An Australian man says his life has been "completely ruined" by an iPhone virus that has seen him forced to quit his job and move back in with his parents—with hackers still in control of nearly every aspect of his personal life.
Melbourne-based Simon Edwards, 44, says he first realised there was a problem when he took his dodgy iPhone to the Apple store for repairs.
There he found out that his phone had been added to a 'family sharing plan' he knew nothing about that could control his device, with an Apple employee saying: "you're the child and there's a parent."
From there, Simon's every move has been monitored by anonymous hackers in what he describes as "two years of absolute hell."
The virus, which he believes came from an online dating app, has spread to all of his other devices including his smart home and even his car.
Simon told News.com he lost nearly £10,000 and had to cancel four credit cards, all of his social media accounts, and all of his devices are being remotely streamed to an unknown person. He even received a fraudulent tax bill.
"Every shred of personal data is gone. I can’t change my date of birth," he said. "I can’t claw back what’s happened. I have to live with it.
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"I’ve always been the person to think the best of people but it’s changed how I view everyone around me. It just takes one person with bad intentions to wreak so much havoc."
The worst part is that there is seemingly no escape. Simon quit his job, left his home and moved back in with his mum in New South Wales, but is still being pursued by the cyber criminals who simply won't leave him alone.
“I moved here [regional NSW] nearly a year ago from Melbourne trying to escape this cyber hell, it’s actually just followed me here,” he said.
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“I’ve done every different common sense thing you can think of, new phone, new email address, new SIM card, new credit card number, where there’s no carry over.”
Simon estimates he has spent around £5000 on professional IT services and replaced all of his devices, but the hackers are still in control.
"For me this is very targeted. This is something that is really vindictive," he said.
Apple have given Simon £160 in compensation and are working with him to resolve the issues. He has also been given a identity theft victims certificate by the police to help him navigate life.
- iPhone
- Apple
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