An Apple fan says they lost '20 years of digital life' after using an Apple gift card here's what happened

Date:
Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:27:01 +0000

Description:
A developers Apple Account got banned after they used a compromised gift
card, locking away their digital life.

FULL STORY ======================================================================A developer says he's been permanently locked out of his Apple Account This happened after he purchased a compromised Apple gift card It leaves 20 years of digital life out of reach, as Apple seemingly cant help

An Apple fan who has spent nearly 30 years as a loyal customer says theyve been permanently locked out of their Apple Account due to what might be the overzealous actions of Apples automated anti-fraud system. Its left them locked out of 20 years of digital life, and it all started with the seemingly straightforward purchase of an Apple gift card.

According to a blog post from developer Paris Buttfield-Addison, their entire Apple Account has been barred, locking them out of their entire purchase history, stored photos, and more. This apparently happened with no
explanation and no recourse, putting terabytes of family photos and their entire message history out of reach, as well as preventing the ability to
sync work across devices.

It apparently all started when Buttfield-Addison tried to redeem a $500 Apple gift card in order to pay for their 6TB iCloud+ subscription . The card was purchased from a major brick-and-mortar retailer, but its code did not seem
to work. The vendor suggested that it might be compromised and issued a new card, but that didnt stop Buttfield-Addisons account from being locked by Apple.

As a result of this, Buttfield-Addison says his devices cannot sync, update, or function properly, while software and media totaling thousands of dollars in value are now inaccessible to him. The outcome, the author says, is over $30,000 worth of previously active bricked hardware.

We've asked Apple for comment on this case and also its official guidance for anyone in a similar situation, and will update this story if we hear back. Terrifyingly dismissive (Image credit: Konstantin Savusia via Shutterstock)

Unfortunately, Buttfield-Addison says that Apple has been either unwilling or unable to help him. Most of the ways Apple has suggested seeking help from them involve signing in to an Apple service to upload something, or communicate with them, Buttfield-Addison says. This doesnt work as the
account is locked.

Apple Support was also apparently terrifyingly dismissive, the blog post states, with staff refusing to tell Buttfield-Addison why his account was banned and seemingly obstructing his request to have the case escalated.

One Apple Support staff member suggested that Buttfield-Addison should create a new Apple Account and add their payment information to that. The problem, though, is that this would mean giving up on the thousands of dollars of purchases associated with the locked account. Buttfield-Addison was also concerned that this could earn Apples wrath if it decided that he was attempting to evade or circumvent his account ban.

In the end, Buttfield-Addison has publicly asked for a human at Apple to review his case, as he suspects that the compromised gift card triggered an automated fraud warning, which then initiated a high-level ban that Apples support staff seemingly cannot undo.

The situation has been covered by several prominent Apple blogs and websites, and Buttfield-Addison has issued an update stating that Someone from
Executive Relations at Apple says theyre looking into it. So far, though, it seems that the case remains unresolved.

Its a stark reminder that it can be risky to put all your eggs in one basket. While Buttfield-Addison seemingly did nothing untoward to invoke the ban, the result is that a huge swath of their digital life is now inaccessible.

If you store your photos and files in a single place, its a good idea to back them up to multiple locations to protect against something going wrong. But with how integrated devices are these days, its hard to avoid having all your apps, purchases and media within a single ecosystem. In cases like that, theres not a lot you can do.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/computing-security/an-apple-fan-says-they- lost-20-years-of-digital-life-after-using-an-apple-gift-card-heres-what-happen ed


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