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macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
Hello.
Unfortunately, my iphone got stolen this week. I had location services turned off to save battery so i can't track it (mistake i won't make ever again on a phone with such services). The theifs turned off the phone and so from i cloud i turned on the option to "erase iphone" but that only take effect when they connect it to the internet.

But right now im wondering if its not a mistake to activate the "erase iphone" option because it will delete my accounts also, right? So there is then no change the phone will show up on icloud in case they just connect it to the internet or turn on the location services (i know, im probably dreaming on this one)?
What do you guys think i should do? Should i remove the "erase my iphone" order or just leave it? I already locked it with the networks so its not really usable with a card, but my content is probably still be there and I really wanted to remove it.

Thanks in advance
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
Your phone won't come back on - they'll have plugged it into iTunes, restored it, and probably sold it by now.
 

Baggio

macrumors 6502
Oct 18, 2012
442
1
If it is an AT&T, Verizon or Sprint iPhone, report it to your carrier so they can blacklist the IMEI or ESN number of the phone.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
I dont get it, you want to turn off erase my iPhone, and yet you don't want the thief to access your information. The phone is 99 percent gone forever so your best bet is to erase it.
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
Your phone won't come back on - they'll have plugged it into iTunes, restored it, and probably sold it by now.

I was hopping (and still am) that the person that has it doesn't have much knowlage of how they work and ways around it.

@Baggio,i already have the phone locked with all the carriers

@MetalGearTW, thanks. I really hope so, but its difficult because i can't track it and each day goes i lose hope a little bit. Pretty much my only hope is that the phone shows up on lost and found or in some store nearby, which i also doubt it will happen.

----------

I dont get it, you want to turn off erase my iPhone, and yet you don't want the thief to access your information. The phone is 99 percent gone forever so your best bet is to erase it.

I wanted to turn it off in hopes that i would be able to track it, maybe if the if the person that has it was playing around with the options would turn the location on and that way i would be able to track it. I know im probably dreaming to much, but im just trying to figure out a way that would give me more chances to get the phone back.
But I don't want them to have access to my info, so i guess that i shouldn't turn off the option to erase the phone then :/
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
Already changed the passwords but not the one from icloud mail because im afraid if i change it then the icloud services (erase iphone) that i have selected now won't work because the phone won't have the new password. I don't use that mail adress anyway, its just for itunes.
 

abz1981

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2011
1,013
4
Hello.
Unfortunately, my iphone got stolen this week. I had location services turned off to save battery so i can't track it (mistake i won't make ever again on a phone with such services). The theifs turned off the phone and so from i cloud i turned on the option to "erase iphone" but that only take effect when they connect it to the internet.

But right now im wondering if its not a mistake to activate the "erase iphone" option because it will delete my accounts also, right? So there is then no change the phone will show up on icloud in case they just connect it to the internet or turn on the location services (i know, im probably dreaming on this one)?
What do you guys think i should do? Should i remove the "erase my iphone" order or just leave it? I already locked it with the networks so its not really usable with a card, but my content is probably still be there and I really wanted to remove it.

Thanks in advance

that sucks man. did you have insurance for your iphone?
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
that sucks man. did you have insurance for your iphone?

I didn't had insurance on it :( They are so expensive and the price i had would pay for insurance so far would probably be more than a new phone but it would be very useful to have now, i admit that.
Im hoping the thief didn't made a restore yet and im hopping the person that found isn't familiar with iphones, itunes and everything.
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
Make sure you tell your carrier that it's been stolen so they can blacklist the phone.

I already did. They also advice me to the same with other carriers, so its blocked to all.

I was just wondering if i should cancel the "erase my iphone" from icloud. Does anyone know if that really erases everything, even the icloud account? Because if it does it reduces the chances of the phone ever get online with location services, but i don't want the thief to have all the pics, contacts, texts,etc, so im not completly sure on what to do.

Also, it has been some days since the phone has been stolen and its still offline on my icloud, so the thief probably restored it.

I really don't wish this to anyone :( and to think i even used to have the app that took the picture of the thief but with all the upgrades and downgrades with the new iOS versions and jailbreaks i ended up not installing it. I really recommend everybody to install it.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
I already did. They also advice me to the same with other carriers, so its blocked to all.

I was just wondering if i should cancel the "erase my iphone" from icloud. Does anyone know if that really erases everything, even the icloud account? Because if it does it reduces the chances of the phone ever get online with location services, but i don't want the thief to have all the pics, contacts, texts,etc, so im not completly sure on what to do.

Also, it has been some days since the phone has been stolen and its still offline on my icloud, so the thief probably restored it.

I really don't wish this to anyone :( and to think i even used to have the app that took the picture of the thief but with all the upgrades and downgrades with the new iOS versions and jailbreaks i ended up not installing it. I really recommend everybody to install it.

If the thief knows what he is doing (seems so) nothing you do will matter. He will restore and all your information will be wiped. Its always good to get insurance for the first 6 months.
 

Commy1

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2013
728
73
Sorry to hear that mate, I know it only takes 1 mistake, I guard my tech like a mother hen, I hope I never have to go through that.
IMO Erase it, and change your passwords and be careful. :(
 

di1in

macrumors regular
Feb 27, 2011
244
21
Hello.
Unfortunately, my iphone got stolen this week. I had location services turned off to save battery so i can't track it (mistake i won't make ever again on a phone with such services). The theifs turned off the phone and so from i cloud i turned on the option to "erase iphone" but that only take effect when they connect it to the internet.

But right now im wondering if its not a mistake to activate the "erase iphone" option because it will delete my accounts also, right? So there is then no change the phone will show up on icloud in case they just connect it to the internet or turn on the location services (i know, im probably dreaming on this one)?
What do you guys think i should do? Should i remove the "erase my iphone" order or just leave it? I already locked it with the networks so its not really usable with a card, but my content is probably still be there and I really wanted to remove it.

Thanks in advance

Exact same thing happened to me last week. Cancel remote wipe unless you have sensitive data.
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
If the thief knows what he is doing (seems so) nothing you do will matter. He will restore and all your information will be wiped. Its always good to get insurance for the first 6 months.

Sorry to hear that mate, I know it only takes 1 mistake, I guard my tech like a mother hen, I hope I never have to go through that.
IMO Erase it, and change your passwords and be careful. :(

It really sucks and i recommend everybody now to use tracking/security apps/services.
I haven't canceled the remote wipe yet, only changed the passwords on the email accounts i use because the icloud one is just for that, i don't really get mail there. I do have a feeling that the thief already wiped the phone, i think it has been to long for he/she/them/whatever not connecting the phone to wifi at least.


Exact same thing happened to me last week. Cancel remote wipe unless you have sensitive data.


I only wanted to do the wipe more because of the photos because i do have photos of mine and other people there and also the contacts, which why i did the remote wipe right way even though its still pending.

Also, there is no option to cancel "remote wipe", I only have the option to remove the phone from my icloud/location list and it says that if i remove it offline it will show up again once online but i don't know if this cancels the remote wipe.
 
Last edited:

pnoyblazed

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2008
986
403
I didn't had insurance on it :( They are so expensive and the price i had would pay for insurance so far would probably be more than a new phone but it would be very useful to have now, i admit that.
Im hoping the thief didn't made a restore yet and im hopping the person that found isn't familiar with iphones, itunes and everything.

i assume you purchased it with a credit card.. I know American Express has loss/theft insurance on it by default
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
i assume you purchased it with a credit card.. I know American Express has loss/theft insurance on it by default

I didn't use credit card,so i have no kind of insurance like that :(

How on earth did you get your phone stolen?

Is this a serious question?

This kind of things happen unfortunately and sometimes its just a simple mistake or you overlook for one second and a phone,wallet,whatever can be gone. In my case it was an accident and mistake, because i put the phone on my jacket after parking and it slipped out of my pocket when i was walking home, that was just a small distance of like 5 feet from where i had the car but its a busy street, so it didn't last outside for to long.
Its not like i placed it outside with flags and lights so it was visible enough for someone to take lol

And no, i didn't heard it or seen it fall on the ground because there was a lot of noise when it happened.

so sorry to hear that, hope you can find back your cellphone, good luck!

Thanks.
I would really like to find it but to be honest im not that confident anymore :(

if they wanted to play with the phone and didn't know what they were doing they would have left it switched on

They did leave it switch on for at least half an hour because that was the time it took for me to realise it was gone. Then i started calling to see if i could hear the phone and find it and they turned off my call and then the phone or at least removed my sim card.
 

macnewbbie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2006
159
0
Yes it is. My phone is always in my pocket. I'm honestly curious how cell phones get stolen these days outside of sheer carelessness or getting mugged.

Mine is also usually in my pocket or in my hands when im using it and im usually careful about that, i never lost a phone or had one stolen before ( misplacing the phone around the house doesn't really count) and i usually have it in pants pockets, but since i was getting out of the car it was easier to put it in the jacket pocket, that unfortunately, was to small and the phone ended up sliding from it.
At the end of the day i think it was more bad luck than anything because it was not like i just left the phone somewhere public, i guess it just wasn't my day ( or week)
 
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