Hacker News Reader

Comment by imglorp | Hacker News Reader

So, what's the right procedure here? Is the dichotomy in the post true?

    a) remove from account and help the recycle crooks, or
    b) risk them crack it having your data

Aren't there crack wares at this point in the wild?

View on HN

I don't think b) is realistic at all. They're just using scare tactics.

https://help.apple.com/pdf/security/en_US/apple-platform-sec...

Send them Tiananmen Square photos or messages about the CCP, anything that can trigger the great firewall. Thats what my friend did. They stopped messaging immediately.

If it's wiped then there's no data for them to get?

how did the thieves get the phone number of the author, then? is it on the lock screen when the phone is wiped, in order to facilitate its return?

Presumably the phone hasn't actually been wiped, or wasn't when the crooks first got the phone number.

Smart phones generally let you add an Emergency Contact number that anyone can use the phone to call/text without entering a password, in order to facilitate an honest person returning the phone or someone contacting your family if you are found incapacitated.

From the comments, the author was contacted via iMessages from the iCloud email that shows up when it asks for a password.

It doesn't show the full email, it's got the middle of it **'d out. OP likely had a message set for lost mode.

That would seem to be the case, the device is wiped of any user data. Except for the lock, leaving the device as a useless brick / spare parts.

> is it on the lock screen when the phone is wiped, in order to facilitate its return?

Yes - you can set a message when you put a device in 'lost mode' in order to facilitate it's return if it's truly lost and found by a decent human being.

The article says the author already performed a remote erase. There's no data recoverable.

There are, but they aren't cheap. For a recent iPhone, expect to pay a seven digits price.

Is there not a 3rd option for iphones to remotely wipe and brick further use?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com