Australian man alleges all of his iOS and macOS devices have been persistently hacked
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An Australian man claims to be the victim of an incredibly wide and persistent hack of all of his Apple devices — but his claims that a dating app did it don’t quite add up.
Towards the tail-end of 2019, Simon Edwards noticed that legitimate websites began being populated by pop-up ads. He also encountered trouble sending emails even if the email service had confirmed a successful delivery, and his screens would “constantly jump and shake.”
He began receiving dozens of scam calls a week. Then, he noticed that app icons on his phone would gray out and become unusable. Soon after, he resorted to factory resetting his iPhone “every two hours”.
His smart TV, car, and security cameras were connected to the iPhone via Bluetooth. He noticed that apps were disappearing, and the security cameras would occasionally come up with gaps in their feeds. He also noticed that a “Pegasus spyware warning” would show up whenever he sent an email. Screen Mirroring has also been turned on inexplicably, streaming the live displays of his iPhone and laptop to “an unknown person.”
At the same time, he began to lose his social media accounts to hackers, he told News.com.au. After hackers racked up debt in his name, he had to cancel his credit card. His bank had to recover around $8000 in fraudulent spending on his credit card, Afterpay, and Uber accounts. $1500 was spent through his Apple ID account. A fraudulent tax agent added themselves to his ATO tax account, changing years of his tax lodgings, and tried to intercept a $10,000 tax return.
He began to wonder how the cyberattacks had been occurring. He first believed a work computer of his was infected and had spread the malicious code to the rest of his devices. This claim has been denied emphatically by his employer. His employer has also hired an independent third-party IT contractor, the latter finding no signs of any cyber breach on any of the firm’s work devices.
Edwards took his iPhone and laptop…
