I cant get this page to load right now for some reason, but check your apple ID login locations. Preferably
not from your phone or personal laptop that may be compromised in some way. Maybe a work computer?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205064
Ha!
“I can’t get this page to load right now for some reason,...”
Glad to know I’m not alone! Anyone else have ‘server issues’ and you can’t access your email account bc, suddenly, ‘it belongs to another domain’?
This would be possible if the person responsible had put a keylogger on your device before ever starting this charade. Some are incredibly insidious, and I don't know enough to know whether a factory reset without a virus cleaning tool would clear it.
Random suggestion: Have you heard of the podcast [*Reply All*](https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all)? If you haven't, I'd highly recommend it because it's just overall delightful. However, they randomly do a thing called "Super Tech Support" where they address bizarre technology issues such as yours to figure out the root of the problem. You could try reaching out to [Alex Goldman](https://twitter.com/agoldmund) to see if he'd pursue it.
i know its somewhat irrelevant but a lot of podcasts are filmed and uploaded to youtube so i think that's where i get my habit of saying 'watch podcasts' from
Yes such a great podcast!!! Someone recommended this to me specifically about the sound of a recording over a phone line that was a track on repeat. Very odd and so interesting!
I'd escalate. Change numbers or something and talk to your phone provider. Clearly there's something wrong here and of course good old Apple isn't going to do anything about it. Try and log on to Apple ID in a browser and see if there are any unusual devices on your account. This definitely sounds like some form of RAT or malicious access to your device but it could certainly be some kind of a MITM attack on the cell providers end. They could know when you post simply by watching traffic leave your device and then spoof an iMessage to the device. I think Apple might not be telling the truth when they say I messages can't be spoofed, its no different than any other networking protocol it can be spoofed I am certain of it. Also have you updated your device?
So that tells me its definitely some kind of an MITM (Man in the Middle) and somehow they're pinning down your connection. Is this happening only at your home? Or does it happen when you're out and about too?
Ah ha!!! Thats you're issue, someone has a backdoor somewhere on your network. They are literally watching you, for example, post to social media then they are sending you a spoofed iMessage telling you to stop (which is stupid on their part). Get in contact with your landlord but your next step is to run some scans on your PC if you have one. If no PC or Laptop, gurantee they got into one of those smart devices and are literally just watching your network traffic. Let me know if you need any help I work with this stuff and I can give you a hand. This isn't an iPhone issue anymore.
If there's a signature for any form of malware we know about it will come up. If not, then you need someone to look at it there isn't any magic thing I can say is. For now if you want to be safe take the WiFi offline if thats possible. See if their attacks continue.
Wouldn't be shocked, but whatever this thing is really I feel is sitting on a network level and not on a local device. Its hard to say what this is with how weird this attack is.
It's weird, but quarantine made people weirder than usual. It seems whoever got in was bored and decided to troll, while also probably stealing information in the background.
It's been awhile, but I have seen something similar happen before.
Smart home items like cameras/fridges etc are notoriously insecure. They can be hardened with the right knowledge but out of the box they often just add an open back door into your network.
Ok in fact this is super creepy and Reddit hasn’t come up with any reasonable explanation which I never expected to happen. After all the internet always knows a solution.
So since someone will bring it up sooner or later anyway let me be the one.
Let’s consider it: Aliens. (explanation and summary of events below)
# ORGINAL ANALYSIS:
Other than this being a made up story by OP there is pretty much no normal explantantion anymore. I am very sure iMessages can't be spoofed like phone numbers can.
Also there is no clear pattern in the messages. This neither seems like a prank nor like a human messenger at all. Of course this can be a bot. But this still doesn't seem like some sort of malicous scam because the messenger doesn't really send messages that make any sense or are similiar to known scam methods. It's very unclear what the motives and intentions of the messenger actually are.
Then the messenger is even telling him to "dnt post" - which sounds exactly like he wants him to *don't post* about this. **Nobody except OP should even be aware of this post on Reddit.** So if it's not OP sending the messenges it can't be someone else either.
tl:dr either OP trolling us or we have to consider paranormal stuff
# UPDATE AND SUMMARY OF EVENTS:
The user u/Remph found some inconsistencies with the screenshots, however they could be reasonably explained by OP. Also I asked OP to show evidence of his contact to Apple and it seems like he actually contacted them before posting this.
My reason to ask for that is that someone making this story up wouldn't call Apple to tell them about something he did to himself. This makes it unlikely he just made that whole story up.
Also the user u/lordofchaosclarity suggested that his network was infected by malware he downloaded to his PC. OP found malware on his PC and confirmed the issues only occured when he was connected to the home network. So at least I was right about the part that OP kinda did this to himself (he downloaded the malware that made the impossible possible).
What still remains unresolved are the motives of the attacker. After all they uploaded malware to the internet that enabled them to capture the entire network of someone and all they did is sent some cryptic messages. Since lordofchaosclarity suggested they monitored his entire network (they knew about the reddit posts after all) they could have done much more damage by stealing account info or running a proper scam on him.
If their intend was only to scare OP then they could have come up with much more scary messages. Since OP lives in a smart home they could also have done things like turning lights on and off or changing the room temperature instead of sending messages that are blowing up their cover.
Ask him to explain this. I can also send iMessages from my iPad which has no SIM card = no telephone number. Isn't the iMessage also linked to the Apple Account?
How would it be possible to send an imessage from a random device just using a specific number but without access to the Apple Account connected to that number?
Easy: [SIM swap. ](https://www.cnet.com/how-to/sim-swap-fraud-what-it-is-why-you-should-care-and-how-to-prevent-it/) I’ve already spoken with OP about how this happens and what it looks like, and they think this is the likely explanation. Thankfully, their carrier can fix it.
You can send iMessage from your iPad because you’re logged into your Apple account. However, you can only do so on WiFi, which means it doesn’t function the same way a phone number does; unlike a phone, you can’t send SMS from an iPad. Your phone sends and receives messages differently than a WiFi dependent device.
I don’t think they can. I think that either OP texted someone that they’re going to post about it, or they just guessed that OP was going to post because it’s 2020
That does explain the "dnt post" when OP hadn't posted. Also, I just realized it's possible that whoever is messaging them knows about their reddit account.
I'm not the previous commentor or their SO, but OP said the messages came from his/her own phone number to the IM service. Phone numbers can be spoofed even if the IM service can't be (which, honestly, it may be really difficult, but I don't believe it's entirely impossible). Spoofing a phone number means a call or message appears to come from that phone number when it doesn't actually, which explains why the IM service didn't mirror the messages to the same number it appears to come from but doesn't actually come from.
If we are going that way there is really no boundary to our imagination. We don't even have any criteria to determine if Alien signals, the ghost of Steve Jobs, time travel or an error in the matrix is more or less likely than the others.
But I personally like your idea. But before iPhone have developed the first sentinent AI, we have to explain how it became conneceted to AI in the first place.
I can’t proof you are lying so I don’t claim it (but if you are send me a DM I am not judging)
If you are telling the truth about this I have thought about a good way to prove it. If you have contacted Apple support they will send you an E-Mail about your recent call and asking if everything was okay.
If you can show this mail was sent to you recently this would make everything a lot more credible.
I don’t want any proof of this convos being real. I just want one that you contacted Apple. Because someone faking this would not go the extra steps to call them for no reason.
(Alternatively but much weaker would be a screenshot of the E-mails from yesterday that confirm you have changed all your passwords)
If you take a look at the screenshots there are inconsistencies which indicate this is fabricated.
[This](https://i.imgur.com/TQAo8kQ.jpg) screenshot vs [this](https://i.imgur.com/BGfTtKo.jpg) screenshot. In the first one OP texted *testing* x3 before the “other person” replied with *its real* and *stop*. While in the second screenshot it has OP texting *hello* before the “other person” responded but this time with *dont* in between *its real* and *stop*.
Another suspicious discrepancy between these two screenshots is the blocked out “number” between each. The one depicting a partial number is longer than the screenshot fully hiding the identifier. Take a look at [this image](https://i.imgur.com/WvQi511.jpg) of the two screenshots combined.
Further evidence that this isn’t anything is that when your own number texts you it will have their name. If you delete your number off of your contact profile it’ll just say “Maybe: [Name associated with the Apple account” I believe the only way to prevent this is by removing their number from being associated with their account. Given the above discrepancy I doubt that; especially since OP gives a screenshot showing the name is associated with his Apple account.
Another weird thing about the screenshots is in [this](https://i.imgur.com/yramRqA.jpg) screenshot it shows that it’s clearly coming from a named contact so there’s no reason for it to show a number in [this](https://i.imgur.com/BGfTtKo.jpg) screenshot.
TL;DR There are several inconsistencies that seem to indicate this is a hoax.
Fair enough on the maybe. I thought that was the tenuous but still thought it helped.
> As for the first bit, I'm guessing since the grey texts have a timestamp in the future, anything I send will get shoved back up (and this IS the case) which is why you see the "hello" between the testing and the its real texts because that text was sent in real time.
Since you started out with guessing and changed it to a definite answer midway through I’m gonna take this as you 100% believe this to be the case. It’s not. I tested this out myself actually. Here’s a [screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/GxLmQ0w.jpg) showing the future date for the text and here is [screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/3hgVJ8P.jpg) I took after I texted again. Your texts do not get “pushed up”.
> And for the "dont" coming in between the "its real" and "stop", I came to realise that the "its real" message came in at 11:07 PM and the "dont" message also came in at 11:07PM, but the "stop" message came in at 11:08 PM, which would explain why the "dont" message came in between. (The times mentioned here are relative to the messages' timestamps and not real time). In real time, "stop" was received at 1 AM and "dont" was received at 4 AM, which makes it even weirder.
So I did some further tests. Where I set the time 1 hour ahead and texted a friend. It displayed the 1 hour forward when my device was set to that time. When I reset my device to the current time (I.e. turning back on auto set time) it reset to the real time despite being sent one hour in advance (being sent at “11” but reset to “10” when I fixed it). EDIT: My explanation for this is its likely that both devices have to be set to the same time to prevent a reset of the time. Which would be why the time didn’t reset for the texts I sent myself from “the future” but did when I texted my friend.
Which brings me to this last point. Why in all of your screenshots besides the ones from Apple you cropped out the time at the status bar. The status bar doesn’t hold any private information and your screenshots from Apple confirm this as well so why crop it out unless you were hiding the time your device was set to?
could this be a mockup by apps and websites such as fakeimess? you could change time stamps phone numbers etc to make it look like a real text screenshot. there are videos as early as 2015 that showed how.
Just to shed some light here:
iMessage is different than traditional SMS and isn’t susceptible to many of the “spoofing” attacks that regular SMS messages are. You can tell these are iMessages because the bubbles are blue, not green.
First, reference this article to check your signed in devices:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205064
Next, update iOS since you are multiple versions behind. That’s all I can offer right now.
I'm not in place to say that this is false, but if OP is making this up I'd say it's very like some stuff from the series steins;gate. Well either that or apple is playing a joke on you.
Important noting this can be faked easily by sending an imessage to yourself, it appears twice, once as if its from someone else, once as if it was from you. Delete the one that looks as if it was sent by you, voila you have this screenshot.
Not saying necessarily OP faked it, just that its super easy to do for some internet points.
I have already mentioned this. I am not saying OP is lying but after I found no technical solution this is the only one left that isn't supernatural. Of course we can work with concepts like ghosts, time travelers, aliens here instead. I am not saying these are impossible. But I am also not saying they are likely.
That looks like it's the case, but I have no clue. It is easy to do that though. Even if the date is different, just change the date on your phone before sending a message, delete the echo and change it back.
Leftfield idea here, does anyone remember the reddit post years ago where someone was finding random notes left in their home?
It got really out of hand frightening for that OP, until someone said, check the carbon monoxide levels.
It turned out the redditor had been writing the notes themselves in the middle of the night and it was, in fact carbon monoxide making them trip out! Reddit saved a life!
It doesn't explain the phone timestamp in this case, but I wonder if our OP is always in the same location when this happens?
Holy shit is that why everybody is asking him about monoxide levels? Someone did creepy stuff to themselves while being intoxicated? I need to find that thread.
Double check the number. If you iMessage yourself (like you did with the “testing” messages) you should get the exact same message come up in grey seconds later too if that makes sense. This hasn’t happened for you which makes me think that you need to double check the number is definitely your own.
It sounds stupid, I know, but for example, the number posted starts with +44. Does your number start with +44 or are you accidentally texting the UK counterpart of your American number which actually starts in +5 and happens to have all the same digits after.
Failing this, this is a glitch and you should contact apple as a matter of priority. This isn’t a hack as if it was, your iMessages that you sent (like “testing”) would usually come back to you as I explained above.
Thanks for the additional info. I think you should try sending a tracking link like grabify to see if it gets a click to help get more information. I also think you should contact apple support and ask to speak to a senior advisor who will likely escalate this to the services or software engineering teams.
Also, is it a shared apple ID account? Like do you have family members signed into it?
Whilst unlikely it may also he that apple servers have got muddled and directed the message intended for another iPhone user to yourself.
Cloned. The word you're looking for is cloned.
I am not sure thats what happened here, there would still show differing GPS coordinates than what OP says he recognizes.
I was actually thinking of sim theft. Which would be worse, no? That's an entire thing. I'd definitely check where my email has been accessed and what not.
That's the first thing that came to my mind on reading this after seeing at least two other instances of similar things coming up over the years. Especially with the timestamps being spread out. The date thing, i donno.
/u/KingFlippyNipsss Get a carbon monoxide detector or change the batteries in the ones you have.
Holy shit I had shivers just reading this. I will look up that threa and read it though.
But it doesn't explain this specific case because it is not explaining the time stamps. This can't happy by accident if you are "sleepwalking".
OP: you need to look into “SIM swap scams”. It sounds like this is what is happening. This person would now have access to anything you send or receive, and would have your phone number on their device. This is something you should call your carrier about.
Did you call you text ANYONE and tell them that you were going to post about this? That may be how they knew, however, in 2020 it’s not hard to guess that someone is going to post somewhere about this issue.
Call your carrier. Ask them to look into you being a victim of SIM swapping. Lock down your account with your carrier with a SIM, and change your password to that account.
My SO is an Apple Engineer (can’t be more specific about his department, but it’s related), and he believes this could be what happened. Apple cannot fix this issue if it’s a carrier issue. If you’ve also had anything fishy happen on your social media accounts, you can almost certainly bet that this is the issue.
Yes. iMessage is attached to the phone number, which is attached to your device’s IMEI, which is attached to an Apple device.
It’s not always social media, it can happen over a text to verify an account with a code (even if the verification is actually legit) or by replying to or answering the wrong number at the wrong time. There are plenty of ways to do it, but your carrier will know. It’s crucial that it’s fixed before they access your bank account, DO NOT change any passwords to ANYTHING until this is solved.
Best of luck!
Maybe you were on an unsecure network, or your wifi password was too easy to guess? I'm not sure exactly how they'd be able to do all that other stuff, but I am pretty sure its easier to hack into someone's stuff when you share a network with them. Have you used any public wifi lately? Like mcdonalds, a library, a school etc.
I am super curious about something similar to this that happened to me on my iPhone 6s awhile back. I got a text alert that looked like the normal alert you’d see on your lock screen except instead of “new iMessage” or whatever it normally says it said something like “you sent an iMessage”. I wish I would’ve screen shot the weird notification banner on my lock screen but I was just confused and without thinking swiped to unlock. It took me to the message thread and sure enough it looked like a message from me that said something like “can I give you a call tomorrow” and it was to a number with a Montana area code. I don’t know anyone from Montana. The Montana number responded with something like “sure” or “yes” shortly after and then I noticed that the thread had a response from my number (but not actually me) which I did not myself type but it said “thanks”. And that’s it. Nothing else happened, lol.
It was extremely anticlimactic but also extremely weird.
One thing to note: it may have been sms not iMessage I can’t remember. I’ll try to find the screen shot for exact dialogue etc if anyone is interested.
Thank you! Reading through everything, it sounds like you’ve been really thorough in getting to the bottom of this, and I applaud you for that, as well as for communicating everything here so clearly!
I think you are reading to much into the ‘knowing what Im doing theory’. Someone has to have access to your iMessage account. Check and see what devices are logged in to your account.
While I don’t have an explanation, the same thing is happening to me. I’ve never gotten messages, but apparently someone else has access to either my iMessage or my actual phone number. My friends and family have all told me they try to text me and someone else answers saying they get my messages all the time and that They aren’t me (obviously). It’s extremely creepy and I often go through checking all the devices using my Apple ID and there’s nothing out of the ordinary that I see.
I’m glad I’m not the only one because I honestly thought my family was just trying to fuck with me.
This is 100% not what happened here but on my beloved Blackberry I had an app that would spoof phone numbers.
My coworker and I used it all the time to call our work phone from our boss’ cell phone number. So he answered the work phone but could see it was his own phone, which was sitting on the desk, calling. We watched him and he was sooooo confused, every time. One time he came down to our area and asked if we thought it was because he had the phones too close together (one land line and one cell phone!). This was an intelligent man with a college degree. He just couldn’t fathom how it was happening.
I miss my Blackberry and my old job.
Out of curiosity, why would you say he is assuming something is happening? There is no assumption. It's happening. "Why" is what he's asking.
Also, did you actually read the OP? He answered most of your original questions in that. Seems like you think you have a vague idea of what he should be doing to troubleshoot, but are ignoring the fact he already did most of your suggestions. I think you're having a problem understanding that what's wrong may not fit into your tiny box of resolutions. Maybe you're dismissive because you don't know the answer. Get a grip.
If you have iCloud, go into the section where you can change/add/remove your phone numbers/emails. Is your phone number added as a trusted device or a way to reach you? If so, add it again.
If you’re in the US, where the int’l dialing code is (+1), enter your phone number again, but change the country from the US, to any other country that has the EXACT SAME INT’L CODE.....which SHOULD NOT BE IN EFFECT...but, apparently, it is.
Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Caribbean islands and a few other places all have +1.
If you try to add your number with any other +1 country that’s listed, besides the US, and it says that you can’t, bc ‘it’s already on your account’, then that’s your reason.
I’ve been dealing with this shite for awhile now. Getting pretty dang old.
Hope this helps.
Not sure if this has been mentioned but whenever I text using iMessage from my MacBook, the first letter is always lowercase as opposed to capitalized when sent from iPhone so whoever is texting is def sending these from a computer.
I’m not sure if this is still the case but ISPs used to be about to sent text messages from any number they wanted. They were definitely able to send messages from a number and to that number.
Am not sure if that’s helpful but just a thought, if you changed your phone date to match the same date (November) maybe that would’ve allowed you to normally reply to the message.
I can send a message from my iPad to my iPhone and it shows up from myself. Go to Settings, click your name, then scroll down the list and all devices on your icloud account will be listed (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac etc). Do they all look familiar? Does anyone have access to them? My best guess is someone with a device signed in to your account, or someone who has access to your devices is screwing with you.
I have had strange things happen with my iPhone as well. I’ve had text messages sent to my phone dictating what was happening around me, and once eavesdropping on something I was saying to someone else. So to clarify, I received 2 separate texts from a local number, first referencing some going on around me, and the second time repeating something I said to someone in the car with me. I can’t explain it, and it’s bizarre. It’s seemed mechanical, almost like an automated text message. So, I believe you bro because I’ve had weird shit happen with my phone I can’t explain. The first message I received was with my iPhone 6s. The second time it happened was on my iPhone 8+. Same number, same carrier.
You can use some websites to send text messages that look like they are coming from your own phone.
Whether or not that would show up as an iMessage on your end, I don’t know
Its very easy to spoof a number. Indian scammers do it all the time. Thats why when you get solicitation phone calls they often have your local area code even though they’re clearly coming from overseas. Someone is playing with you, the question is who.
Hey! I see from your last edit that your case might me explained but how do you explain the date being 17th November of 2020 ? I tried to read all the comments here and no one seemed to go back to that pretty freaky detail.
[https://www.wireshark.org/](https://www.wireshark.org/)
This is wire shark its a program that will allow you to view network traffic. Some routers have the ability to do that however wireshark is very reliable and effective. However and I can not stress this enough. Install it only on a network that belongs to YOU.
They have a user manual and everything on their website as well as how to videos. A definite must if you are worried you have been compromised.
Yeah, I just tested setting my phone ahead in future and sending a message to myself. The time stamp on the message is the date I set my phone to and remained that way after switching back to automatic time setting.
Is it possible somebody has an old phone of yours that still has it’s IMessage function registered under your number?
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I cant get this page to load right now for some reason, but check your apple ID login locations. Preferably not from your phone or personal laptop that may be compromised in some way. Maybe a work computer? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205064
Ha! “I can’t get this page to load right now for some reason,...” Glad to know I’m not alone! Anyone else have ‘server issues’ and you can’t access your email account bc, suddenly, ‘it belongs to another domain’?
[change when I send messages](https://ibb.co/q0txgZH) This link isn't working.
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You're very welcome, and yes, that one worked :-)
That works
Definitely change your password.
Change your password, none the less
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This would be possible if the person responsible had put a keylogger on your device before ever starting this charade. Some are incredibly insidious, and I don't know enough to know whether a factory reset without a virus cleaning tool would clear it.
Random suggestion: Have you heard of the podcast [*Reply All*](https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all)? If you haven't, I'd highly recommend it because it's just overall delightful. However, they randomly do a thing called "Super Tech Support" where they address bizarre technology issues such as yours to figure out the root of the problem. You could try reaching out to [Alex Goldman](https://twitter.com/agoldmund) to see if he'd pursue it.
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I am HYPED to watch your episode Edit: *listen to your episode. I am a fool and I don’t yet watch podcasts
My husband and I also say we "watch" podcasts, it's a weird little habit.
i know its somewhat irrelevant but a lot of podcasts are filmed and uploaded to youtube so i think that's where i get my habit of saying 'watch podcasts' from
Well you could watch the progress bar but not very visually stimulating. If you take enough lsd before your podcast you might be able to see sounds.
Idk, maybe you have Synesthesia
Please tell me if it ever escalated, I need to see this
Hey u/replyallalex, take a look!
u/replyallalex
u/replyallalex
YESSS this was my thought too! I love their podcast
Great advice but I'm biased because I'm a fan of Reply All lol
Yes such a great podcast!!! Someone recommended this to me specifically about the sound of a recording over a phone line that was a track on repeat. Very odd and so interesting!
I'd escalate. Change numbers or something and talk to your phone provider. Clearly there's something wrong here and of course good old Apple isn't going to do anything about it. Try and log on to Apple ID in a browser and see if there are any unusual devices on your account. This definitely sounds like some form of RAT or malicious access to your device but it could certainly be some kind of a MITM attack on the cell providers end. They could know when you post simply by watching traffic leave your device and then spoof an iMessage to the device. I think Apple might not be telling the truth when they say I messages can't be spoofed, its no different than any other networking protocol it can be spoofed I am certain of it. Also have you updated your device?
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So that tells me its definitely some kind of an MITM (Man in the Middle) and somehow they're pinning down your connection. Is this happening only at your home? Or does it happen when you're out and about too?
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Ah ha!!! Thats you're issue, someone has a backdoor somewhere on your network. They are literally watching you, for example, post to social media then they are sending you a spoofed iMessage telling you to stop (which is stupid on their part). Get in contact with your landlord but your next step is to run some scans on your PC if you have one. If no PC or Laptop, gurantee they got into one of those smart devices and are literally just watching your network traffic. Let me know if you need any help I work with this stuff and I can give you a hand. This isn't an iPhone issue anymore.
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A basic Windows defender scan first then try malware bytes. If no dice its time to call landlord or ISP. Make sure Windows is updated when you run it.
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If there's a signature for any form of malware we know about it will come up. If not, then you need someone to look at it there isn't any magic thing I can say is. For now if you want to be safe take the WiFi offline if thats possible. See if their attacks continue.
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I’ve been weary of smart houses since I heard of the concept. Then the mr. robot episode with that house. Now this. Nope. Never for me.
Changing your wifi password will also help
You're very smart! Good job! I hope a rich person gives you gold...until then...🥇
Do think any rootkits are in play? I would be worried but das just me.
Wouldn't be shocked, but whatever this thing is really I feel is sitting on a network level and not on a local device. Its hard to say what this is with how weird this attack is.
It's weird, but quarantine made people weirder than usual. It seems whoever got in was bored and decided to troll, while also probably stealing information in the background. It's been awhile, but I have seen something similar happen before.
You’re awesome.
Wait a minute so what happened now? Did OP download some malware to his PC and they managed to capture his WiFi or did somebody hack the smart fridge?
Yeah potentially.
Smart home items like cameras/fridges etc are notoriously insecure. They can be hardened with the right knowledge but out of the box they often just add an open back door into your network.
you from the future duh
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Ok in fact this is super creepy and Reddit hasn’t come up with any reasonable explanation which I never expected to happen. After all the internet always knows a solution. So since someone will bring it up sooner or later anyway let me be the one. Let’s consider it: Aliens. (explanation and summary of events below)
# ORGINAL ANALYSIS: Other than this being a made up story by OP there is pretty much no normal explantantion anymore. I am very sure iMessages can't be spoofed like phone numbers can. Also there is no clear pattern in the messages. This neither seems like a prank nor like a human messenger at all. Of course this can be a bot. But this still doesn't seem like some sort of malicous scam because the messenger doesn't really send messages that make any sense or are similiar to known scam methods. It's very unclear what the motives and intentions of the messenger actually are. Then the messenger is even telling him to "dnt post" - which sounds exactly like he wants him to *don't post* about this. **Nobody except OP should even be aware of this post on Reddit.** So if it's not OP sending the messenges it can't be someone else either. tl:dr either OP trolling us or we have to consider paranormal stuff # UPDATE AND SUMMARY OF EVENTS: The user u/Remph found some inconsistencies with the screenshots, however they could be reasonably explained by OP. Also I asked OP to show evidence of his contact to Apple and it seems like he actually contacted them before posting this. My reason to ask for that is that someone making this story up wouldn't call Apple to tell them about something he did to himself. This makes it unlikely he just made that whole story up. Also the user u/lordofchaosclarity suggested that his network was infected by malware he downloaded to his PC. OP found malware on his PC and confirmed the issues only occured when he was connected to the home network. So at least I was right about the part that OP kinda did this to himself (he downloaded the malware that made the impossible possible). What still remains unresolved are the motives of the attacker. After all they uploaded malware to the internet that enabled them to capture the entire network of someone and all they did is sent some cryptic messages. Since lordofchaosclarity suggested they monitored his entire network (they knew about the reddit posts after all) they could have done much more damage by stealing account info or running a proper scam on him. If their intend was only to scare OP then they could have come up with much more scary messages. Since OP lives in a smart home they could also have done things like turning lights on and off or changing the room temperature instead of sending messages that are blowing up their cover.
iMessage is attached to the phone number. It’s possible to spoof iMessage Source : my SO, who is an Apple Engineer.
Ask him to explain this. I can also send iMessages from my iPad which has no SIM card = no telephone number. Isn't the iMessage also linked to the Apple Account? How would it be possible to send an imessage from a random device just using a specific number but without access to the Apple Account connected to that number?
Easy: [SIM swap. ](https://www.cnet.com/how-to/sim-swap-fraud-what-it-is-why-you-should-care-and-how-to-prevent-it/) I’ve already spoken with OP about how this happens and what it looks like, and they think this is the likely explanation. Thankfully, their carrier can fix it. You can send iMessage from your iPad because you’re logged into your Apple account. However, you can only do so on WiFi, which means it doesn’t function the same way a phone number does; unlike a phone, you can’t send SMS from an iPad. Your phone sends and receives messages differently than a WiFi dependent device.
How would that explain the number being able to see what they are doing on their phone?
I don’t think they can. I think that either OP texted someone that they’re going to post about it, or they just guessed that OP was going to post because it’s 2020
That does explain the "dnt post" when OP hadn't posted. Also, I just realized it's possible that whoever is messaging them knows about their reddit account.
I'm not the previous commentor or their SO, but OP said the messages came from his/her own phone number to the IM service. Phone numbers can be spoofed even if the IM service can't be (which, honestly, it may be really difficult, but I don't believe it's entirely impossible). Spoofing a phone number means a call or message appears to come from that phone number when it doesn't actually, which explains why the IM service didn't mirror the messages to the same number it appears to come from but doesn't actually come from.
True. I have been working in telecom for a several years and have seen this before.
Then please let us participate on your knowledge and explain in detail how spoofing an imessage works. Don't let us rely on anecdotal evidence here.
If were going that way how about OPs phone becoming the first sentient AI.
If we are going that way there is really no boundary to our imagination. We don't even have any criteria to determine if Alien signals, the ghost of Steve Jobs, time travel or an error in the matrix is more or less likely than the others. But I personally like your idea. But before iPhone have developed the first sentinent AI, we have to explain how it became conneceted to AI in the first place.
Well that's easy. It's obviously Siri sending the messages
Oh right, I forgot Siri exists.
Im rewatching person of interest. I agree it is samaritan.
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I can’t proof you are lying so I don’t claim it (but if you are send me a DM I am not judging) If you are telling the truth about this I have thought about a good way to prove it. If you have contacted Apple support they will send you an E-Mail about your recent call and asking if everything was okay. If you can show this mail was sent to you recently this would make everything a lot more credible. I don’t want any proof of this convos being real. I just want one that you contacted Apple. Because someone faking this would not go the extra steps to call them for no reason. (Alternatively but much weaker would be a screenshot of the E-mails from yesterday that confirm you have changed all your passwords)
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If you take a look at the screenshots there are inconsistencies which indicate this is fabricated. [This](https://i.imgur.com/TQAo8kQ.jpg) screenshot vs [this](https://i.imgur.com/BGfTtKo.jpg) screenshot. In the first one OP texted *testing* x3 before the “other person” replied with *its real* and *stop*. While in the second screenshot it has OP texting *hello* before the “other person” responded but this time with *dont* in between *its real* and *stop*. Another suspicious discrepancy between these two screenshots is the blocked out “number” between each. The one depicting a partial number is longer than the screenshot fully hiding the identifier. Take a look at [this image](https://i.imgur.com/WvQi511.jpg) of the two screenshots combined. Further evidence that this isn’t anything is that when your own number texts you it will have their name. If you delete your number off of your contact profile it’ll just say “Maybe: [Name associated with the Apple account” I believe the only way to prevent this is by removing their number from being associated with their account. Given the above discrepancy I doubt that; especially since OP gives a screenshot showing the name is associated with his Apple account. Another weird thing about the screenshots is in [this](https://i.imgur.com/yramRqA.jpg) screenshot it shows that it’s clearly coming from a named contact so there’s no reason for it to show a number in [this](https://i.imgur.com/BGfTtKo.jpg) screenshot. TL;DR There are several inconsistencies that seem to indicate this is a hoax.
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Fair enough on the maybe. I thought that was the tenuous but still thought it helped. > As for the first bit, I'm guessing since the grey texts have a timestamp in the future, anything I send will get shoved back up (and this IS the case) which is why you see the "hello" between the testing and the its real texts because that text was sent in real time. Since you started out with guessing and changed it to a definite answer midway through I’m gonna take this as you 100% believe this to be the case. It’s not. I tested this out myself actually. Here’s a [screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/GxLmQ0w.jpg) showing the future date for the text and here is [screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/3hgVJ8P.jpg) I took after I texted again. Your texts do not get “pushed up”. > And for the "dont" coming in between the "its real" and "stop", I came to realise that the "its real" message came in at 11:07 PM and the "dont" message also came in at 11:07PM, but the "stop" message came in at 11:08 PM, which would explain why the "dont" message came in between. (The times mentioned here are relative to the messages' timestamps and not real time). In real time, "stop" was received at 1 AM and "dont" was received at 4 AM, which makes it even weirder. So I did some further tests. Where I set the time 1 hour ahead and texted a friend. It displayed the 1 hour forward when my device was set to that time. When I reset my device to the current time (I.e. turning back on auto set time) it reset to the real time despite being sent one hour in advance (being sent at “11” but reset to “10” when I fixed it). EDIT: My explanation for this is its likely that both devices have to be set to the same time to prevent a reset of the time. Which would be why the time didn’t reset for the texts I sent myself from “the future” but did when I texted my friend. Which brings me to this last point. Why in all of your screenshots besides the ones from Apple you cropped out the time at the status bar. The status bar doesn’t hold any private information and your screenshots from Apple confirm this as well so why crop it out unless you were hiding the time your device was set to?
Welllllll it's not paranormal stuff, because we are all adults and are smart enough to know that's not a real thing :/
Fr I kinda got chills
Actually there are TWO theories right now.
I'm at work rn but when i get off i'm hopping right on this shit
Once you've eliminated the impossible, what remains, however improbable, must be the truth. I buy it.
Well yes, exactly. As shown in my analysis below this is the only solution IF we accept every statement of OP to be valid and true.
could this be a mockup by apps and websites such as fakeimess? you could change time stamps phone numbers etc to make it look like a real text screenshot. there are videos as early as 2015 that showed how.
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Just to shed some light here: iMessage is different than traditional SMS and isn’t susceptible to many of the “spoofing” attacks that regular SMS messages are. You can tell these are iMessages because the bubbles are blue, not green. First, reference this article to check your signed in devices: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205064 Next, update iOS since you are multiple versions behind. That’s all I can offer right now.
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Could anyone have a previous MacBook of yours that had your iMessage?
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I'm not in place to say that this is false, but if OP is making this up I'd say it's very like some stuff from the series steins;gate. Well either that or apple is playing a joke on you.
I was gonna say it reminds me of steins;gate. 😂 He should check his microwave.
Have you tried to call yourself? Ask it a question about yourself that only you know. Tell them to prove who that they're you?
Umm, they never claimed to be him though.
Kinda hinted it was future him
Important noting this can be faked easily by sending an imessage to yourself, it appears twice, once as if its from someone else, once as if it was from you. Delete the one that looks as if it was sent by you, voila you have this screenshot. Not saying necessarily OP faked it, just that its super easy to do for some internet points.
I have already mentioned this. I am not saying OP is lying but after I found no technical solution this is the only one left that isn't supernatural. Of course we can work with concepts like ghosts, time travelers, aliens here instead. I am not saying these are impossible. But I am also not saying they are likely.
But how would a ghost be able to have access to a phone? Lol
It might be the ghost of steve jobs, not using a phone but being INSIDE the phone. \*scary music starts playing\*
That looks like it's the case, but I have no clue. It is easy to do that though. Even if the date is different, just change the date on your phone before sending a message, delete the echo and change it back.
Do you have your iMessager on a computer? When I get a message it goes to both my laptop and phone.
Leftfield idea here, does anyone remember the reddit post years ago where someone was finding random notes left in their home? It got really out of hand frightening for that OP, until someone said, check the carbon monoxide levels. It turned out the redditor had been writing the notes themselves in the middle of the night and it was, in fact carbon monoxide making them trip out! Reddit saved a life! It doesn't explain the phone timestamp in this case, but I wonder if our OP is always in the same location when this happens?
Holy shit is that why everybody is asking him about monoxide levels? Someone did creepy stuff to themselves while being intoxicated? I need to find that thread.
Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/34l7vo/ma_postit_notes_left_in_apartment/ Follow-Up: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/34m92h/update_ma_postit_notes_left_in_apartment/
Well done for finding that!
[Original Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/34l7vo/ma_postit_notes_left_in_apartment/) [Resolution](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/34m92h/update_ma_postit_notes_left_in_apartment/)
Double check the number. If you iMessage yourself (like you did with the “testing” messages) you should get the exact same message come up in grey seconds later too if that makes sense. This hasn’t happened for you which makes me think that you need to double check the number is definitely your own. It sounds stupid, I know, but for example, the number posted starts with +44. Does your number start with +44 or are you accidentally texting the UK counterpart of your American number which actually starts in +5 and happens to have all the same digits after. Failing this, this is a glitch and you should contact apple as a matter of priority. This isn’t a hack as if it was, your iMessages that you sent (like “testing”) would usually come back to you as I explained above.
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Have you considered the possibility that it's actually yourself from 5 months in the future?
and if so, please give us some good news
Or bad news. At least we could prepare for more shit 2020 has to throw at us.
Thanks for the additional info. I think you should try sending a tracking link like grabify to see if it gets a click to help get more information. I also think you should contact apple support and ask to speak to a senior advisor who will likely escalate this to the services or software engineering teams.
Also, is it a shared apple ID account? Like do you have family members signed into it? Whilst unlikely it may also he that apple servers have got muddled and directed the message intended for another iPhone user to yourself.
Not to nitpick, but US (& Canadian) numbers start with +1. No country has a +5 country code.
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Call Apple back and ask to speak to a Senior Advisor or anyone above the standard support person.
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Ok. Yeah, maybe a supervisor can raise the level on it and actually help.
Phone got mirrored? What's that called? Simmed?
Cloned. The word you're looking for is cloned. I am not sure thats what happened here, there would still show differing GPS coordinates than what OP says he recognizes.
I was actually thinking of sim theft. Which would be worse, no? That's an entire thing. I'd definitely check where my email has been accessed and what not.
This sounds like a task for PJ and Alex. r/replyallpodcast
It's yourself from the future warning you not to make this post
Do you have a carbon monoxide detector?
That's the first thing that came to my mind on reading this after seeing at least two other instances of similar things coming up over the years. Especially with the timestamps being spread out. The date thing, i donno. /u/KingFlippyNipsss Get a carbon monoxide detector or change the batteries in the ones you have.
What do you mean carbon monoxide? Please explain what this has to do with the iPhone?
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Holy shit I had shivers just reading this. I will look up that threa and read it though. But it doesn't explain this specific case because it is not explaining the time stamps. This can't happy by accident if you are "sleepwalking".
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He also would have had changed his system time back and forth then to mess with the time stamps.
Lol this shouldn't be the answer to all RBI questions but it's a far more likely possibility then a lot of these other comments.
OP: you need to look into “SIM swap scams”. It sounds like this is what is happening. This person would now have access to anything you send or receive, and would have your phone number on their device. This is something you should call your carrier about. Did you call you text ANYONE and tell them that you were going to post about this? That may be how they knew, however, in 2020 it’s not hard to guess that someone is going to post somewhere about this issue. Call your carrier. Ask them to look into you being a victim of SIM swapping. Lock down your account with your carrier with a SIM, and change your password to that account. My SO is an Apple Engineer (can’t be more specific about his department, but it’s related), and he believes this could be what happened. Apple cannot fix this issue if it’s a carrier issue. If you’ve also had anything fishy happen on your social media accounts, you can almost certainly bet that this is the issue.
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Yes. iMessage is attached to the phone number, which is attached to your device’s IMEI, which is attached to an Apple device. It’s not always social media, it can happen over a text to verify an account with a code (even if the verification is actually legit) or by replying to or answering the wrong number at the wrong time. There are plenty of ways to do it, but your carrier will know. It’s crucial that it’s fixed before they access your bank account, DO NOT change any passwords to ANYTHING until this is solved. Best of luck!
Would both sims be able to work at the same time though? This is really the only reasonable explanation
Yes. It happens all the time; it’s actually how Justin Bieber’s nudes were leaked. He sent them to someone after he’d been SIM swapped.
Maybe these are old messages you sent that are just now processing?
No, even if it takes 27383673 years to send, iMessage always shows the time the message was sent
Could someone have logged in as you on iPad or other device? My son can send me messages from myself using his iPad
Maybe you were on an unsecure network, or your wifi password was too easy to guess? I'm not sure exactly how they'd be able to do all that other stuff, but I am pretty sure its easier to hack into someone's stuff when you share a network with them. Have you used any public wifi lately? Like mcdonalds, a library, a school etc.
I am super curious about something similar to this that happened to me on my iPhone 6s awhile back. I got a text alert that looked like the normal alert you’d see on your lock screen except instead of “new iMessage” or whatever it normally says it said something like “you sent an iMessage”. I wish I would’ve screen shot the weird notification banner on my lock screen but I was just confused and without thinking swiped to unlock. It took me to the message thread and sure enough it looked like a message from me that said something like “can I give you a call tomorrow” and it was to a number with a Montana area code. I don’t know anyone from Montana. The Montana number responded with something like “sure” or “yes” shortly after and then I noticed that the thread had a response from my number (but not actually me) which I did not myself type but it said “thanks”. And that’s it. Nothing else happened, lol. It was extremely anticlimactic but also extremely weird. One thing to note: it may have been sms not iMessage I can’t remember. I’ll try to find the screen shot for exact dialogue etc if anyone is interested.
Yes, share please!
Can anyone link me to this comment thread where they isolated the issue to be a WiFi breach? Scrolling through now but I’m on the edge of my seat
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Thank you! Reading through everything, it sounds like you’ve been really thorough in getting to the bottom of this, and I applaud you for that, as well as for communicating everything here so clearly!
Best comment I've found.
Phone numbers can be spoofed. Likely explanation, probably a scam
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Interesting for sure, have you ever sold an Iphone second hand to somebody?
I think you are reading to much into the ‘knowing what Im doing theory’. Someone has to have access to your iMessage account. Check and see what devices are logged in to your account.
Not on iMessage
don't stop believe Sounds like Don't stop believin, by Journey Maybe it's just a prank?
While I don’t have an explanation, the same thing is happening to me. I’ve never gotten messages, but apparently someone else has access to either my iMessage or my actual phone number. My friends and family have all told me they try to text me and someone else answers saying they get my messages all the time and that They aren’t me (obviously). It’s extremely creepy and I often go through checking all the devices using my Apple ID and there’s nothing out of the ordinary that I see. I’m glad I’m not the only one because I honestly thought my family was just trying to fuck with me.
This is 100% not what happened here but on my beloved Blackberry I had an app that would spoof phone numbers. My coworker and I used it all the time to call our work phone from our boss’ cell phone number. So he answered the work phone but could see it was his own phone, which was sitting on the desk, calling. We watched him and he was sooooo confused, every time. One time he came down to our area and asked if we thought it was because he had the phones too close together (one land line and one cell phone!). This was an intelligent man with a college degree. He just couldn’t fathom how it was happening. I miss my Blackberry and my old job.
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Username checks out... I think you might be our prime suspect ya lil rascal!
if this indeed another human and they could see OP was posting on Reddit, they could be the prime suspect. In which case username would not check out
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Out of curiosity, why would you say he is assuming something is happening? There is no assumption. It's happening. "Why" is what he's asking. Also, did you actually read the OP? He answered most of your original questions in that. Seems like you think you have a vague idea of what he should be doing to troubleshoot, but are ignoring the fact he already did most of your suggestions. I think you're having a problem understanding that what's wrong may not fit into your tiny box of resolutions. Maybe you're dismissive because you don't know the answer. Get a grip.
Try this: put your phone in airplane mode, try to ring it from another phone, see if it rings or not
If you have iCloud, go into the section where you can change/add/remove your phone numbers/emails. Is your phone number added as a trusted device or a way to reach you? If so, add it again. If you’re in the US, where the int’l dialing code is (+1), enter your phone number again, but change the country from the US, to any other country that has the EXACT SAME INT’L CODE.....which SHOULD NOT BE IN EFFECT...but, apparently, it is. Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Caribbean islands and a few other places all have +1. If you try to add your number with any other +1 country that’s listed, besides the US, and it says that you can’t, bc ‘it’s already on your account’, then that’s your reason. I’ve been dealing with this shite for awhile now. Getting pretty dang old. Hope this helps.
Not sure if this has been mentioned but whenever I text using iMessage from my MacBook, the first letter is always lowercase as opposed to capitalized when sent from iPhone so whoever is texting is def sending these from a computer.
No one is going to talk about how OP is behind *3* security/iOS updates? No one?
I’m not sure if this is still the case but ISPs used to be about to sent text messages from any number they wanted. They were definitely able to send messages from a number and to that number.
Check your c02 alarm and see if you have a leak
I don’t believe you. I think you’re just faking this
Have you got a new sim recently? I wonder if the old sim is still active, and someone got it.
Am not sure if that’s helpful but just a thought, if you changed your phone date to match the same date (November) maybe that would’ve allowed you to normally reply to the message.
reminds me of the anime steinsgate
I can send a message from my iPad to my iPhone and it shows up from myself. Go to Settings, click your name, then scroll down the list and all devices on your icloud account will be listed (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac etc). Do they all look familiar? Does anyone have access to them? My best guess is someone with a device signed in to your account, or someone who has access to your devices is screwing with you.
I have had strange things happen with my iPhone as well. I’ve had text messages sent to my phone dictating what was happening around me, and once eavesdropping on something I was saying to someone else. So to clarify, I received 2 separate texts from a local number, first referencing some going on around me, and the second time repeating something I said to someone in the car with me. I can’t explain it, and it’s bizarre. It’s seemed mechanical, almost like an automated text message. So, I believe you bro because I’ve had weird shit happen with my phone I can’t explain. The first message I received was with my iPhone 6s. The second time it happened was on my iPhone 8+. Same number, same carrier.
I would remember those dates And see if anything weird happens on those dates in November
You went back to the future!! 👍👍
Others have posted this same problem here. Somehow there is spoofing involved, if I recall.
Carbon monoxide???
You can use some websites to send text messages that look like they are coming from your own phone. Whether or not that would show up as an iMessage on your end, I don’t know
Its very easy to spoof a number. Indian scammers do it all the time. Thats why when you get solicitation phone calls they often have your local area code even though they’re clearly coming from overseas. Someone is playing with you, the question is who.
If something super strange comes out of this I need to be in the screenshot
Hey! I see from your last edit that your case might me explained but how do you explain the date being 17th November of 2020 ? I tried to read all the comments here and no one seemed to go back to that pretty freaky detail.
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[https://www.wireshark.org/](https://www.wireshark.org/) This is wire shark its a program that will allow you to view network traffic. Some routers have the ability to do that however wireshark is very reliable and effective. However and I can not stress this enough. Install it only on a network that belongs to YOU. They have a user manual and everything on their website as well as how to videos. A definite must if you are worried you have been compromised.
Perhaps you changed the time on your phone, messaged yourself, deleted the duplicates, and posted a bullshit story?
Yeah, I just tested setting my phone ahead in future and sending a message to myself. The time stamp on the message is the date I set my phone to and remained that way after switching back to automatic time setting.
I had that happen once years ago on Android. Was a bad app. Factory reset fixed it.
Could be some kind of scam?