Woman’s new phone got celebrity numbers due to ‘iCloud glitch’
INQUIRER.net file photo
Sophie Highfield was simply expecting a brand new Apple iPhone 5S, but instead, she also ended up with a phonebook filled with dozens of A-list celebrities’ numbers.
Thanks to a suspected iCloud glitch, the 31-year-old American can now freely contact one internationally acclaimed DJ, several Olympic athletes and even a former Spice Girl, according to The Sun.
As one typically does with a new device, Highfield started adding the numbers of her friends and family after purchasing the phone from Three Mobile.
Months later, after typing the letter ‘M’ to give her mom a call, she was astonished to discover that there were dozens of numbers for different mothers in her phone.
“I didn’t notice it at first because the contacts aren’t in my address book but when I go into messages to send a text and type in the letter ‘A’, it comes up with ‘A’ for Adele,” Highfield explained.
Furthermore, she began typing random letters and found out genuine contact details for stars including gold medal-winning long jumper Greg Rutherford, comedian David Walliams, fashion guru Gok Wan and Spice Girl Emma Bunton.
Also listed were Radio 1 DJs Greg James and Nick Grimshaw—saved as Greg ‘The Legend’ James and Grimmy, respectively– as well as producers and other TV figures, the report said.
“There are also lots of producers. I feel like it might have belonged to someone from the BBC or the TV industry,” the surprised phone owner revealed.
Just to be sure, she also tried to call the numbers and most of them turned out to be legit.
Aside from celebrities, Highfield’s mobile also hosts numbers from random strangers, including ‘Brandon from Subway,’ ‘Sophie Babysitter,’ ‘Kieran Window Cleaner’, ‘Christine in the club’ and ’Mark pest control’.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Katalov, CEO of software company ElcomSoft, said it was the first time such case has come to his attention.
“The device was new and not refurbished so there was no previous owner, and that device wasn’t connected to any other accounts before,” he said.
“It must be a problem with Apple iCloud,” Katalov explained. “If you can’t see any other devices connected to your iCloud but still some information is sharing or syncing across different accounts, we might have serious trouble.” Khristian Ibarrola
