A woman who got locked out of her Apple account minutes after her iPhone was stolen and had $10,000 taken from her bank account says Apple was ‘not helpful at all’
If you thought losing your iPhone was bad enough, spare a thought for the woman who was locked out of her Apple account minutes after her device was stolen – and then had $10,000 taken from her bank account.
The victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told Yahoo Finance that she was “not helped at all” by Apple when she tried to report the incident and recover her funds.
It all started when the woman’s phone was stolen while she was out at a restaurant in San Francisco. She says she immediately reported the theft to the police and then tried to cancel her credit card, which was linked to her Apple ID.
That’s when she discovered that her account had been locked and she was unable to access any of her iCloud data – including her contacts, photos and messages.
Worse still, the thief had already used her card to make a series of online purchases, totaling $10,000.
The victim says she contacted Apple to try and resolve the issue, but was “not helped at all.”
“I called AppleCare and they were not helpful at all,” she said. “They said that they couldn’t do anything because my phone was stolen and they couldn’t verify that it was me.”
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. In recent years, there have been a number of reports of iPhone thefts leading to fraudulent credit card charges.
In some cases, the thieves have been able to access the victim’s iCloud account and make unauthorized purchases. In other cases, the thieves have been able to use the victim’s credit card to make online purchases.
Apple has a page on its website dedicated to security and privacy, but it doesn’t specifically address the issue of credit card fraud.
The company does say that it uses “industry-standard security measures” to protect customer information, but it’s unclear how effective these measures are in preventing credit card fraud.
It’s also worth noting that Apple is not the only company whose customers have been victims of credit card fraud. In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of credit card fraud, involving companies such as Target and Home Depot.
So, what can you do to protect yourself from credit card fraud?
First, it’s important to report any suspicious activity to your credit card issuer immediately. If you see charges on your statement that you don’t recognize, call your credit card company and ask them to reverse the charges.
Second, you should never store your credit card information on your iPhone. If your iPhone is stolen, the thief will have access to your credit card information – and could use it to make unauthorized purchases.
If you’re worried about losing your credit card information, you can always store it in a secure password manager, such as 1Password or LastPass.
And finally, you should consider using a credit card that offers fraud protection. Some credit cards, such as the American Express Bluebird, offer fraud protection services that can help you recover your losses if your card is used for fraudulent purposes.
There’s no surefire way to prevent credit card fraud, but by taking some simple precautions, you can minimize your risk.
