Zayed Rehman on July 17, 2021, 11:14 pm

Stolen iPhones Unlocking Gang Busted In Brazil In Massive Crackdown

Following a string of reports that criminals in Brazil have been successfully unlocking stolen iPhones and accessing attached bank accounts through it, the Sao Paulo state police have arrested one of these gangs.

What has come to light as a result of this investigation and arrest, is not really surprising, but should be alarming nonetheless. As reported by Folha de S.Paul, the police had arrested four men believed to be behind the operation of a highly sophisticated and specialized team which unlocks these iPhones.

Bypassing security measures like Touch ID, Face ID, and even passcodes has been in a walk in the park for this gang, which according to Police Chief Roberto Monteiro, has been using software bought of the deep web.

From the moment they managed to unlock the phones, the gang evaluate what’s inside of them. If the people have bank account information, they use another software to take off the data and then start to steal their money,” said Police Chief.

The gangs operation hub was traced back to a building that was raided by over 80 police officers, 38 police cars, 10 special operation units, a police air unit and also teams of the Metropolitan Civilian guard members. The extent of the operation reveals just how rampant and serious this issue had become over the period.

As mentioned earlier, criminals have stepped up their game with specialized software that has previously been believed to be held and used by government agencies only.

Meanwhile we have iOS 15 offering the ability to track iPhones using the Find My app even when the phone is switched off, but with evolving threats such as this, we can expect Apple to throw in some greater measures as well.