Apple has denied access to my iCloud, forever!!??

[LucyGrl]

Seeking Advice on Regaining Access to My iCloud Account After Permanent Closure

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice on how to regain access to my iCloud account after an incredibly distressing situation. I’m 61 years old with limited technical experience.

While on holiday in Mexico, I lost my iPhone. When I realized I couldn’t remember my iCloud password (I have never used the account), I contacted Apple Customer Support for help. I followed their instructions carefully, but instead of recovering my account, I was informed that my Apple account has been permanently closed.

This has left me in a very difficult and dangerous situation:

• I cannot contact my 88-year-old mother, who expects daily check-ins and must be very worried.
• I have no access to essential apps like banking, text messages, or transportation services (e.g., Uber).
• I’m effectively stranded in my accommodations, unable to communicate or access vital resources.

I don’t understand how losing a phone could lead to losing my entire account and digital life. This experience has completely ruined my holiday, and I’m left feeling helpless.

Has anyone here experienced something similar? Is there any way to appeal this "permanent closure" or escalate the issue to someone at Apple who might help?

Thank you in advance for any advice or support.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Nobody here is going to be able to tangibly do anything for you.

You need to re-contact Apple and explain the situation to them. Only they have a chance at resolving this problem.

Ancillary help:

• Can you contact anyone else who can contact your mother for you? Have them contact her to let her know you have lost your phone and will not be able to contact her until you get another. If there’s no such connection that you can reach, write a letter on paper, stick it in a next-day delivery envelope to rush it to your Mom explaining the situation. Yes, that's quite the old fashioned way but would certainly do the trick in a full technological pinch.
• It's very likely that wherever you are staying will have phone service. While it will likely be costly, you can use their phone to call your Mother and explain the situation. This might even be the old fashioned way on a landline phone or perhaps in a phone booth dialing your Mother’s phone number. You can also hit a store and buy the cheapest (probably not smart) cell phone they offer that will probably come with a small number of minutes free or dirt cheap, call your Mom on that and use it only as a simple phone for the remainder of your time there.
• Get a replacement phone, tablet or computer and then contact your "essential service providers" explaining what has happened and maybe at least some of them can get you reconnected. Whatever you used to post the above new thread can probably be used to re-establish relationships with the "essential" services. The same device should be able to email someone who has a relationship with your mother and can contact her on your behalf: sibling, cousins, other?

There are 2 true Apple stores in Mexico and probably many third party stores able to sell Apple stuff.

When you get everything back in place, don't solely trust iCloud anymore. You can back up an iPhone to your computer (Mac or PC). Then, in a situation like this, you can connect the replacement iPhone to your computer, "restore" and it will basically make the new iPhone have everything that was on the old iPhone. It will be as if the new iPhone IS the old phone in terms of apps, data, pics, media, etc.

If you store your own backup on your computer, you are 100% in control of any future restoration. iCloud can be just a secondary backup to that option. In this scenario, you could go buy a new iPhone, "restore" and carry on as if you never lost your phone at all... no iCloud required.

Sorry for your loss. I hope at least some of the above is helpful immediately and the rest is helpful should there ever be a next time with a similar loss.

 

[aihpcfl]

Seeking Advice on Regaining Access to My iCloud Account After Permanent Closure

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice on how to regain access to my iCloud account after an incredibly distressing situation. I’m 61 years old with limited technical experience.

[. . .]

Thank you in advance for any advice or support.

I'm sorry to read of your situation.

If your account was deleted, that is not reversible. More at the link.

The rest is going to depend. One thing at a time, one step at a time. Hopefully you contacted your carrier, your bank(s), etc. as soon as you could.

 

[LucyGrl]

I'm sorry to read of your situation.

If your account was deleted, that is not reversible. More at the link.

The rest is going to depend. One thing at a time, one step at a time. Hopefully you contacted your carrier, your bank(s), etc. as soon as you could.

thank you

Nobody here is going to be able to tangibly do anything for you.

You need to re-contact Apple and explain the situation to them. Only they have a chance at resolving this problem.

Ancillary help:

• Can you contact anyone else who can contact your mother for you? Have them contact her to let her know you have lost your phone and will not be able to contact her until you get another. If there’s no such connection that you can reach, write a letter on paper, stick it in a next-day delivery envelope to rush it to your Mom explaining the situation. Yes, that's quite the old fashioned way but would certainly do the trick in a full technological pinch.
• It's very likely that wherever you are staying will have phone service. While it will likely be costly, you can use their phone to call your Mother and explain the situation. This might even be the old fashioned way on a landline phone or perhaps in a phone booth dialing your Mother’s phone number.
• Get a replacement phone, tablet or computer and then contact your "essential service providers" explaining what has happened and maybe at least some of them can get you reconnected. Whatever you used to post the above new thread can probably be used to re-establish relationships with the "essential" services. The same device should be able to email someone who has a relationship with your mother and can contact her on your behalf: sibling, cousins, other?

There are 2 true Apple stores in Mexico and probably many third party stores able to sell Apple stuff.

When you get everything back in place, don't solely trust iCloud anymore. You can back up an iPhone to your computer (Mac or PC). Then, in a situation like this, you can connect the replacement iPhone to your computer, "restore" and it will basically make the new iPhone have everything that was on the old iPhone. It will be as if the new iPhone IS the old phone in terms of apps, data, pics, media, etc.

If you store your own backup on your computer, you are 100% in control of any future restoration. iCloud can be just a secondary backup to that option. In this scenario, you could go buy a new iPhone, "restore" and carry on as if you never lost your phone at all... no iCloud required.

Sorry for your loss. I hope at least some of the above is helpful immediately and the rest is helpful should there ever be a next time with a similar loss.

thank you

 

[Isamilis]

Could you register new iCloud account, and redownload the banking apps? It’s tedious works but still workable. FYI, in my country, banking app and uber don’t care about your iCloud acct (unless you logged to those Apps using your iCloud acct).

 

[LucyGrl]

I'm sorry to read of your situation.

If your account was deleted, that is not reversible. More at the link.

The rest is going to depend. One thing at a time, one step at a time. Hopefully you contacted your carrier, your bank(s), etc. as soon as you could.

I'm not 100% my account is deleted? Apple's email said my request to access my account is "denied"?

 

[dotzero123]

Maybe you just entered the wrong password too many times? Borrow a phone and call Apple support again. Sometimes the first person you contact doesn't have the tools or experience to unravel a complicated situation. Best case, if you can get to an Apple Store, they might be able to provide assistance. Otherwise, as mentioned above, have someone reach out to mom on your behalf and buy a monthly phone plan until your situation is resolved.

 

[aihpcfl]

I'm not 100% my account is deleted? Apple's email said my request to access my account is "denied"?

Ok. Your original post said permanently closed. Deleted was the word closest to that in my mind. It is important to know the status of your account, of course, but also the exact words that Apple uses. Using Apple's wording will make searches more effective and help you communicate with Apple.

Also, I don't know what "denied" means. Have Apple define terms for you. Is it the system that is denying access because you don't have the correct credentials or has Apple in some other way stepped in and denied access to the account. Is your account now locked? What would it take to get it unlocked? Have you exhausted all possible means of recovering your account? -- A question for you to pose to Apple.

 

[LucyGrl]

Ok. Your original post said permanently closed. Deleted was the word closest to that in my mind. It is important to know the status of your account, of course, but also the exact words that Apple uses. Using Apple's wording will make searches more effective and help you communicate with Apple.

Also, I don't know what "denied" means. Is it the system that is denying access because you don't have the correct credentials or has Apple in some other way stepped in and denied access to the account. Have you exhausted all possible means of recovering your account? -- A question for you to pose to Apple.

I called Apple care back after the "access denied" email, they said that is a final decision and that they could do nothing.
I asked Ai, and they gave me the next level to escalate this issue.
I sent an email there, but I'm assuming no one is monitoring until after the holidays.
Believe me I'll keep trying.
I was just hoping to log onto "find my phone" before I leave to go back home.
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it very much.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I certainly sympathize with your situation! I know how difficult it can be to be away from home & without your phone.

I'm going on the assumption that you don't know your password and you don't have another Apple device with you (iPad, Mac) If you do have another Apple device, ignore the rest of this post and let us know.

At this point, you need to regain access to your account. How you do that, depends on whether the account is set up with "Two Factor Authentication" (2FA) or with "Simple" security (there's a third option, "Two Step Verification" but it's so rare that it can be ignored). Further if you use 2FA you might or might not have set up a "Recovery Key" in the past.

Go to https://iforgot.apple.com and put in your email.

• If you see a screen asking if you want to "Reset your security questions" then you have Simple security. You will need to provide the exact answers to the security questions you set years ago in order to reset your password. No hints, limited number of chances per day but it'll let you try again for a limited number of times each day, forever. If you don't know those answers you can try the "Reset my security questions" option but it may need something like.... your old password 😬 in order to do that.
• If you see a screen saying Confirm your phone number then you have 2FA. You, obviously, won't have access to that phone number since you've lost your phone, so it's going to kick you into "Account Recovery" which will take several days to complete - likely not until you're home. No one can speed that up, even at Apple.
• If you're prompted to enter your Recovery Key then you MUST have that key, which you likely don't have with you, AND you MUST have access to your Trusted Phone Number which won't happen until your phone is replaced. So again, not until you get home most likely.

In a nutshell - your chances of recovering the account quickly are next to nil. But your chances of recovering it eventually are better. So for now - take some deep breaths, enjoy the weather, Email someone who can reach out to your mother, and try to enjoy the solitude of not having a phone for a few days.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Can’t necessarily provide any help with the Apple account issue, however…
As far as I’m aware, even if you are locked out of your Apple account, you can still use an iPhone as… a phone.
Calling over cellular, SMS texting, web browsing, all of this should be possible, even without an Apple account logged in.

 

[LucyGrl]

Thanks for your reply, this all started because I lost my iPhone while away on holiday.
I was desperate to log into "find my phone"
Now it's been 4 days... so I doubt I'll find it.
Heading back to Canada on 28th.
Will get a new phone and work on the the rest from there.

 

[aihpcfl]

[. . .]
Heading back to Canada on 28th.
Will get a new phone and work on the the rest from there.

Good luck going forward. Some additional thoughts:

I think I read that you will not be able to use the same email address for a new Apple account so long as Apple keeps a hashed version of it, which apparently is forever. I hope you still recover your account, but anyway, just be aware.

@HobeSoundDarryl gave some good advice re not relying entirely on iCloud. At the least, write down the important-cannot-lose information, like your Apple account password.

Look at enabling two-factor authentication and account recovery key with new phone and account. Write down or print your recovery key and save a couple copies in different places.

Review your behavior. For example, maybe the first thing you do when paying with a credit card, when your card is returned to you, is put the card away -- before you do anything else, put the card away. In the same way, develop habits with your phone to minimize the chances for you losing it or it being stolen.