‘I am mortified’: An iPhone user sent ‘sensitive pictures’ to a stranger’s phone after making this simple iMessage…

A mistake meant an iPhone user sent ‘sensitive’ texts to the wrong person

Their partner’s phone number was associated with the wrong device

The error happened when their partner didn’t properly reset their iPhone

When you sell an old iPhone, do you really know that it’s been fully wiped and disconnected from all your accounts? Because if you don’t, the consequences could be terrible — as one unfortunate Redditor has just vividly demonstrated. This particular story should come as a warning to any iPhone user who is thinking of getting rid of their device.

The Reddit thread in question has the alarming headline of "I may have accidentally been texting a child instead of my boyfriend?" It includes screenshots that show a conversation with someone who claimed that “You have the wrong number. This is a child’s phone.”

Worse, the original poster confided that the messages erroneously sent to the child’s device included “sensitive pictures” and “sensitive messages.” “I am mortified,” they revealed.

It appears that this mix-up could be the result of the poster's partner not fully resetting their iPhone and disconnecting it from their Messages account — something Apple specifically advises you to do if you sell an iPhone and replace it with an Android device.

As a result, messages that were sent to their partner's number were directed to their old device, not their new one, resulting in the humiliating situation they described. And interestingly, this appears to be a problem explicitly linked to switching from an iPhone to an Android device.

Here’s what you can do

Luckily, there are a few ways to avoid falling into a similar situation yourself. And it’s important that you get it right. If you don’t, not only is the potential for embarrassment high, it could put your privacy and even your financial data at risk if you accidentally send it to the wrong person.

If you’re about to sell your old iPhone and replace it with an Android alternative, the first thing you’ll want to do is back up your device. This is so you’ve got a way to restore your iPhone if anything goes wrong. You can back up your phone to your computer, a Mac or a PC — just follow Apple’s instructions and you’ll be set.

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The next step is to deregister iMessage. Ensure your SIM card is in your old iPhone and you’re connected to a cellular network, then open the Settings app and go to Apps > Messages. There, disable the toggle next to iMessage to turn it off. Finally, if you got rid of the iPhone before you could deregister iMessage, Apple has a special web page where you can carry out the process safely.

There are other steps you’ll need to consider. First, go to Apps > FaceTime in the Settings app and turn off the toggle next to FaceTime. If you’ve got an Apple Watch, it should be unpaired, and if you’re subscribed to AppleCare+, you’ll need to transfer that to your new device or cancel your coverage. Then, sign out of your Apple Account by navigating to Settings > [Your Name] > Sign Out.

Once all that’s complete, there are still a few steps you’ll need to do before your iPhone is fully reset (assuming you haven’t already disposed of it). Open the Settings app and head to General, scroll to the bottom, then tap Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Follow the on-screen prompts and your iPhone will be completely reset to factory settings.

Finally, the very last thing to do is to remove your old iPhone from your list of trusted devices in your Apple Account. Once that’s done, you’ll be safe to get rid of it.

Remember these tips when it comes time to move on from your old iPhone, especially if you’re going to replace it with an Android device. Otherwise, you could end up in the unfortunate position of sending texts to an unwitting recipient — along with all the potentially sensitive material those messages might contain.

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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.