Apparently, at some point in the distant past, I created an iCloud account, probably while working tech support. I've never owned an Apple product. This morning I get an email saying my account had been accessed from an iMac 27. I immediately went through the Forgot password and Reset password process from my PC. Chatted with Apple support for about 30 minutes and they couldn't help. The big problem now is that I can't do anything other than sign in because I can't remember the EXACT answers to my security questions. Ideally, I'd like to just delete the account but can't get past the security questions hurdle. Any fresh attempts will have to wait a day or two since I failed enough times to trigger a lockout. Any suggestions on how to do this?FYI, I was able to see the expiration date on the CC associated with the account was 2013 so that's not a major concern at the moment.

Did you click a link in the message you received? Are you sure it was a legit message? Do you remember storing any data on the cloud? What about just letting it die a slow death? If you ever need to have an iCloud account you can try starting a new one.

Since you don't own any Apple stuff chances are good that you don't have any important information stored in the cloud. Just tell Apple to delete your account completely.

wildtoad wrote:Did you click a link in the message you received? Are you sure it was a legit message? Do you remember storing any data on the cloud? What about just letting it die a slow death? If you ever need to have an iCloud account you can try starting a new one.No, I didn't follow any links in the email. So far, it looks 100% legit. Didn't store anything in iCloud. Probably just created the account to troubleshoot a problem for a user. If someone else is using it, or trying to use it, I'd rather delete it now.

sch911 wrote:Since you don't own any Apple stuff chances are good that you don't have any important information stored in the cloud. Just tell Apple to delete your account completely.I already tried that with Apple support this morning. They wouldn't delete it for me. They did provide links for me to delete it, which all failed due to the security questions. Catch 22.

HappyKayakers wrote:.... The big problem now is that I can't do anything other than sign in because I can't remember the EXACT answers to my security questions...one strategy to combat this problem (BTDT) is to use the same answer for all security questions. there is no context between the question and answer so it matters not what one uses as an answer.

Any Apple gurus? | Good Sam Community

wildtoad
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2021
Did you click a link in the message you received? Are you sure it was a legit message? Do you remember storing any data on the cloud? What about just letting it die a slow death? If you ever need to have an iCloud account you can try starting a new one.
sch911
Explorer
Jul 05, 2021
Since you don't own any Apple stuff chances are good that you don't have any important information stored in the cloud. Just tell Apple to delete your account completely.
HappyKayakers
Explorer
Jul 05, 2021
wildtoad wrote:
Did you click a link in the message you received? Are you sure it was a legit message? Do you remember storing any data on the cloud? What about just letting it die a slow death? If you ever need to have an iCloud account you can try starting a new one.

No, I didn't follow any links in the email. So far, it looks 100% legit. Didn't store anything in iCloud. Probably just created the account to troubleshoot a problem for a user. If someone else is using it, or trying to use it, I'd rather delete it now.
HappyKayakers
Explorer
Jul 05, 2021
sch911 wrote:
Since you don't own any Apple stuff chances are good that you don't have any important information stored in the cloud. Just tell Apple to delete your account completely.

I already tried that with Apple support this morning. They wouldn't delete it for me. They did provide links for me to delete it, which all failed due to the security questions. Catch 22.
rk911
Explorer
Jul 05, 2021
HappyKayakers wrote:
.... The big problem now is that I can't do anything other than sign in because I can't remember the EXACT answers to my security questions...

one strategy to combat this problem (BTDT) is to use the same answer for all security questions. there is no context between the question and answer so it matters not what one uses as an answer.
MitchF150
Explorer III
Jul 05, 2021
I'd say you just got a spam email.... I get those all the time and it's just bogus..

Hope you didn't click on the email link.... Or call the phone number listed in the email..

Gotta be careful out there..

Good luck! Mitch
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jul 05, 2021
I take it you checked the email address to make sure it was a legitimate address for Apple. If you can't access the account, due to the security questions, it makes me question the validity of the email completely.
HappyKayakers
Explorer
Jul 05, 2021
fj12ryder wrote:
I take it you checked the email address to make sure it was a legitimate address for Apple. If you can't access the account, due to the security questions, it makes me question the validity of the email completely.

The validity of the email is NOT in question. I brought up the source view for the email and everything pointed to an Apple.com domain. After I reset my password and signed in, I saw that same device connected to my iCloud account. I also provided a screen shot of the email to Apple support. They didn't blink an eye.

There just comes a point that you need to provide additional verification to accomplish some actions (like deleting the account).
opnspaces
Navigator II
Jul 06, 2021
Since you have the password will it let you do an end run and change the security questions to new ones?
HappyKayakers
Explorer
Jul 09, 2021
Just a quick update to close the loop. I was finally able to get the answer to one of my security questions and the system let me in far enough to reset all my security questions. BTW, it would NOT allow me to use the same answer to all questions. I removed that unknown device that I originally got the email about and will probably just delete the account this weekend.

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