r/Scams – Mom Victim of Remote Access Scam

Hello, my elderly mother was the victim of a remote access scam on her IMac computer (computer is about 6-7 years old). She allowed the scammers to remote access in: they had her log into her bank account, to some email accounts, and was “scanning” the computer for about 6 hours. When I found out (6 hours later) pulled the computer from her wall.

I’ve taken all of the necessary steps with changing passwords, dealing with her banks/freezing her accounts and opening up new accounts, freezing her credit, opening up new credit cards, contacting the police, (even the FBI), contacting the FTC and generally followed all of the advice you can find on Reddit and elsewhere if someone falls victim to such an attack. Luckily, no money was transferred from her bank and my mother is no worse for the west (aside from the stress of dealing with all of this).

This all happened about a month ago, and now we’re at the step where I want to buy her a new Imac (I am going to throw out the old machine). My question and concern is if she logs into a brand new iMac with her old Apple ID (from the iCloud), is it possible for them to have put some Trojan on her iCloud that could then transfer to her new computer?

Is there anything else (computer wise) that I am not thinking of? She has a lot of pictures and memories on her iCloud account, so deleting it and starting a new Apple ID isn’t a great option.

Thanks for all your help in advance!

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