Woman's shock after A-list celebrity phone numbers including Adele and Nick Grimshaw's appear on her new iPhone
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A woman claims her brand new iPhone was full of contacts for celebs including Adele and Nick Grimshaw, after a suspected glitch saw the numbers appear on her device.
Sophie Highfield, 31, bought the new iPhone 5S from Three Mobile and for months didn’t notice any issues.
But one day when she typed in ‘M’ for mum, phone numbers for four other ‘mums’ she didn't recognise appeared on her screen.
Confused, she began typing other letters - and says she discovered contact details for Radio 1 DJs, TV icons and Olympic athletes - and even singer Adele .
Other contacts include gold medal-winning long jumper Greg Rutherford, comedian David Walliams, fashion guru Gok Wan and Spice Girl Emma Bunton.
(Photo: REX)
The late actress Lynda Bellingham, Busted's Matt Willis, Loose Women's Denise Welch and Nick Lyndhurst - Rodney from Only Fools and Horses - are also listed.
Others big names include Radio 1 DJs Greg James and Nick Grimshaw - listed as Greg 'The Legend' James and Grimmy - as well as producers and other TV figures.
After a month-long investigation - involving hours of work for Sophie - Apple have failed to explain how the problem happened.
Sophie, of Erdington, Birmingham said: "The phone was supposed to be brand new and completely untouched.
"I've got no idea how it has happened. I seem to have access to literally hundreds of people's numbers.
"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.
"There are loads of celebrities - Emma Bunton, Denise Welch, Gok Wan
"There are also lots of producers. I feel like it might have belonged to someone from the BBC or the TV industry."
As well as celebs, Sophie's mobile contains numbers for a host of random strangers - including 'Brandon from Subway' and 'Sophie Babysitter'.
(Photo: ITV)
'Kieran Window Cleaner', 'Christine in the club','Mark pest control' 'Suzie next door' and 'Kev the Ledge' are also in the iPhone's memory.
Other entries appear to be for BBC staff members and others in the TV industry, including various people from the Loose Women and Britain's Got More Talent teams.
While some numbers start with +44 and are from the UK, others begin with +1, meaning they are from the US.
"It is quite annoying having them all there," Sophie added.
"I actually have no idea how many numbers there are. There must be hundreds.
"I feel like it is a data breach. I've not been entirely sure what to do. It's kind of a big thing.
"I haven't purchased these numbers, they've just fallen into my hands."
Sophie, who bought the phone in June 2014, said there's no way she added all those people and believes she has the data of multiple other iPhone users on her mobile.
(Photo: Getty)
She said she didn't notice the problem at first as she mostly uses Facebook to talk to friends and family, and at first she didn't pay much attention.
But recently she considered buying a new phone and decided to share her story, because she wants to keep her number but doesn't want all the contacts.
Three said the mix-up was not down to them, as the phone was brand new when Sophie bought it, and experts believe it's down to an iCloud glitch.
Vladimir Katalov, CEO of software company ElcomSoft, whose headquarters are in Moscow, said: "This is the first case I have heard about.
"The device was new and not refurbished so there was no previous owner, and that device wasn't connected to any other accounts before.
"It must be a problem with Apple iCloud."
He added: "Apple must take it seriously.
"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."
Cyber security consultant Morgan Kemp, of UK tech company Assuria, added: "I would expect that it's something to do with iCloud.
He added that if the iPhone is a refurbished phone - and not brand new like Sophie was told it was when she bought it - the previous owner's numbers could still be on the device.
"A reset should solve the issue but clearly if it is not, that means there is some sort of automatic syncing," he added.
"This indicates some sort of link up that shouldn't be there."
Three said the device was sold brand new and that is "no way" there could have been any data stored on it, adding that it is a software issue.
A spokesman said: "A new device was supplied to the customer at point of sale with no data stored on it."
Apple carried out a month-long investigation into the issue but declined to comment on what caused it.
They advised that the issue can happen with secondhand phones that haven't been properly wiped.