How Are Cellphone Thieves Obtaining Your Passcode?

Reyhan Ayas says she was standing outside a bar when a thief snatched her iPhone. She says she lost access to all her photos because the thief locked her out of her Apple accounts. Although the pictures are in Apple's iCloud, she says for security and privacy reasons Apple will not restore her access. Apple says they "sympathize" with customers who've had this experience and take the incidents seriously. They also say they work hard to protect users' accounts and are always investigating additional protections against new threats. For privacy reasons, Apple also says they do not accept passports or driver's licenses to confirm ownership of an account.