A service designed to search for lost / stolen iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and even Mac computers. However, in a situation where your favorite gadget is lost, many users simply start to panic and do not know where to start searching for a device or remotely erase data from it until they fall into the wrong hands.

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In this article, we will try to clearly describe the algorithm of actions in case of loss of an iOS device.

First of all, you should think in advance about the security of your phone or tablet and activate the function on it. You can do this very simply: go to Settings -\u003e iCloud -\u003e Turn on Find iPhone.

If the iOS device is lost, run the program on any other iOS device (download Find iPhone for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch) or go to iCloud.com and select this program from the list of available ones. When you start the program or go to the iCloud.com website, you will be required to enter the password that was used to configure iCloud and, accordingly, on the lost device.

After starting the program, in the My devices section you will see a list of devices associated with your Apple ID. If the device you need is connected to the network, then you can see its geo-location on the map and the remaining battery charge, an icon in the form of a car will be displayed next to the device name - it serves to build a route to the location of the iOS device.

For each device, you will be given three options to choose from:

Play sound   - when you click on the icon, a sound signal is played on the device, even if it is in silent mode.

Loss mode   - main mode for a lost device:

It is worth noting that thanks to the new iOS 7 - function, your message and phone number will even be shown on the device screen.

Erase iPhone / iPad   - an option that will completely delete data from your device and will reset all settings. After deleting the data, the device will no longer appear on the map in the Find iPhone program, however, and the thief will not be able to use it, because after erasing or when flashing the device will still require an Apple ID and password.

All these options, by the way, can be activated in the absence of an Internet connection on a lost device. They will take effect immediately after connecting to the Internet.

For more than a year now, Apple tablets have been at the top of the top of the most frequently stolen “pills,” and this is understandable. iPads are not cheap and very popular, which means that it is not difficult for a fraudster to find a client for a stolen device and make good money for it.

Unfortunately, fans of i-technology often even for the joy of purchasing a gadget in good condition with the cherished "apple" on board and at a significant discount compared to the store price, and therefore they do not even think about the device being stolen, well, or think, but not much care about the victim.

To at least slightly reduce the number of cases of theft of its products, Apple came up with a special option “Find iPad” (there is a similar option on i-smartphones, it’s just called “Find iPhone”, and also on iPods - it’s called, of course, “Find iPod”), with with the help of which you can block the stolen device and make it thus completely useless to the fraudster.

Managing the "Find iPad" option is very simple, to enable it, the user needs:

To disable the option, turn off the “Find iPad” slider, and, again, you will need to specify a password for the unique Apple ID.

Find iPad Features

The option "Find iPad" is available to all mobile i-devices running on iOS 5.0 and higher. The main function of this option is “Lost Mode”, its user can activate when he believes that the tablet is stolen. At the moment of activation, the iPad is blocked, and the stolen can no longer do anything with it, except to look at the device’s screen, on which the message from the owner will appear - for example, “This iPad was lost. To return it, call the number 8-XXXX-XXXX-XX-XX. "

How to lock iPad using loss mode? Very simple! To activate it, you only need a PC with network access:

Everything! As soon as you click “Finish” in the last window, “Lost Mode” will be activated, and an email will be sent to the email address that you specified when registering your Apple ID to activate this mode.

Another interesting feature of the “Find iPad” option is “Play Sound”, it is activated in the same iCloud account, the “button” for turning it on is to the left of the “button” for activating the loss mode. This opportunity will appeal to scattered people who constantly forget where they left the tablet. When you activate “Play Sound”, the iPad will start to make a very loud piercing sound and it will not be difficult to find it.

How to disable the "Lost Mode"?

Suppose you are lucky and the device is returned, then the question arises - how to disable the loss mode and make the device unlocked. If you have not forgotten the code indicated when activating the mode, no problems will arise. You can use both iCloud.com and the tablet itself to disable it.

To exit the loss mode through the cloud site:

To make the loss mode disabled from the tablet itself is much more convenient - you just need to enter the password code.

What should I do if fraudsters blocked the tablet using "Find iPad"?

The option “Find iPad” is undoubtedly very convenient and, it must be said that with its appearance the number of Apple thefts has decreased, but a new type of fraud has blossomed out on the basis of this opportunity.

How do scammers activate the loss mode?

Attackers cunningly recognize the victim’s Apple ID settings, log into their iCloud account, activate the loss mode, and the user suddenly finds their iPad locked. And on the tablet screen appears a fraudster message in the style - “Do you want to unlock the device?” Call, we’ll agree ”and his contacts.

The first reaction is panic, and the second one is that you can, however, call and pay, because the tablet is expensive, and the data in it is important ... However, working with an attacker is a risky business, because the guarantee is that after you pay, iPad will be unlocked, no - after all, there are no honest scammers.

Turn off scam-activated loss mode: pitfalls

You ask, is there any other way? We answer - there is! It consists in resetting the iPad in recovery mode via iTunes. However, keep in mind that when iTunes restores the i-device in the loss mode, it turns on the so-called activation lock.

I.e, when iTunes completes recovery, the loss mode will turn off, but activation lock will turn on instead.

To disable this lock, you will need to specify the Apple ID password during the initial setup of the iPad (the initial setup menu will automatically appear on the device’s screen after recovery), and after entering it, you can fully control the tablet again.

Tell me why such difficulties? This is not complexity, but high-quality protection, because if iTunes could reset the loss mode without consequences like activation lock, the thief would not have to crank it up, but protection with Apple ID makes such a trick impossible (unless, of course, you you don’t get a very cool thief who can steal the device and hack Apple ID).

And one more digression - before starting the recovery procedure, make sure that your Apple ID password is the same. After all, the situation is not excluded that the attackers hacked your mail, which was specified during its registration and changed the password.

Try logging into your iCloud.com account, if it works, then the password is the same. However, just in case, you need to change it, but before modifying the Apple ID access code, first change the password for the mail specified during registration - the extra insurance has not bothered anyone.

Disabling the mode of loss activated by scammers: instruction for action

So, here is the scheme to act if fraudsters have blocked the iPad:

By the way! ITunes recovery mode will help not only in the case that fraudsters have blocked your Apple iPad and you don’t know what to do. This method is also an excellent answer to the question of how to unlock the iPad if you forgot the password when activating the loss mode. This happens - the device was stolen, the user turned on the loss mode, time passed, no one returned the tablet, and then suddenly he was found, and the user no longer remembers the installed code.

The consequences of restoring iPad via iTunes

Of course, you understand that with such a “hard” recovery using iTunes, all data from the tablet will be deleted, but if you store really important information on it, you, of course, backed up before and with the same initial setup, you will have opportunity - restore iPad as new or perform data recovery from a copy of iCloud / iTunes.

Why it is not necessary to select code by brute force

Many users who did not bother with the question of creating a backup on time, not wanting to lose all the data after the second step of the above instructions go to iCloud.com, turn off the loss mode, and then try to select the unlock code specified by the attacker by brute force. We do not advise doing this. After the 6th unsuccessful attempt, the tablet will be blocked for a minute, after the next unsuccessful one - for an even longer time, after 10 errors, it will be blocked at all. You can start the search again only by resetting the password counter via iTunes, which will take a lot of time. After you can make another 10 attempts, then again you will have to reset the counter.

A precaution that saves a ton of time and valuable data

And in the end - a curious fact - the described type of fraud with the activation of the loss mode is not terrible for those who set the screen unlock code. Remember, in the instructions for turning on the mode, we wrote that if you use this code, it will be automatically indicated as the cipher for turning off the loss mode? Thus, it turns out that the fraudster will not be asked to enter a new code, and the situation will turn out to be very funny - an attacker, of course, will block your gadget, but only with a password well known to you.

To summarize

The option “Find iPad” perfectly protects the tablet from attacks by “mobile” thieves, but it attracts another category of scammers. However, users using the screen unlock code are reliably insured against it. Although, even if you do not use such a password, you still have the opportunity to turn off the loss mode enabled by cybercriminals if you still have access to the Apple ID and the mail used to change it. Well, as a last resort - there is always a cordial support service for the "apple" giant - the main thing is that there is a box and a check that will prove that the device belongs to you.

Recently, we began to receive more and more often letters from our readers and friends about a new misfortune that has overtaken users of Apple devices. At some point, the owner of the iPhone, iPad or Mac receives a letter stating that his iCloud account was logged in from an unfamiliar device, and after that the gadget is blocked due to the loss mode.

At the same time, the electronic address is displayed on the device’s screen, where you must write in order to get a password for unlocking. We studied this issue and found a discussion on the Apple Support Forum, the first post of which dates back to July of this year.

  The last message was written on October 17, and it also tells that the user has become a victim of scammers, and what to do is completely incomprehensible. Judging by the series of letters that device owners receive, first someone logs into their iCloud browser version with their password, then turns on the device’s loss mode, and then another message arrives informing you of the location of the “missing” gadget.


  Having studied the correspondence in the support forum, we learned that even two-factor authentication does not save the problem: an attacker somehow still finds a way to log onto iCloud.com and do his dirty work. The Apple Press Service informed us that the company recently updated the instructions on returning “stolen” devices to their control, and if you have suffered from this problem, we advise you to try everything that is described.

Meanwhile, some users who contacted Apple support were told that in the near future the company will unblock gadgets that have entered the loss mode without the permission of the owner. However, when and how this will happen, no one speaks.

If you also encountered such a problem, we will be grateful for your comments. Please tell us about your device, what were the symptoms of the problem, and how did you manage (if at all) to solve it.

UPDATED:   Based on the successful experience of regaining control of the device, we tell you how to solve this problem without having to pay a ransom or go to a service center. First you need to go to iCloud.com, log in to your account and go to the "Settings" section.

Here you find your device in the list and click on it, after which a cross icon will appear next to it. Press it and the gadget will be untied from your Apple ID.


  Then we connect the device to the computer, launch iTunes and, holding the screen lock button and the Home button for eight seconds, enter your gadget in DFU mode. After that, we simply restore the system from the last saved backup. After that, your iPhone or iPad should return to normal operation.

Recently, there have been frequent conversations and references to fraud consisting in extorting money for unlocking a locked iPhone. Victims of intruders whose apple smartphone was “hacked” do not always understand how this happened and what to do now: contact the police, write to Apple tech support or send the requested amount to the specified account without any guarantees and risk losing money. In addition, a lack of understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship causes alarm among users of mobile devices, concern for the security of personal information. Therefore, I propose to understand this issue.

How does a “hack" iPhone

  In fact, the so-called "hacking" of mobile devices running iOS is the activation by attackers of the "Lost Mode" in the application. It’s easy to guess which scheme scammers work on. It all starts with gaining access to your mailbox, whose address is used concurrently as an Apple ID. Then, those who call themselves hackers set up e-mail filters in the settings with which all letters arriving from Apple are not displayed in the inbox, but immediately or in another folder (for example, like gmail's “all mail”) or completely deleted.

Further, having access to your mailbox, the attackers without any problems change the password for the Apple ID, and then, using the “Find iPhone” function, they completely block the victim’s smartphone, adding something like “write to e- to unlock” in the accompanying message mail [ address]».

  Sometimes a lock occurs when a user connects to Wi-Fi somewhere in a public place, which allows some to think that this is what caused the “hack”. In fact, the explanation can be much simpler: the earlier activation of the loss mode on the iPhone occurs precisely (and only) when the owner goes online.

How to unlock a scam blocked iPhone

  First, do not panic. If you still have a box from your smartphone and purchase receipts, you can always contact Apple support, where they will help you unlock your iPhone and reset your Apple ID password. If you do not want to wait or do not have checks with the box, you can try to unlock it yourself. To do this, go to the page "My Apple ID", where we click on "Reset Password".

We are asked to first enter your Apple ID, and then specify the authentication method: authentication by e-mail or by means of answers to security questions.

If you remember the answers to the security questions - great, otherwise we choose the first method. However, in order to use it, you must make sure that you have access to the mailbox and immediately change the password from e-mail. After we send ourselves an email with further instructions for resetting the Apple ID password.

If Apple doesn’t receive emails, check your filter settings. Quite possibly, scammers applied filters to letters from Cupertinians and now your instruction is simply deleted immediately. As a rule, filters are managed in the e-mail settings.

So, the instruction is in your hands. It looks like an offer to follow the link where you can update the password. After changing the password, go through the browser in iCloud, and then launch the “Find iPhone” web application.

  Disabling the loss mode through the Find My iPhone web application is very simple. Go to "All Devices"\u003e iPhone (locked). Then, the smartphone control panel appears in the right corner of the screen. We are interested in the loss mode, by clicking on the icon of which we get to a new window in the lower part of which the button “Exit Lost Mode” is signed in red letters.

How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers

  After all of the above, it becomes obvious that the most vulnerable place when hacking Apple ID is primarily the mailbox of the owner of the iPhone, having stolen which fraudsters can easily block the device. Therefore, use only reliable services, use additional security features, such as double authentication, and, of course, do not use simple passwords.

During the writing of this instruction, a curious fact emerged: if you use it, then when activating the loss mode, attackers will simply not be asked to enter a 4-digit device lock code, which means you can almost instantly unlock the device. Then, of course, you should change the e-mail password and Apple ID.

If you did not find the answer to your question or something did not work out, and in the comments below there is no suitable solution, ask the question through ours. It is fast, simple, convenient and does not require registration. You will find answers to your and other questions in the section.

When the device switches to loss mode:

A custom message can be displayed on its screen. For example, you can report that the device is lost, or specify your contact information.

The device does not display alerts and does not play back alerts, notifications, and alarms. At the same time, with its help, you can still receive phone calls and calls made using FaceTime.

Apple Pay on your device will be disabled. All credit or debit cards listed on Apple Pay, student cards, and express transport cards will be temporarily blocked on your device. Apple Pay and student cards will be temporarily blocked even if the device is offline. Express transport cards will be temporarily blocked after the device goes online. Unlock your device and sign in to iCloud to resume using temporarily blocked cards on your device. See Apple Support Articles and.

To use the loss mode on an iOS device, the minimum system requirements must be met (see Apple Support article). You can lock your Mac or iOS 5 device, but you cannot determine its geolocation. If you block your Mac, you won’t be able to determine its geolocation until it falls within the range of the previously used Wi-Fi network. In addition, you cannot remotely change the password code, unlock the device, or erase data from it. To use the loss mode on an Apple Watch, watchOS 3 or later is required.

Turn on loss mode or lock the device

Lost device tracking

After activating the loss mode, you can track the current geolocation of the device, as well as its movement on the map.

Note.Lost mode cannot be used to detect Mac computers or devices with iOS 5.

Disabling loss mode and changing contact information

To disable the loss mode or unlock the device, you must enter the password code on this device. For a Mac, you must use the numeric passcode that was set when it was locked.

For Apple Watch or iOS devices: To change the contact information that appears on the lost device or turn off the loss mode, follow the instructions below.

Note.If the card (credit and debit cards in Apple Pay, student cards, or express transport cards) was suspended at the time the device was put into loss mode, you can use them again after turning off the loss mode and re-entering iCloud.

Open the "All devices" menu, then select the device that is in the lost mode.

Click Lost Mode, and then do one of the following:

• Change the information:change the information, and then click Finish.

  Turn off the loss mode:click “Exit Lost Mode”, and then click “Exit Lost Mode” again.

Unlock Mac Password Code Recovery

Click All Devices, then select a locked Mac.

Press “Unblock”, then confirm your identity with your Apple ID password following the on-screen instructions.

After receiving the passcode, enter it on your Mac.

The Find My iPhone app on your iOS device can also be used to find your lost device. For more information, open the “Find iPhone” application, click “Help” and select “Use Lost Mode”.

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