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'It's Jason. I'm behind you': The simple iPhone feature woman blames for 'stalker' incident

A mother has revealed her terrifying ordeal after she was pursued along a highway by a mystery motorist believed to have hacked her iPhone.

Becca Blackman Wilcox, 45, feared for her life when she was tailgated by a maroon Ford Explorer after a routine stop at a petrol station in San Angelo, Texas, US, on February 24.

“I’ve never felt so vulnerable,” Ms Wilcox told San Angelo Standard Times.

She called the police immediately, believing the driver inches from her bumper was intoxicated.

Becca Blackman Wilcox endured a terrifying ordeal at the hands of a mystery stalker. Source: Getty, file.
Becca Blackman Wilcox endured a terrifying ordeal at the hands of a mystery stalker. Source: Getty, file.

Her 50km drive between Eden and Brady along a deserted highway at around 7.45pm then took another frightening turn when she received a phone call from an unknown number.

“I answered. … the voice on the other end was real crackly. (He) said, ‘Becca? It’s Jason. I’m behind you. Pull over,'" she revealed.

At this point she contacted her daughters and asked them to track her phone and guide her to the nearest police station.

As she turned off the highway, the Explorer disappeared in the opposite direction, bringing her harrowing ordeal to an end.

She drove to Brady police station, where officers suggested her phone may have been compromised by the mystery driver.

“I keep my phone in my back pocket always. I just never, ever would’ve realised that I had an open window in my pocket that anybody could see into," she said.

Experts believe her phone may have been hacked via Apple's AirDrop. Source: Getty
Experts believe her phone may have been hacked via Apple's AirDrop. Source: Getty

Since the incident, her phone records show she has been making calls she never made while two Facebook accounts of her family members have been hacked.

She tried calling the Jason's number but was put through to a publisher's clearing house in Jamaica.

Paul Bischoff, a privacy advocate at Comparitech.com, a security and privacy advice and comparison website, told San Angelo Standard Times despite taking "US style military levels of decryption power" a phone's mobile number can be found in a code available via Apple file sharing software AirDrop.

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“One possibility might have been that Wilcox and the man who accessed her phone had at one point exchanged contacts,” he said.

Mr Bischoff says that may have taken place at the petrol station via Bluetooth. Ms Wilcox confirmed her AirDrop had been left on, leaving her phone vulnerable and her phone number and email address at risk.

Users of iPhones can check their phone’s AirDrop status in Settings, then General, and finally AirDrop.

Users can select their AirDrop to be turned off, available to contacts only or be made public.