Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How To DISABLE a Stolen iPhone...

SFStateStudent

SFStateStudent

macrumors 604
Original poster
Aug 28, 2007
7,496
3
San Francisco California, USA
To check your Mobile Phone's IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), key in the following digits on your phone: *#06# and the IMEI 15-digit code will appear on the screen or check it in Settings/About/IMEI or it is imprinted on the back of your iPhone. This IMEI number is unique to your iPhone. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.

If your iPhone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the the thief changes the SIM Card, your iPhone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your iPhone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody did this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones. The above listed information was printed in the Contra Costa Market Place, February 2008, (pg. 50-51).

I've spoken with AT&T to verify this procedure and they've confirmed that they can disable the iPhone as well as the phone number, until you get a replacement phone. :cool:
 
Drumjim85

Drumjim85

macrumors 68030
Oct 7, 2007
2,603
229
DFW, TX
overanalyzer said:
This doesn't deal with disabling access to the data on the iPhone at the time of theft, though, just using the phone for network services. Right?
Click to expand...

right ... but they could still get all your personal data (phone contacts, emails....) and it would still be one badass ipod touch ...
 
SFStateStudent

SFStateStudent

macrumors 604
Original poster
Aug 28, 2007
7,496
3
San Francisco California, USA
That's correct...

overanalyzer said:
This doesn't deal with disabling access to the data on the iPhone at the time of theft, though, just using the phone for network services. Right?
Click to expand...

but it's good to see that the thieves can't use the phone beyond the point when AT&T disables it. The last phone that I had stolen in Chicago, was being used by some THUG who demanded a $100 reward and refused to meet me in a public place, so by the time we shut the phone down via disabling the SIM card, the thief was able to put another SIM card in an continue using or even selling my phone! :cool:
 
Mindflux

Mindflux

macrumors 68000
Oct 20, 2007
1,987
1
Austin
What good is it if the provider blocks it? Unlock the phone and switch to another provider. Poof, fixed.
 
C

cdavi060

macrumors regular
Oct 3, 2007
106
0
way to help the guy....

...maybe just maybe he cant jailbreak and will feel dumb when the phone doesnt work...
 
kuebby

kuebby

macrumors 68000
Jan 18, 2007
1,582
13
MD
Mindflux said:
What good is it if the provider blocks it? Unlock the phone and switch to another provider. Poof, fixed.
Click to expand...

No, it's the same on any carrier so it should still be blocked, something like a computer's MAC address.
 
one1

one1

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2007
1,168
28
Chattanooga, TN
If someone steals my phone I am going to open terminal and SSH them a little message :D

I'll show you disabling a stolen phone..... give me Cyberduck and 30 seconds. :D
 
K

kevd00d

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2008
62
0
one1 said:
If someone steals my phone I am going to open terminal and SSH them a little message :D

I'll show you disabling a stolen phone..... give me Cyberduck and 30 seconds. :D
Click to expand...

hahaha...nice. I'm on a PC so Filezilla will help me blow smoke
 
Mindflux

Mindflux

macrumors 68000
Oct 20, 2007
1,987
1
Austin
one1 said:
If someone steals my phone I am going to open terminal and SSH them a little message :D

I'll show you disabling a stolen phone..... give me Cyberduck and 30 seconds. :D
Click to expand...


Good luck sshing into an unreachable IP. Unless they stole it and stood in your doorway and you happened to have noticed and had the current IP the iPhone was on how prey tell are you going to do that?
 
T

ThomasShaped

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2007
130
0
Glasgow
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A93 Safari/419.3)

If you had one of those 3G modem things then you could share your airport and since the iPhone auto connects you can then check out the ip of connected devices and boom.
 
R

rohitbaba

macrumors newbie
Nov 29, 2007
7
0
Help with connecting Iphone 1.1.3 to Leopard OSX

Hi

I have issue with My Leopard OSX connecting to iphone on SSH.

I have tried
FUGU
Cyberduck
Filezilla

But no luck.

However my PC does connect via Winscp so i can only assume it problem with Leopard OSX.

please let me know of any update. Email dhaval.natu@gmail.com

Thanks
 
one1

one1

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2007
1,168
28
Chattanooga, TN
Mindflux said:
Good luck sshing into an unreachable IP. Unless they stole it and stood in your doorway and you happened to have noticed and had the current IP the iPhone was on how prey tell are you going to do that?
Click to expand...

I'm not chasing it, it's chasing ME. Wonderful little way the software works out when you VNSea to your MacBook and use boss tools to set SSH to always on. Always connected. Always looking to hit THIS IP addy the MacBook is on.
 
J

JonJParr

macrumors newbie
Nov 1, 2007
26
0
Another way...

Failing the above methods you could always jailbreak it and then apply an Apple software update. That method is generally quite good at disabling an iPhone (stolen or otherwise).
 
Buran

Buran

macrumors 6502
Oct 22, 2007
429
260
Also lock your SIM so that the thief can't transplant it into a different phone, make sure you have a password on your voice mail, and set your phone to lock after a few minutes. If it gets grabbed out of your pocket they can't call anything other than 911, if they reset it the SIM is locked, and if they move it to another phone the SIM remains locked (the lock is on the card, not the phone). They also can't get into the voicemail from any other phone if there's a password lock on that.

I believe the default lock code on AT&T SIMs is 1111 (check with them to be sure, and this varies -- I know T-Mobile's is different but not what it is) and I don't think the lock is enabled by default. Change the code to something you know and that won't be guessable by a stranger within the limited number of unlock tries you get, and enable the lock. You'll have to unlock the SIM when you turn the phone on (i.e. after a hard reset) but it's easy and only takes a moment, and normal sleep won't cause your SIM to power down.
 
carfac

carfac

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2006
1,241
29
Nice idea.... but does not work in the real world. It will stop a teenager or casual "finder" of an iPhone.

But to a REAL iPhone thief, changing an IMEI is as easy as jailbreaking a phone. The phone's original IMEI is blocked by ATT (and, as one poster pointed out, most other phone networks)... but once changed, there is no way for ATT to track it.

And I love the idea of SSh'ing into your stolen iPhone. Rich!
 
SFStateStudent

SFStateStudent

macrumors 604
Original poster
Aug 28, 2007
7,496
3
San Francisco California, USA
I agree with you carfac...

carfac said:
Nice idea.... but does not work in the real world. It will stop a teenager or casual "finder" of an iPhone.

But to a REAL iPhone thief, changing an IMEI is as easy as jailbreaking a phone. The phone's original IMEI is blocked by ATT (and, as one poster pointed out, most other phone networks)... but once changed, there is no way for ATT to track it.

And I love the idea of SSh'ing into your stolen iPhone. Rich!
Click to expand...

though I hate the idea of changing the IMEI, it can be done, like you stated. :cool:
 
H

Hustle

macrumors 6502a
Jul 29, 2007
791
104
USA
Yes it will stop the average joe from selling the mobile, however people with more tech knowledge know that the IME number can be changed and also the phone can be shipped out of the UK where it wont be blacklisted anymore...

Though this is illegal so we wont go into it. :)
 
carfac

carfac

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2006
1,241
29
Hustle said:
...the phone can be shipped out of the UK where it wont be blacklisted anymore.... :)
Click to expand...

OK, I am NOT 100% sure on this, but it is my understanding that this is one area that carriers DO cooperate. I understand that there is a cenbtral "clearinghouse" of stolen IMEI numbers that all carriers access. So, even if the IMEI is marked in the UK, it SHOULD be recognized and denied in the US.

YMMV.
 
G

G&O

macrumors newbie
Jul 19, 2008
2
0
As always, I'm reading this a couple days too late...

My wife's iPhone was stolen on Thursday and I don't believe we have her IMEI number recorded any where. Is there a way to get it AFTER the phone is stolen? Does Apple have it? Is it recorded anywhere on iTunes? (She's on a PC.)

Regarding the "iRedHanded" post:
There is another app called loopt that that does similar things for different reasons. I installed loopt but, of course, my wife didn't - if she had, we'd know the location of the phone. To register, loopt requires a verification code that they send via SMS. Once the phone is stolen that does no good either...

Mostly, I'm bummed at the timing. We weren't so interested in the G3 and now it looks like we'll replace hers and pay AT&T another $15 for their G3 service plan...
 
Nicolecat

Nicolecat

macrumors 6502a
Apr 2, 2008
968
7
I don't know...leaving it on for a few days, to collect phone numbers.

Then signing them up for gay porn would be really fun! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom