How is this OK?

Without using Two Factor Authentication, the account can be easily taken over and why Apple has recommended for the last 11 years that users with an old account should turn on 2FA. It is not even possible to create an account now without having 2FA. The use of those Security Questions are the problem where they can be easily guessed through Social Engineering nowadays, the typical question of Mothers Maiden name and place of birth are readily available. The owner of the account is the one that can access it through those Security Questions where they can also change them.

Having access to the email address is pointless for determining ownership, if that was the case then a compromised email account would mean a compromised Apple Account.

Since you are not an Apple user, block the emails or ignore them. There is nothing on that account that would have any valuable information, since you never did turn on 2FA. If you had turned on 2FA, as recommended, within the last 11 years, you would not be experiencing this or any account created in the last several years would not even have Security Questions that could be guessed.

The demos are wiped and sent back after that model is no longer sold.

Okay, then it still applies you should never have logged into a display model with your personal account.

Someone compromised the account and put the security questions in a different language.

Then someone outside of anyone we've been discussing compromised your account and locked you out of it by changing the passwords; a security step Apple has been telling people to stop using for quite a while now. We're supposed to be using the much more secure two factor authentication.

Apple provides this page:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102560

If none of that helps, then there's little that can be done. As stated earlier, Apple doesn't know what the new security answers are either, and cannot access them.

You state, a device. So is this a phone your company provided for you to use for business purposes?

If so, you weren't compromised. The phone didn't belong to you to begin with. The only real mistake would have been logging into a company phone with your personal Apple account.

The company, not surprisingly, changed the password to keep you (and anyone else) out of an account where it may have private company information.

Apple can't help since they also have no way of knowing what the new password is. Privacy is the key here, which Apple has very strong rules about. Accounts on their servers is encrypted, so not even the CEO can look into anyone's personal data.

If you had your own purchased apps and/or music in your account, it is now lost to you. You could contact the company and see if they'd give you the new password so you can get back into your account. This shouldn't be a big issue. They could go through the iCloud data and remove anything that is company information, then log the company phone out of the account before giving you the password so you can't change the password to something they won't know and end up with a locked phone.

UpsetUser2000 wrote:

This wasn't a personal demo device, it was on the sales floor. It was supposed to be logged out but because of this morning, I guess it never was. I still work for the same company which is why I still have access to the email. The demos are wiped and sent back after that model is no longer sold.

Real Apple demo phones come directly from Apple, already set up. They don't require anyone to log in. In fact, you can't put anything personal on them.

They aren't a former employer. They didn't reset the answers. Someone compromised the account and put the security questions in a different language. There is no one to contact regarding this except for Apple.

If you still work for the same employer, this is really their problem to resolve. They may need to give you a new email account. But, by definition, a work email account belongs to your employer, not you.

So, you still use that email account? And it was your username for a work-related Apple Account?

No, Apple can’t help you with this. But your former employer might be able to.

Okay. But demo devices aren't supposed to be sold. From what I can gather, you were allowed to use it as an employee, but no longer work there? I would guess yes, and why you later had to relinquish the phone

Lots of guessing here as we don't have a good description from you on the details.

It still all comes back to your (former?) employer. They need to tell you what the security question answers are so you can retrieve your account. Or, since it sounds like there's nothing in the account that's important to you, see if you can at least convince them to delete the account so you stop getting the messages.

This wasn't a personal demo device, it was on the sales floor. It was supposed to be logged out but because of this morning, I guess it never was. I still work for the same company which is why I still have access to the email. The demos are wiped and sent back after that model is no longer sold.

They aren't a former employer. They didn't reset the answers. Someone compromised the account and put the security questions in a different language. There is no one to contact regarding this except for Apple.

My company isn't locking me out. This was a demo device that was wiped and sent back at least 3 years ago. I still have access to the email so I was able to reset the password but I can't change the security questions. They're in a different language. I'm even fine with them deleting the account but I can't even do that.

Yeah, that's what I keep saying. It was not someone in this company. I was instructed to do this by my manager YEARS ago, probably before the two-factor security was established. I'm not an Apple user for this very reason.

I was instructed to do this by my manager YEARS ago, probably before the two-factor security was established.

Doesn't change the fact that you used a password or security answer that was too easy to guess, or, as one of reasons security questions were abandoned, the answers could often be discovered simply by doing an internet search on a person's name. Like, What city were you born in?, What was your mother's maiden name?, etc.

When that was the only security test to use, I didn't use real answers. For things like, What city were you born in?, my answer was something like Narnia. Did a crook no good to look up the factual answer.

I'm not an Apple user for this very reason.

And do you believe Android users don't have the same problem?

Much as your fellow users would like to try and help, there's no way to get past the brick wall of the security answers having been changed. There's nothing we can do about it, and neither can Apple.