Is "Find My iPhone" function safe?

518 iPhones are remotely locked by a man from Zhejiang Province for the purpose of extorting money.[Photo: cztv.com]

A man from Zhejiang Province has been sentenced to 9 years in prison after he remotely locked 518 iPhones within three months, extorting a total of 228,807 yuan (USD 33,170), reports dahe.cn.

In September, 2016, a woman surnamed Yang found her iPhone wasn't unlocking, and could only see a message with a line presenting a QQ number, an instant messaging service. 

Yang was asked to pay 400 yuan to unlock her iPhone after she contacted the number. She refused to pay and contacted authorities.

Yang is among over 500 victims of the scam.

"Find My iPhone" function on iPhones.[Photo: feng.com]

During the trial, the courts heard the suspect would also target other women, asking them to pay between 300 to 1,200 yuan to unlock their iPhones.

The remote lock on an iPhone is meant to act as a protection for the users in case their phone is lost or stolen.

However, it can be remotely hacked if someone can hack your AppleID, reports dahe.cn.