Pixel Telephones Hacked Whereas in Restore, Express Pictures Leaked, Say Customers

Google Pixel customers have reported that their telephones have been hacked after they despatched them to Google’s official partnered retailer for restore. Two customers which have raised the alarm to this point declare that their specific pictures have been stolen and leaked. One among them claimed {that a} small amount of cash was additionally transferred through PayPal and their electronic mail account was accessed. Each these hijack circumstances have been reported after the customers despatched their Pixel telephone to a Texas restore facility through the mail-in possibility. The customers couldn’t reset their units due to the harm and the restore of us on the facility have been accused of benefiting from that.

The primary criticism got here from recreation designer and writer Jane McGonigal. She has suggested her followers on Twitter to not ship their Google telephones in for guarantee restore or substitute. McGonigal stated that her telephone was utilized by somebody whereas in restore to log into her Gmail, Google Drive, Google Pictures backup electronic mail account, and even Dropbox. Whereas checking her exercise logs, she stated that the hacker opened a bunch of selfies “hoping to search out nudes”.

McGonigal claims that the pictures they opened have been of her “in bathing fits, sports activities bras, form-fitting attire, and of stitches after surgical procedure”. The hacker even reportedly deleted Google safety notifications in her backup electronic mail accounts.

The hacker is alleged to have modified her Gmail settings to mark all safety messages from Google as spam. Moreover, she says Google assist instructed her that her telephone by no means reached the restore facility regardless that FedEx marked her courier as delivered.

One other related occasion was reported by a Pixel consumer on Reddit, and reported first by Android Police. This consumer claims to have despatched the Pixel telephone for restore on the Texas facility and it was hacked. The Reddit consumer stated that nudes of his spouse and him have been posted on his spouse’s social media account. The hackers even tried to entry her Google account to lock her out and used her PayPal to ship somebody $5 (roughly Rs. 450) as a check.

Google has responded to The Verge saying that they’re investigating the declare. The corporate advises customers to reset their units earlier than mailing it in for restore, however in each the circumstances talked about above, the customers stated that it wasn’t attainable.