What is Your iPhone Has Been Hacked?
Your iPhone Has Been Hacked is a phishing SCAM that masquerades as a real Apple system notification and aimed at iPhone users. It claims that the user’s iPhone has been hacked and the hacker was able to track all the user’s actions on the compromised device. The purpose of this scam is to trick users to install untrustworthy apps, among which may be malware, trojans, browser hijackers and adware.
Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop-up is a scam
QUICK LINKS
When visitors land on sites promoting this scam, the browser displays a small pop-up warning stating that the visitors’ iPhone has been hacked, and all their actions are being tracked by criminals. This scam message requires immediate action. Clicking on the OK button closes this warning and opens a fake system pop-up stating that there are numerous important system notifications regarding the iOS device. A message in the background informs that the iPhone connection has been hacked and if this is not fixed within two minutes, the hacker will send the browser history and photos to all contacts.
Text presented in the scam:
Your iPhone Has Been Hacked
All your actions on the device are tracked by a hacker.
Immediate Action Is Required!
Close
It is important to emphasize that there are no websites capable of detecting that an iOs device has been hacked, therefore sites making such claims are always scams! The scam can promote legitimate software, but is more often used to distribute potentially unwanted applications (PUAs). Although these apps look harmless, they often have malicious capabilities. Such applications can forcibly redirect users to deceptive sites, promise fake features that they really do not have (for example, remove viruses, block ads), display unwanted ads, change browser settings to promote fake search engines, collect user personal data (including logins and passwords, browser history) and so on.
The “Your iPhone has been hacked” scam – fake system notifications
Often scammers try not only to force users to install malware, but also to collect as much information as possible about their victims. The collected information can be used to make fraudulent purchases and unauthorized transfers, sold to criminals on the dark web, or other malicious purposes. Moreover, the criminals behind the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked scam can use stolen email addresses to send spam and malspam (spam emails containing malware or links to malware).
Text presented in the scam background message:
Apple security
Hackers are watching you!
Your Apple iPhone connection has been hacked and someone is watching on you! Please do not close this page. If you don’t fix this in two minutes, the hacker will reveal your identity and send your browsing history and front-facing camera photos to everyone in your contacts!Recovery method：
Step 1: Click the “Connection Protection” button below.
Step 2: You will be redirected to the App Store.
Step 3: Install and run the recommended protection app to recover your Apple iPhone.Protect your connection
To summarize, the “Your iPhone Has Been Hacked” pop-up message cannot be trusted! The scam can lead to malware infection, loss of data, financial losses, theft of personal information and other serious problems.
How to protect against the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked scam
To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, it is important to always keep in mind:
- There are no sites that can detect hacked iOs devices and other security threats.
- Never install software promoted by scam sites, as it can be useless, and besides, it can be dangerous for you and your device.
- Close the “Your iPhone Has Been Hacked” scam as soon as it appears on your device screen. Scammers can prevent you from closing it in various ways. In such cases, close your browser using the App Switcher (Open the App Switcher, Tap and hold on the web-browser until the red circles with a minus sign appears. Tap the minus sign on it to Force Quit the web-browser). If the next time you launch the browser, it prompts you to restore the previous session, abandon it, otherwise this scam will reopen on your screen.
Threat Summary
| Name | Your iPhone Has Been Hacked |
| Type | fake warning, scam, phishing |
| Fake claims | Your iPhone Has Been Hacked, Your Apple iPhone connection has been hacked, the hacker will reveal your identity and send your browsing history and front-facing camera photos to everyone in your contacts |
| Promoted software | fake antiviruses, adware, browser hijackers, ransomware, trojans, spyware |
| Symptoms |
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| Removal | Your iPhone Has Been Hacked removal guide |
(3) Viruses has been detected, Your iPhone was hacked after visiting an Adult website, YOUR IPHONE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED, We have detected a potential risk of unsecured connection are other scams aimed at tricking victims into downloading/installing and/or purchasing untrustworthy apps. Some of these scams are positioned as a legitimate Apple Security page, but in fact have nothing to do with Apple.
The Your iPhone Has Been Hacked scam (GIF):
As mentioned above, adware can redirect users to the “Your iPhone Has Been Hacked” scam. Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. It is a form of malicious software that displays unwanted advertisements. Some examples include pop up ads, fake warnings, push notifications or unclosable windows. These advertisements not only bother browsing experience but also redirect users to malicious and misleading sites. Adware can be installed onto devices via infected web-pages, when users open email attachments, anytime users download and install free applications.
Most of unwanted ads and pop ups come from internet browser toolbars and/or plugins, BHOs (browser helper objects) and bundled apps. In many cases, these items claim itself as apps which improve your experience on the World Wide Web by providing a fast and interactive homepage or a search provider that does not track you. Remember, how to avoid the unwanted applications. Be cautious, start only reputable applications which download from reputable sources. NEVER install any unknown and suspicious apps.
If the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked scam keeps popping up on the device screen and, after closing it, it appears again and again, then try the following simple steps to solve the problem: turn on pop-up blocker; turn on fraudulent website warnings; delete web browsing data. Below we will demonstrate how to do this.
Open the Apple device settings, then scroll down the list of settings to Safari, tap on it.
In the list of settings, find switches “Block Pop-ups” and “Fraudulent Website Warning”, check if they are enabled. If any of the switches are off, then it must be turned on. Having done this, scroll down the settings and tap “Advanced”.
On the Advanced settings screen, tap “Website Data”, scroll down the list of web-domains and tap “Remove All Website Data”.
How to Remove Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop-ups (Adware removal instructions)
Most commonly adware requires more than a simple uninstall with the help of the Finder in order to be fully deleted. For that reason, our team created several removal ways which we’ve combined in a detailed tutorial. Therefore, if you’ve the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop ups on your Mac and are currently trying to have it removed then feel free to follow the guidance below in order to resolve your problem. Certain of the steps below will require you to close this website. So, please read the step-by-step guidance carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.
To remove Your iPhone Has Been Hacked, follow the steps below:
- Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
- Delete Adware associated software by using the Finder
- Remove Adware related files and folders
- Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
- Remove Your iPhone Has Been Hacked from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
- Block Your iPhone Has Been Hacked popup scam and other annoying web-pages
- To sum up
Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
Adware can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.
Click Apple menu ( 
) > System Preferences.
In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac computer. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with Adware.
To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.
Delete Adware associated software by using the Finder
Some PUPs, browser hijackers and adware may be uninstalled by uninstalling the free applications they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed apps in the Finder. Use the “Move to Trash” command in order to remove them.
Make sure you have closed all browsers and other applications. Next, remove any undesired and suspicious programs from machine using the Finder.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
Look around the entire list of applications installed on your MAC system. Most probably, one of them is the adware that causes multiple unwanted pop ups. Choose the questionable application or the program that name is not familiar to you and delete it.
Drag the questionable program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Most important, don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.
Remove Adware related files and folders
Now you need to try to find Adware related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.
Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.
Check for Adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder
In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents
This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: , com.machelper.plist, macsearch.plist, search.plist and installapp.plist. Most often, adware, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs create several files with similar names.
Check for Adware generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder
In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support
This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folder. Move all suspicious folders to the Trash.
Check for Adware generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder
In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents
Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.
Check for Adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder
In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.search.plist, com.installapp.plist, com.machelper.plist and com.macsearch.plist. In most cases, potentially unwanted programs, browser hijackers and adware create several files with similar names.
Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
Manual Your iPhone Has Been Hacked removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware can be not fully removed. We advise that run MalwareBytes to scan the Mac device. Moreover, this program will help you to delete PUPs, toolbars, adware and browser hijackers that your Apple Mac can be affected too.
Please go to the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware for Windows. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.
19997 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
When downloading is complete, close all windows on your MAC OS. Further, start the saved file. Follow the prompts.
The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically run and you can see its main window such as the one below.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the adware that causes the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked popup scam. Depending on your Apple Mac, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
After the scanning is done, you’ll be shown the list of all detected items on your machine. Once you’ve selected what you want to remove from your MAC click the “Quarantine” button.
The MalwareBytes Free will remove adware which causes the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop up scam and move the selected threats to the Quarantine.
Remove Your iPhone Has Been Hacked from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
If you have ‘Your iPhone Has Been Hacked scam’ removal problem, then remove unwanted add-ons can help you. In the steps below we’ll show you the way to remove malicious extensions without reinstall. This will also help to get rid of Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop up scam from your browser.
 Google Chrome |
 Mozilla Firefox |
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You can also try to get rid of Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop up scam by reset Google Chrome settings. |
If you are still experiencing problems with Your iPhone Has Been Hacked popup removal, you need to reset Firefox browser. |
 Safari |
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How to stop Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop-ups
We suggest to install an adblocker program that can block the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked scam and other malicious web-sites. The ad blocking utility like AdGuard is a application that basically removes advertising from the Web and stops access to malicious web-sites. Moreover, security experts says that using ad blocker apps is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.
Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your computer by clicking on the following link.
3410 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
When downloading is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you launch your MAC OS, AdGuard will run automatically and stop Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop-ups, as well as block malicious or misleading web-sites.
To sum up
Now your computer should be free of the adware which causes the Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop ups. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop-up ads and annoying malicious web sites) and Zemana Free (to periodically scan your Apple Mac for new adware softwares and other malware). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.
If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of Your iPhone Has Been Hacked pop ups from the Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, then ask for help here here.
