
The iPhone's CPU can be removed from the Logic Board and reprogrammed to create what is essentially a “new” device (this is very labor intensive and rare.Scammers can trick Apple Store managers into unlocking a device they don’t own.


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The password to the original owner’s iCloud can be entered to remove it, which a hacker could obtain via phishing.Got a tip? You can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal at +44 20 8133 5190, OTR chat at or email You can contact Jason Koebler securely on Signal at 34 or via email: are three ways to remove an iCloud account from an iPhone: There are even custom phishing kits for sale online designed to steal iCloud passwords from a phone’s original owner. These include using fake receipts and invoices to trick Apple into believing they’re the legitimate owner of the phone, using databases that look up information on iPhones, and social engineering at Apple Stores. In practice, “iCloud unlock” as it’s often called, is a scheme that involves a complex supply chain of different scams and cybercriminals. But naturally, repair companies know that a phone is worth more unlocked than it is locked, and so some of them have waded into the hacking underground to become customers of illegal iCloud unlocking companies. The large number of legitimately obtained, iCloud-locked iPhones helps supply the independent phone repair industry with replacement parts that cannot be obtained directly from Apple.
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Making matters more complicated is the fact that not all iCloud-locked phones are stolen devices-some of them are phones that are returned to telecom companies as part of phone upgrade and insurance programs. Thieves, coders, and hackers participate in an underground industry designed to remove a user’s iCloud account from a phone so that they can then be resold. To do this, they phish the phone’s original owners, or scam employees at Apple Stores, which have the ability to override iCloud locks. The iCloud security feature has likely cut down on the number of iPhones that have been stolen, but enterprising criminals have found ways to remove iCloud in order to resell devices. This security feature explains why some muggers have been demanding passwords from their victims. Without the owner's password, the original owner's account can't be unlinked from the phone and the device can't be factory reset. A stolen iPhone which is still attached to the original owner's iCloud account is worthless for personal use or reselling purposes (unless you strip it for parts), because at any point the original owner can remotely lock the phone and find its location with Find My iPhone. An iPhone can only be associated to one iCloud account, meaning that, in order to sell it to someone else (or in order for a stolen phone to be used by someone new) that account needs to be removed from the phone altogether. In 2013, Apple introduced a security feature designed to make iPhones less valuable targets to would-be thieves.
