'iPhone Pride' Turns to Hell... US Woman Loses Phone and $13 Million

Case of Changing Account Password After Stealing Password
Apple Account Access Blocked and MacBook Login Also Impossible
"Once Lost, Even the Original Owner Is Locked Out" Frustration

A story has emerged about a woman who lost a huge sum of $10,000 (about 13 million KRW) after having her iPhone stolen.

On the 27th (local time), according to the US Business Insider, Reyhan Ayas (31), chief economist at the workforce information company 'Revelio Labs,' had her phone stolen at a bar in Manhattan last November.

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Photo by Munonam, Asia Economy munonam@

Ayas said that at the time, a man snatched her phone and ran away. He explained, "I think (the thief) was watching me enter my password nearby."

Ayas tried to use a friend's phone to activate the 'Find My iPhone' feature to track her phone's location. However, by then, Ayas's Apple account was already locked. The thief had immediately changed the password of Ayas's Apple account after stealing the iPhone. Ayas said, "I didn't know what was happening at the time."

The next day, Ayas promptly reported the device theft to the police and submitted password reset requests and login records. However, since she could not access her Apple account, she was also unable to log into her MacBook.

The Apple support team advised Ayas to "buy a new SIM card and a new iPhone," but even after that, Ayas could not access her Apple account.

Visited Apple Store but received no help

Apple
Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News

Moreover, within 24 hours after the theft, $10,000 was withdrawn from Ayas's bank account. The thief also applied for an Apple credit card in Ayas's name. Ayas said, "I visited the Apple Store but received no help."

He added, "Apple employees kept asking if I had tried 'Find My iPhone.' It was disappointing," and lamented, "Of course I did. Even though my entire daily life was messed up due to the phone theft, that was all they asked." He continued, "It feels like a joke to Apple. My whole life is a mess, and they keep asking if I tried that."

Later, Apple reportedly told Ayas that there was no way to regain access to her Apple account. Ayas criticized, "Apple prides itself on a closed security environment, but hardly mentions what happens when someone gets inside that closed security environment," adding, "It is closed even to the person who owns the account."

Ayas said she directly called Goldman Sachs, which issues Apple Cards, to cancel the application. She said, "In my last conversation with the Apple representative, I was told there was no way to regain access to my Apple account." She added, "Apple promotes its closed security environment as an advantage, but does not talk about what happens if someone breaks through that security." She further noted, "In such cases, the phone is locked even to the account owner."

Alex Argeo, who retired last year after serving with the New York Police Department, told The Journal, "There have been hundreds of similar crimes in New York over the past two years." Similar crimes have also been reported in Austin, Texas.

When the issue of thieves locking accounts first arose, an Apple spokesperson gave a standard response, saying, "We believe these crimes are rare because both the device and password are required," and "Apple has account recovery policies that help prevent malicious actors from accessing user accounts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.