I Phone Cloned Twice
kizmazz
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have Verizon and my Son purchased a new white I Phone. His phone has been cloned twice and he visited the Apple store and they wiped it clean both times. It has once again been cloned and he feels helpless. Verizon's response was that they could not give any information about who cloned it and he would have to hire an attorney and request that Verizon provide the information. Does Apple have have a problem with the I Phones or is it that Verizon has a hole in their system.

 

Is anyone else having this problem? If so have you been able to get it resolved? It is not a great situation to purchase a high end cell phone and not be able to use it without all your communications being intercepted. It is even worse that Verizon will not assist him and just gives him the run around. I would appreciate any help. Thanks

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
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Wow! I understand your frustration and agree this is a very confusing situation. First, I just want to clarify a few things. Cloning is when someone is using your number to make and receive calls, access data, etc. You would see charges on the bill that did not come from your son's phone, and our network would show calls coming from a different serial number. In order to clone someone's number you would need their 10 digit mobile number, 10 digit mobile identification number, 11 digit electronic serial number and 26 digit authentication key (which changes every 24 hours). With that being said, it is extremely difficult to clone a digital phone. Based on your explanation of this issue, this is not cloning. 

 

This sounds like someone has downloaded an application to your son's phone that is allowing them to remotely control his phone and view his text messages. The only way to do this is directly through the phone itself. Normally, doing a full restore of the phone will erase any such applications. If he is still having this issue after the restore, we can replace his phone. I would suggest putting a password on his phone and not allowing anyone to use it. 

 

As far as the social security number being wiped out, I would need to look at his account. No one, even the account holder can call to remove the social security number from the account. Even if it was incorrect, our credit team would need to review his credit in order to verify it and correct it. You can have your son send me a PM directly to further research this issue. 

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
dbbrass
Contributor - Level 3

Has your son been jail breaking his iPhone?  I'm not sure if this would open the door for this type of security issue or not, but if he is jail breaking it, I would cease.

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
kizmazz
Enthusiast - Level 2

He has not done anything to phone including not approved apps. Apple has wiped it twice and it gets cloned. What can be done without getting an Attorney and spending money to get something resolved that Verizon should be responsible for. It is my opinion that Verizon has a security breach in their Network.

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
Jax_Omen
Specialist - Level 3
What makes you think he's being Cloned? Cloning is a pretty severe form of cellular fraud where the fraudster has a phone that has been hacked to have your son's MEID number, and uses their phone on the VzW network, with their usage getting billed against your son's line. Is that what is happening?
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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
vereyezuhn
Master - Level 3

From what I've read online, the cloner needs to be somewhat near you or have access to your phone to get your information from it. I would suggest getting a replacement from Verizon (to change the MEID) and change your son's phone number. I'm also getting the impression from what I've read that the iPhone needs to be jailbroken for this to work?

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
kizmazz
Enthusiast - Level 2

The I Phone is EXACTLY the way that Apple made it. There are not any illegal apps and the phone has not been broken out of jail. He has seen them order pizzas online while he is looking at the phone and they know exactly what he is texting and what he says on the phone. Apple has wiped the phone twice and nothing has been added to the phone & they have again taken over his phone. Verizon will NOT do anything about it and mysteriously his SSN has vanished from Verizons database. They will not even talk to him on the phone because he can't prove his identity since the ssn doesn't exist. I assumed that a Verizon Moderator would not respond and they haven't. Thanks

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
kizmazz
Enthusiast - Level 2

Verizon seems to think that this is a Hot Potato and doesn'twant to get involved. Their response is that we don't service the I Phone and you have to take it to the Apple Store and let them fix it. Apple can wipe the phone but they can't keep someone out of Verizon's Network.

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
21stNow
Master - Level 1

vereyezuhn wrote:

From what I've read online, the cloner needs to be somewhat near you or have access to your phone to get your information from it. I would suggest getting a replacement from Verizon (to change the MEID) and change your son's phone number. I'm also getting the impression from what I've read that the iPhone needs to be jailbroken for this to work?


I'd recommend this, too.  However, I didn't think that the iPhone had to be jailbroken in order to be cloned by nefarious means.

 

You mentioned that a person would have to be near the user in order to clone the phone.  I've heard that a person could be standing on the side of the road when you drive by.  If you are using your phone at the time, the person on the side of the road could clone it.  If it's not too hard, maybe find a new way to work or school once the OP has gotten a new phone.

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
vereyezuhn
Master - Level 3

21stNow wrote:

vereyezuhn wrote:

From what I've read online, the cloner needs to be somewhat near you or have access to your phone to get your information from it. I would suggest getting a replacement from Verizon (to change the MEID) and change your son's phone number. I'm also getting the impression from what I've read that the iPhone needs to be jailbroken for this to work?


I'd recommend this, too.  However, I didn't think that the iPhone had to be jailbroken in order to be cloned by nefarious means.

 

You mentioned that a person would have to be near the user in order to clone the phone.  I've heard that a person could be standing on the side of the road when you drive by.  If you are using your phone at the time, the person on the side of the road could clone it.  If it's not too hard, maybe find a new way to work or school once the OP has gotten a new phone.



I wasn't quite sure if it had to be jailbroken or not, I was a little confused on that part. But yes, that is what I mean by being near the person doing it. Apparently they can do it through radio waves, much like how people get their credit card numbers stolen in stores.

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Re: I Phone Cloned Twice
kizmazz
Enthusiast - Level 2
Thank You very much for your response and opinion about the I Phone. He did not jail break the phone so there must be a way to clone it without doing this. This is an unfortunate case of Two Contractors who say that it is not their fault and talk to the other guy. It is apparent to me that Verizon was not fully prepared to start selling an Apple phone. We haven't found that a I Phone on AT&T Network that can be cloned this easily.As I said before there is a hole in Verizon's Security Network that they have not found or if so they aren't correcting the issue. We are still wasting for a Verizon moderator to address this issue which will probably never happen for obvious reasons. Thanks
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