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laurenr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
937
31
California
So, I was at a local mall today, and somehow misplaced my iphone, (long story, stressed out, etc, so was careless:()

Arriving home about 2 hours later, I discovered it was missing and immediately fired up the "find my iPhone" app, after trying to call it. Whoever found it turned it off....obvious reason being they don't want it tracked.

I did the remote lock, left a message to call my Husband's cell phone if found. My question - if I perform a remote wipe, will any message I send still show on the device when it is turned on again? Should I even do the remote wipe? How exposed is my data, regardless of the lock code? Can a tech savvy thief mount it as an external device using an application like "iPhone explorer" on his PC or Mac? If he can, then would it even matter if the device is locked?

Aaaaaargh! I am beyond aggravated! I have pictures on there of great sentimental value, that I have not yet synced to my iPad or Mac, and no, I have always done the sync to my desktop, no backup in iCloud.

Any advice would be much appreciated!?:eek:
 

Ricky Smith

macrumors regular
Jan 28, 2006
222
1
Boston, MA
If you wipe it you loose any chance of tracking or putting that message up. But yes it's possible to pull the data even with it locked
 

laurenr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
937
31
California
If you wipe it you loose any chance of tracking or putting that message up. But yes it's possible to pull the data even with it locked

I have deleted any notes that contained important/secure data off my ipad, so the will be gone from iPhone. What concerns me is email. Can they access email when mounted as external drive with above application on a desktop?

I would also be concerned about pictures being plastered all over the http://WWW.:( there are no "naughty" ones thank goodness, but there are quite a few of me in bikinis etc.:( For this reason alone, should I consider a remote wipe? I am a very private person, hate my pics even being tagged on Facebook; (had an almost stalkerish experience last year that really creeped me out from pics on FB)
 

Dopeyman

macrumors 6502a
Sep 5, 2005
613
48
Los Angeles!
........ there are no "naughty" ones thank goodness, but there are quite a few of me in bikinis etc.:( For this reason alone, should I consider a remote wipe? I am a very private person, hate my pics even being tagged on Facebook; (had an almost stalkerish experience last year that really creeped me out from pics on FB)

You should post some of those that way we can be on the lookout to see if they get posted somewhere...
 

iceterminal

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2008
1,870
27
Dallas Tx.
Before you do the remote wipe, I would wait a little bit. Someone might turn it back on and you can get an email from Find my iPhone telling you such. Then you can either track them down like the filthy animals they are, or send a message to your phone asking for it back. If nothing, then do the wipe.

They might also have ejected the SIM (AT&T) already and will do a clean restore themselves to use the phone.
 

laurenr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
937
31
California
Before you do the remote wipe, I would wait a little bit. Someone might turn it back on and you can get an email from Find my iPhone telling you such. Then you can either track them down like the filthy animals they are, or send a message to your phone asking for it back. If nothing, then do the wipe.

They might also have ejected the SIM (AT&T) already and will do a clean restore themselves to use the phone.
Thanks for the advice. My iphone is the Verizon device, so there is no SIM. WHat concerns me is this pig switching it to Airplane mode, thus avoiding internet connection, then mounting it as an external drive.:(
 

iceterminal

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2008
1,870
27
Dallas Tx.
I'm not sure you can mount the iPhone 4/4s as an external drive by default. I'm no expert, but I know when I connect mine up to Windows or Mac, I can see it but not as a drive like device.
Again, I could be very wrong on this.
 

laurenr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
937
31
California
I'm not sure you can mount the iPhone 4/4s as an external drive by default. I'm no expert, but I know when I connect mine up to Windows or Mac, I can see it but not as a drive like device.
Again, I could be very wrong on this.
On my Mac, using the App iPhone explorer, I can mount my iphone to access pictures, etc.
 

iceterminal

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2008
1,870
27
Dallas Tx.
On my Mac, using the App iPhone explorer, I can mount my iphone to access pictures, etc.

Ah ok. I've recently gotten a Mac at home so figured it would work the same. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Since your phone is still missing, maybe its time to use your abilities to guilt your husband into give you his. Just tell him if you get to use his 4, then its a good excuse to get the next iphone when it comes out. :D
 

laurenr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
937
31
California
Ah ok. I've recently gotten a Mac at home so figured it would work the same. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Since your phone is still missing, maybe its time to use your abilities to guilt your husband into give you his. Just tell him if you get to use his 4, then its a good excuse to get the next iphone when it comes out. :D

Oh too funny! We absolutely are on the same wavelength! My new iphone is already on the way, and because of the nature of our Verizon contract, this will not prevent me from getting the latest one in October. Hubby is great, always wanting to rescue his li'l Damsel.:eek:

Problem is that I am still worried about that creep accessing my data.:(
 

laurenr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 9, 2008
937
31
California
i have a question on this issue:


if you do a remote wipe, will it remove the remote lock?

ie: will the person who found it be able to use it as new?

I am wondering about this too. My phone appeared online 2 hours ago, enabling me to do a remote wipe after receiving no response from message I sent. Will this jerk now be able to set up and use the phone?
 

PsstGreek

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2010
3,776
59
Tampa Bay
I am wondering about this too. My phone appeared online 2 hours ago, enabling me to do a remote wipe after receiving no response from message I sent. Will this jerk now be able to set up and use the phone?

If you call verizon and say you lost it, they'll blacklist it. Preventing it from being activated again.
 

sd-diver

macrumors newbie
Jul 24, 2002
7
1
Arriving home about 2 hours later, I discovered it was missing and immediately fired up the "find my iPhone" app, after trying to call it. Whoever found it turned it off....obvious reason being they don't want it tracked.

Lauren,
Same thing happened to my son's iPhone 4 recently - in our case the sim was removed. What worked for us was the "low-tech" approach. His was taken at our local community rec center. They have surveillance video. We made a police report (on-line) then used that to get the rec center to play back the video. Saw the theft occur - and oddly enough the perp was there. I confronted him - he denied it, until I mentioned his actions that I had just seen on video. Long story short - police were called and we got the phone back. It was being used as an expensive iPod touch… I'd check to see if there is surveillance video from this location.

Good luck!
 

iceterminal

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2008
1,870
27
Dallas Tx.
Oh too funny! We absolutely are on the same wavelength! My new iphone is already on the way, and because of the nature of our Verizon contract, this will not prevent me from getting the latest one in October. Hubby is great, always wanting to rescue his li'l Damsel.:eek:

Problem is that I am still worried about that creep accessing my data.:(

If you've lost it more than 3-5 days ago, i'd send the wipe to it.
My only wish for iOS6 or iPhone 5 is that if a unit is stolen or lost, we can either disable power to it entirely (if lost), or send a mass of electric shocks to anyone that tries to use it for their own (if stolen). But then again, I'm bitter about thieves.

My wife lost her iphone once. She couldn't even go an hour without having to use mine. lol
 
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