4 ms·

Apple ID security: Should I be worried?

35 points by chmars 14y ago

rafitorres 14y ago
Because I was there early, my iCloud email/Apple ID is a fairly short but uncommon word, and I receive at least three of these emails every week. I also constantly get subscribed to newsletters I never requested, and receive many messages (both emails and through iMessage) from people who thought they were contacting someone else. I have two theories on why is this: 1. There is at least one person out there in the world who is convinced they own my iCloud email address, but have "forgotten" their password, so they keep trying to reset it. Meanwhile they keep giving out the address as though it were theirs. 2. There's simply an astounding number of people using iCloud, many of them technically unsophisticated users, so data entry mistakes in login forms and other places will be more common. I do reset my password every week or so, just to be safe.
nirvana 14y ago
Someone from a portuguese speaking country thinks that your email address is theirs and that their password is not working and is trying to reset it. That seems to be what's happening here.
- lukeman 14y ago
  Exactly. I get the same thing to an email address that is secondary on my account but someone else was able to create an account with at one point or another (the email being addressed to a name other than your own is the giveaway). It's not anything evil, just some poor guy (in my case) who can no longer access his account and is trying to reset the password.
- 3JPLW 14y ago
  Agreed, but he's right in that a wrong contact name is worrisome. That said, it doesn't seem like it was changed in his account settings (at least he didn't mention it).
thirdstation 14y ago
"If nothing else happens in the next little while, I will eventually buy something else and enter my credit card information again, but I simply do not like this way of not addressing perfectly valid concerns about identity theft and Apple ID security." Companies will continue to ignore customer security and other, lesser customer service issues if they think you'll come back anyway.
drucken 14y ago
It is surprisingly difficult to remove credit card information from an Apple ID. There seems to be no way to do it online. You must use iTunes (machine of the installation seems to be irrelevant) or an iOS device and in some cases there is no guarantee it will work without providing new payment information.
- nwh 14y ago
  It is possible to do it, in the same manner that it is possible to create an account without a credit card at all. This is slightly dated, so it might not be the case now. Originally every AppleID had to have a credit card assigned, the form wouldn't let you progress without one. The trick was to fill in the form with fake data, go to the next screen where it would error out, and then when you clicked back a "no credit card" option would appear at the bottom. Removing a credit card is possible. Crank open the iTunes app and the option is there. You just don't seem to be able to do it on their website, as far as I could see.
- rasengan0 14y ago
  wow. they do not make it easy. turns out after a couple of attempts to delete my cc info and being prompted to reenter it; it was simple as clicking the teeny "None" button for payment type to disable my longstanding card on file. This game of guess-how-the-UI-works coupled with their knowledge base obfuscation of support has woken me up from complacency.

35 points by chmars 14y ago

Because I was there early, my iCloud email/Apple ID is a fairly short but uncommon word, and I receive at least three of these emails every week. I also constantly get subscribed to newsletters I never requested, and receive many messages (both emails and through iMessage) from people who thought they were contacting someone else. I have two theories on why is this: 1. There is at least one person out there in the world who is convinced they own my iCloud email address, but have "forgotten" their password, so they keep trying to reset it. Meanwhile they keep giving out the address as though it were theirs. 2. There's simply an astounding number of people using iCloud, many of them technically unsophisticated users, so data entry mistakes in login forms and other places will be more common. I do reset my password every week or so, just to be safe.

nirvana 14y ago

Someone from a portuguese speaking country thinks that your email address is theirs and that their password is not working and is trying to reset it. That seems to be what's happening here.

lukeman 14y ago
Exactly. I get the same thing to an email address that is secondary on my account but someone else was able to create an account with at one point or another (the email being addressed to a name other than your own is the giveaway). It's not anything evil, just some poor guy (in my case) who can no longer access his account and is trying to reset the password.
3JPLW 14y ago
Agreed, but he's right in that a wrong contact name is worrisome. That said, it doesn't seem like it was changed in his account settings (at least he didn't mention it).

thirdstation 14y ago

"If nothing else happens in the next little while, I will eventually buy something else and enter my credit card information again, but I simply do not like this way of not addressing perfectly valid concerns about identity theft and Apple ID security." Companies will continue to ignore customer security and other, lesser customer service issues if they think you'll come back anyway.

drucken 14y ago

It is surprisingly difficult to remove credit card information from an Apple ID. There seems to be no way to do it online. You must use iTunes (machine of the installation seems to be irrelevant) or an iOS device and in some cases there is no guarantee it will work without providing new payment information.

nwh 14y ago
It is possible to do it, in the same manner that it is possible to create an account without a credit card at all. This is slightly dated, so it might not be the case now. Originally every AppleID had to have a credit card assigned, the form wouldn't let you progress without one. The trick was to fill in the form with fake data, go to the next screen where it would error out, and then when you clicked back a "no credit card" option would appear at the bottom. Removing a credit card is possible. Crank open the iTunes app and the option is there. You just don't seem to be able to do it on their website, as far as I could see.
rasengan0 14y ago
wow. they do not make it easy. turns out after a couple of attempts to delete my cc info and being prompted to reenter it; it was simple as clicking the teeny "None" button for payment type to disable my longstanding card on file. This game of guess-how-the-UI-works coupled with their knowledge base obfuscation of support has woken me up from complacency.