July 21. In that same hour he did the same to Facebook. And Facebook doesn’t respond to my multiple attempts to send my photo ID, reports of my stolen acct, and you can’t contact a real person."

“I contacted my local police but they laughed because the hacker is in Ukraine. Nothing they can do. Also called the FBI since its identity theft and my money was accessed. They can’t really help either. "

“The hacker changed 5 things for Apple. 1. To change my password. 2. To change my recovery email. 3. To add his phone number. 4 to remove my phone number and 5. To change my Apple ID to his email. The next day he removed my iPhone and erased all in my device. Apple sees all his info, but they can’t compromise his privacy!"

" I think people should know that the company that constantly touts themselves as the most secure operating system was the easiest and fastest for the hacker to get. He entered through an app on my phone, a game and on which I have a high profile player account and he sold it for $1000 along with some one’s stolen phone."

“He contacted me on my personal and work email trying to get me to pay the $1000 he paid to the hacker in return for my accounts. Is he really the hacker? Or are there really 2 different low life trying to rob me. My phone contains everything!  This is identity theft, theft of money, theft of a $10-12k digital game, fraud, theft of data, privacy and data breach, impersonation of a police officer since his email said he is a police officer of the Ukraine." 

"Maybe you can use this information, maybe you can’t. Either way, turn off your iCloud, your Google cloud, don’t back up your smart phone anywhere but an external hard drive." 

“Don’t upload documents to your phone, keep email and chats clear, keep your contacts somewhere safe, don’t pay bills or keep apps to them on your smart phone and don’t connect your credit cards or bank info to any smart phone or digital wallet. Don’t keep identification, emailed attachments like W2’s or mortgage info on a digital device or digital storage”.  

If you have any advice or suggestions for the victim of this crime please contact Cyber Security Intelligence.

You Might Also Read: 

Identity Management Fundamentals:   

 

« Cyber Crime Is Growing Very Fast Due To Coronavirus
Remote Working Has Real Cyber Security Risks »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Chatham House Cyber Conference

Chatham House Cyber Conference

14 June 2023 - Connect with cyber security experts and senior policymakers to explore the role of cyber security in the global economy and how to deliver an open and secure internet.

WEBINAR: How To Build And Implement An Effective Endpoint Detection And Response Strategy

WEBINAR: How To Build And Implement An Effective Endpoint Detection And Response Strategy

Join this webinar to learn how the cloud threat landscape is evolving and organizations are deploying more advanced and capable security controls at scale.

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

Solarflare

Solarflare

Solarflare is a leading provider of intelligent networking I/O software and hardware platforms that accelerate, monitor and secure network data.

Genie Networks

Genie Networks

Genie Networks is a leading technology company providing networking and security solutions for optimizing the performance of large networks.

Jamcracker

Jamcracker

Jamcracker is a cloud services management and cloud governance solutions company, with more than a decade of experience providing industry leading software and services.

LinOTP

LinOTP

LinOTP is an enterprise level, innovative, flexible and versatile OTP-platform for strong authentication.

Ensign InfoSecurity

Ensign InfoSecurity

Ensign InfoSecurity is Southeast Asia’s largest pure-play cybersecurity firm.

Seconize

Seconize

Seconize empowers enterprises to proactively manage their cyber risks, prioritize remediations, optimize security spending and ensure compliance.

EUROCONTROL

EUROCONTROL

EUROCONTROL is a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to supporting European aviation. We help our stakeholders protect themselves against cyber threats.

Augusta HiTech

Augusta HiTech

Augusta Hitech is a focused product development, software services and technology consulting company. Our Vision is to become the most socially impactful and innovative technology company in the world

CyberForum

CyberForum

CyberForum supports businesses from the IT and high-tech industry in all stages of their development: from startup consulting to professional staffing and even location marketing campaigns.

Expel

Expel

Expel provide transparent managed security services, 24x7 detection, response and resilience.

CyFrica

CyFrica

CyFrica conference gathers IT and cyber security leaders from across the African sub-continent with a focus on ‘creating a cyber safe Africa’.

Black Girls In Cyber (BGiC)

Black Girls In Cyber (BGiC)

Black Girls In Cyber's mission is to increase industry awareness and diversity in cybersecurity, privacy, and STEM for women of color.

8com

8com

8com is an established Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) with over 75 employees and customers in over 40 countries.

CyberGate Technologies

CyberGate Technologies

CyberGate Technologies is a world-class, customer focus cyber security service and consultancy company operating the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

LogicMonitor

LogicMonitor

LogicMonitor provides SaaS-based IT infrastructure monitoring services for on-premises and multi-cloud environments.

CyberFOX

CyberFOX

CyberFOX is a global cybersecurity solutions provider focused on identity access management (IAM) for managed service providers (MSPs) and IT professionals.