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pandaswag

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2013
1
0
my Iphone was stolen out of my bag at the pool a few days ago. just today the person that took the phone turned it on and the find my iphone app told me where it was i got an adress to an apartment complex. i filed a police report and gave them the address. will the police actualy do anything or am i kind of on my own
also i just called the phone and it rang before it went to voicemail but find my iphone says it is offline. also i have a passowrd on my phone and it is on lost mode
 
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Ann P

macrumors 68020
Jun 29, 2009
2,311
9
California
Let's wait and see? In the mean time, make sure you have some proof of ownership; serial numbers, original box, receipt, etc.,.
 

madsci954

macrumors 68030
Oct 14, 2011
2,725
658
Ohio
Report it to your carrier so the phone will be blacklisted so it can't be used again. And hope the thief hasn't wiped and sold the phone at this point. I think you'll be SoL at that point, even with police working on it.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
my Iphone was stolen out of my bag at the pool a few days ago. just today the person that took the phone turned it on and the find my iphone app told me where it was i got an adress to an apartment complex. i filed a police report and gave them the address. will the police actualy do anything or am i kind of on my own
also i just called the phone and it rang before it went to voicemail but find my iphone says it is offline. also i have a passowrd on my phone and it is on lost mode

Apartment complex is very vague as it can't be pinpointed to the exact one. If it was a stand alone house then that would have been better. Seems you are out of luck. At this point just remotely wipe the phone.
 

davideotape

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2012
530
144
Lost mine last night. Just got a new phone and activated it... Deactivating my old one. Did i screw up w/this find my phone stuff?
 

bluehawaii1

macrumors newbie
Mar 18, 2013
5
0
6557N
My Daughter Lost her Iphone 4s

My daughter lost her Iphone 4s, I have put a restriction on the account, so they can't run up the minutes. Does it make it more difficult for the phone to be re-activated by the finder if I leave it tied to the active phone line? And it may give me the opportunity to trace it sooner or later?
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
My daughter lost her Iphone 4s, I have put a restriction on the account, so they can't run up the minutes. Does it make it more difficult for the phone to be re-activated by the finder if I leave it tied to the active phone line? And it may give me the opportunity to trace it sooner or later?

Doesn't really make a difference. At this point, you should probably call the carrier and have it blacklisted so that at least the IMEI will be flagged if they try to activate it. If it's blacklisted, the rep MIGHT have the presence of mind to confiscate the phone and call you, but while the rep told us that when my wife's iPhone 5 was stolen, I've never actually heard of it happening.
 

Myiphone7

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2010
848
0
my Iphone was stolen out of my bag at the pool a few days ago. just today the person that took the phone turned it on and the find my iphone app told me where it was i got an adress to an apartment complex. i filed a police report and gave them the address. will the police actualy do anything or am i kind of on my own
also i just called the phone and it rang before it went to voicemail but find my iphone says it is offline. also i have a passowrd on my phone and it is on lost mode

I would go over the the complex and bust every door down till u find the butt whole that stole your iPhone.

Then I'd abuse him.

I can't believe you haven't gone over there. By the time the cops do anything it'll be gone.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
I can't believe you haven't gone over there. By the time the cops do anything it'll be gone.

Um, probably because a lot of butt-holes that would steal someone's phone would also have little to no qualms about shooting or stabbing the victim if they go up to confront them without a police presence?

Do not go and confront this butt-hole by yourself, OP. Call the police and tell them you've tracked the thief down but need their help.

Also, next time do the jailbreak and install iCaughtya. It will actually take a picture of the thief using the front-facing camera and will email you their GPS coordinates if they try turning it on.
 

matttye

macrumors 601
Mar 25, 2009
4,957
32
Lincoln, England
Report it to your carrier so the phone will be blacklisted so it can't be used again. And hope the thief hasn't wiped and sold the phone at this point. I think you'll be SoL at that point, even with police working on it.

Probably not the best idea until he's had a go at finding it is it? If the carrier blacklists it now, how is the iPhone supposed to report its' location?
 

Myiphone7

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2010
848
0
Um, probably because a lot of butt-holes that would steal someone's phone would also have little to no qualms about shooting or stabbing the victim if they go up to confront them without a police presence?

Do not go and confront this butt-hole by yourself, OP. Call the police and tell them you've tracked the thief down but need their help.

Also, next time do the jailbreak and install iCaughtya. It will actually take a picture of the thief using the front-facing camera and will email you their GPS coordinates if they try turning it on.

What?!?

Dude you gotta go over there STRAPPED. If he pulls his ish out whip out the glock and abuse him until he cries for his momma.

The get your phone back and roll out.
 

geoluv

macrumors member
Mar 11, 2013
42
8
Find my iphone is kinda a joke. You can easily turn it off or wipe the phone. That's why the ops phone is no longer showing up on find my iphone but he can still call it. You can remotely wipe it but the theif is just gunna pop out the sim and wipe it and sell it or re register it. Or if you we're running a pword he prob wiped the phone but it auto reactivated your sim that was still in it. If its any consolation hell never be able to get it factory unlocked, he'll either be tied to your carrier or tied to a jailbreak. Cancel that sim and get a new phone. You need to remote wipe immediately, he can jailbreak it and hell be able to open ios with no pword, or he can use a computer program to rip the pword from the phone without even jail breaking it.

As far as getting imei blacklisted, it doesn't really work that way. The policies vary from carrier to carrier. It's not industry wide. Verizon is the only carrier I know for a fact even lets you blacklist a imei as stolen. Problem is you get your phone blacklisted on AT&T then the perp just activated it on tmobile or sprint cause the blacklist is not industry wide. Not sure how it works with virtual carrier, like if AT&T blocks an imei then the block carries down to the virtual carriers under them.

The cell phone industry is actually trying to iron out a better plan for dealing with phones reported stolen as we speak. I don't understand why apple can't set it up so you can register a phone on their end and it just gets tracked forever, so you can't just turn off the tracking on the phone or wipe it. Apple has the ability track phones like this but they don't have this option open to the public.

I know why the phone industry doesn't want this ability open to the public though, it'll just cost them money and headaches. People will forget to untracked or unblock a phone when they sell it, then the new owner will be all pissed when they can't use the phone they just bought anonymously on cl. It already is a big pain with activating. Also the darker side of this is that apple LOVES the fact that the iPhone so highly targeted for theft, it makes people lose their phones and have to buy new ones. If they had an industry wide blacklist for stolen phones then not only would it cost them money to run the blacklist but it would cost them money in lost sales of phones to replace the stolen ones, they see it as a double blow to the bottom line.
 
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Satnam1989

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2011
1,200
0
Illinois
As far as getting imei blacklisted, it doesn't really work that way. The policies vary from carrier to carrier. It's not industry wide. Verizon is the only carrier I know for a fact even lets you blacklist a imei as stolen. Problem is you get your phone blacklisted on AT&T then the perp just activated it on tmobile or sprint cause the blacklist is not industry wide. Not sure how it works with virtual carrier, like if AT&T blocks an imei then the block carries down to the virtual carriers under them.

Actually T-Mobile & AT&T recently joined forces to counter the device theft...they share the database that they enter the IMEI's in so what happens is that when AT&T blacklists a iPhone/Phone because someone stole it....when the buyer puts in his/her SIM into the phone his/her account gets disabled within 1-36hours (Usually because it takes some time for the network to recognize the IMEI and register it under the account that the SIM belongs to)...I have seen it happen to someone who bought a used iPhone on craigslist in the last two weeks. The Carrier (T-Mobile or AT&T) deactivates the account until you call them in and get a another SIM issued to your account....again if you insert it into that Phone that is blacklisted....same thing is going to happen. Currently Verizon & Sprint are not doing "Blacklisting" what they do right now is BAD ESN...due to unpaid bills or stolen etc...but those phones if they have a GSM portion and are unlocked then can be used within USA...however a T-Mobile & AT&T phone that is blacklisted cannot be used on any carrier in USA (MVNO's are included)....if the phone blacklisted in unlocked it can be used overseas tho..but what are the odds a thief is going to actually start shipping overseas lol


thats the most accurate information regarding blacklisting. Sad thing about it all is...sure people are loosing/having their phones stolen....but now were going to have far more mobile devices end up at landfills than ever before due to the odds of the mobile devices actually ever getting back to the rightful owners are like 1-in-million....as the devices are 100% useless.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
thats the most accurate information regarding blacklisting. Sad thing about it all is...sure people are loosing/having their phones stolen....but now were going to have far more mobile devices end up at landfills than ever before due to the odds of the mobile devices actually ever getting back to the rightful owners are like 1-in-million....as the devices are 100% useless.

Blacklisted phones can be unlocked to work in other countries.
 

geoluv

macrumors member
Mar 11, 2013
42
8
There are tools t change the imei of the iPhone. Not sure how useful they are in these blacklisted situations.
 

Interstella5555

macrumors 603
Jun 30, 2008
5,219
13
What?!?

Dude you gotta go over there STRAPPED. If he pulls his ish out whip out the glock and abuse him until he cries for his momma.

The get your phone back and roll out.

You realize that in an apartment building the drift of GPS would make it EXTREMELY likely that you're knocking on the wrong door and the occupant would be just as within their rights to shoot you? Kind of sucks when 2nd amendment works against you, doesn't it?
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
You realize that in an apartment building the drift of GPS would make it EXTREMELY likely that you're knocking on the wrong door and the occupant would be just as within their rights to shoot you? Kind of sucks when 2nd amendment works against you, doesn't it?

I suspect he doesn't take pesky things like reality into consideration.
 
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