Verizon Iphone found can it be added to my plan?

Don't even think about it if you believe its stolen, you can get in some major trouble.

Krispy162 said:

My friends father is selling an iPhone which I believe he may of found.

I've never swapped smartphones through Verizon but if its not on their "black list" or stolen list ... once I link it to my acct am I safe?

Ive changed vz phones via my acct on the web but have no idea how it works with iPhone.

Anyone have any knowledge on this?

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Legally speaking, there is a difference between finding a $500 laying in a parking lot, and finding a $500 phone. The owner of the $500 cannot be easily found or traced, however,the owner of the phone can easily be found. If your father found the phone and did not report it to the police, it could be considered theft if the owner has filed a report. If that is the case, then adding it to your account would place effectively stolen property in your possession. If you do find a phone and turn it into the police, if the owner does not come forward in a reasonable time frame (30 days i think) then the phone goes to the person that found it. So "safe" depends on how much you want to deal with the cops should the phone be reported. They may just take the phone, or they could add a fine for possession of stolen property.

People can have different definitions of stealing, I never suggested he actively stole it. What matters to your concern is the legal ramifications, which is that finding an item of high value that can easily be traced must be reported or by the law it could be considered illegally obtained. I am not saying whether it is right or wrong to not report it, only that you, or your friend, can get into legal trouble if it was not reported.
It is like finding the keys in a car and taking the car then saying you found the car. The car obviously has an owner, and can be tracked through the VIN number or license plate. Saying it was found and not stolen doesn't typically work unless you have a paper trail showing you made a reasonable attempt to find the owner.
My advice would be to check to see if it has been reported. If it has not, then you should be safe. Also keep in mind, if you or your dad sell the phone to your friend, and the cops confiscate it, either your dad is out the money he repays your friend, or it will likely create a problem between you and your friend.

^

Krispy162 said:

Its not stolen! I'm just assuming its a FOUND phone.
Didn't go into details but I was looking to buy a iPhone and my friend reached out to me.

Ill take all this into consideration just curious about the rest of the process

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If the person who lost it filed a report and you were ultimately found with it without you turning it in, it can be categorized as theft. Even if you FOUND it, you still never turned it in.

How much you buying out of your friend's hand for 'this' iphone?

How much you pay Verizon for a new one with contract?

Please take serious consideration before making any decision.

Krispy162 said:

Its not stolen! I'm just assuming its a FOUND phone.
Didn't go into details but I was looking to buy a iPhone and my friend reached out to me.

Ill take all this into consideration just curious about the rest of the process

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A "found" phone which is not turned over to the Police to return to it's lawful owner is a stolen phone. If you "find" a bicycle in the street can you just ride off on it?

Clearly, you didnt steal it and you are just trying to get a phone on your plan.

If there is ever any trouble, just say you bought it off craigslist and then hand it over haha. That way itll keep your dad out of the issue.

And im not sure about how it works with verizon, the serial number has to be clean (ESN) its not like Att where you just pop your own sim in.
A bad ESN could be from a stolen phone, someone who didnt pay their bill, or something like that i believe.

Krispy162 said:

What if I bought the phone and was told it was his...I'm the second party! Its like buying a phone from ebay... u don't know if the person is lying or not.

Phone is $200. My upgrade is in 4/2012 which ill save for iP5. I just wish I never left apple for android!

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Pretty sure receiving stolen property is a crime, and furthermore you're coming on a public bulletin board and surmising that it might be stolen, meaning you have some kind of prior knowledge. If I were you I'd steer clear of it unless you could be certain that the phone was acquired legally.

Just make sure you get a receipt.

And if you can't get a receipt then you will know the truth......

Just hope a report isn't filed on it because when / if you're found with it, you'll get in trouble.

Have a nice day.

Geez dude, just do the right thing and encourage him to turn it in. How would you feel if you lost your phone?

Krispy162 said:

What if I bought the phone and was told it was his...I'm the second party! Its like buying a phone from ebay... u don't know if the person is lying or not.

Phone is $200. My upgrade is in 4/2012 which ill save for iP5. I just wish I never left apple for android!

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Then the only risk here is that they take the phone from you. While you may be in the clear for possession, it is still not yours, paid for or not under the law.

Krispy162 said:

What if I bought the phone and was told it was his...I'm the second party! Its like buying a phone from ebay... u don't know if the person is lying or not.

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That's clearly a hypothetical question as you know it's "found". I can't speak for your local laws in the USA, in the UK if you bought it and had any suspicion (which you clearly do) that it was stolen or found then you would be guilty of handling stolen goods. If you were later told it was stolen/found and did not immediately take it to the Police the same. Even if you were never told and the Police found it in your possession then you would forfeit the phone and get no compensation from them.

You will have to examine your own conscience and decide if you want to handle goods you believe to be stolen or not. Personally I'd not want to become a common criminal.

So in other words someone who loses a CDMA iphone reports it to Verizon and then phone is disabled. It can only be enabled by the original owner again since its blacklisted and cannot be used on any other Verizon account.
Basicly useless.

Krispy162 said:

From what ive been reading even if its blacklisted even the original owner can't put it back on their account.

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That's false.
The original account holder can activate it again and whitelist it.

Krispy162 said:

What if I bought the phone and was told it was his...I'm the second party! Its like buying a phone from ebay... u don't know if the person is lying or not.

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But the fact that you didn't steal it yourself doesn't mean you'll be able to keep and use the phone.

But you do know that the phone was lost/stolen/not reported or turned in. This post alone verifies that.

And just because someone hardly ever gets returned something they've lost, thats still no excuse to not do the right and honorable thing. Greed is a poor excuse to keep something that is not rightfully yours.

Don't buy it--the iPhone could have a bad ESN if it was a found item.

My policy on found smartphones is to leave them alone unless they are unlocked and/or displaying a message identifying the owner. Since smartphones like the iPhone can be tracked via Mobile Me or similar software I don't really feel secure picking one up from the street or accepting it from anyone else. As you can see from this thread, unfortunately people are often quick to jump to conclusions.

Krispy162 said:

Ha once you lose your phone u hardly ever see it again!

From what ive been reading even if its blacklisted even the original owner can't put it back on their account.

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The question was how you would feel if you lost your phone, so how would you feel?