i found an iphone

[ravikc]

hey guys...seriously this is how it happened...walkin with my girl in the park and the phone is just sittin there on the bench...must have fell out of someones pocket...i took it

it had no incoming calls for 2-3 days which is really strange ..and then now it reads that the phone needs to be activated so i am assumin the guy just deactivated it..my question is what can i do with it

1. can i activate it without being caught or what happens here?
2. does the phone needs to be jailbroken and then used?
3. if i replace the sim card and activate it via itunes will it work perfectly fine?

let me know..any help would be appreciated..thanks guys

[inspir3]

Return it to the owner.

[m477h3w]

Originally Posted by ravikc

hey guys...seriously this is how it happened...walkin with my girl in the park and the phone is just sittin there on the bench...must have fell out of someones pocket...i took it

it had no incoming calls for 2-3 days which is really strange ..and then now it reads that the phone needs to be activated so i am assumin the guy just deactivated it..my question is what can i do with it

1. can i activate it without being caught or what happens here?
2. does the phone needs to be jailbroken and then used?
3. if i replace the sim card and activate it via itunes will it work perfectly fine?

let me know..any help would be appreciated..thanks guys

You missed out an option,

4. Hand it in!!!!!!!!

Thief

[eBay]

Hey thats mine. give it back dude

[ravikc]

haha how do i give it to the owner? i dont know who the hell he is

options ppl?

[zainjetha]

The IMEI is barred I guess or phone deactivated by apple...

Only thing you can do is JB and change IMEI.. but hand it in to the apple store or police

[eBay]

Originally Posted by ravikc

haha how do i give it to the owner? i dont know who the hell he is

options ppl?

Finders keepers, losers weepers I always say. haha congratulations to the proud owner of a new iPhone...but seriously, I dont know of any way to find out who it really belongs to.

[ravikc]

exactly so the only option to use that phone is to jailbreak and then activate it correct?

anyone have a link to a site i can learn how to do that?

[ravikc]

also if jailbreaken is it completely void of any apple warranty? would i be able to tell apple that i found it or bought it on ebay?

[cbrain]

If Apple bared the IMEI, phone them up and tell them you found it, that could help you return it to the owner.

[zainjetha]

IMEI will remain the same so apple will know you, Immoral Citizen, Ravi are the thief the minute you log on to any network.

You would have to change your IMEI. Which is difficult.

[Surely]

Originally Posted by ravikc

hey guys...seriously this is how it happened...walkin with my girl in the park and the phone is just sittin there on the bench...must have fell out of someones pocket...i took it

it had no incoming calls for 2-3 days which is really strange ..and then now it reads that the phone needs to be activated so i am assumin the guy just deactivated it..my question is what can i do with it

1. can i activate it without being caught or what happens here?
2. does the phone needs to be jailbroken and then used?
3. if i replace the sim card and activate it via itunes will it work perfectly fine?

let me know..any help would be appreciated..thanks guys

B***S*** that there were no incoming calls for 2 days. If I lost my iPhone, I would be calling it every 5 minutes until someone answered. You also could have checked the recent callers list or the contacts list to try to figure out who it belonged to.

It sounds to me that you didn't WANT the original owner to find you so you could keep it for yourself. Now you're trying to find out here if you would be traced if you activate it.

I hope that every time you use your "new" iPhone, you remember that it actually belongs to somone else. And you've probably seen the original owner's face if you looked through the photo album, which you probably did. I doubt you just left it sitting on a table without playing with it since you "found" it.

[SFStateStudent]

OP, the iPhone needs to be ACTIVATED for it to receive calls. Suppose you lost your $399 iPhone; wouldn't you want someone to return it to you? I would hope you are hearing this "little voice" that is telling you, "DO THE RIGHT THING!" Also, suppose that iPhone is "STOLEN" and you activate it; using your REAL name, address and even if you jailbreak and unlock you are still going to have to give a credit card and show a picture ID. I'm not sure if you want to risk "possession of stolen property", since you don't have a receipt, which law enforcement will take it without blinking an eye, but you'll get some nice nickel-plated BRACELETS. I'm pretty sure, it's not worth it! Do The Right Thing!

[zainjetha]

No go activate it... I hope when you do, you get a message in iTunes saying

ERROR:Stolen Phone Attempted Activation.

Then 5 minutes later you get a knock on your door via police..... Im sure its occured to you that the iTunes Activation Servers trace Stolen Phones and they would notify Police.. And if you JB, your stolen IMEI would log on to the network and phone would be blocked. Either way youre screwed so just hand it in.

[chrisparr]

Originally Posted by ravikc

haha how do i give it to the owner? i dont know who the hell he is

options ppl?

Hand it in to the police.

[senorFunkyPants]

A neighbour of mine (a basically decent bloke) asked to to sort his xbox 360 accessing his wifi which I did. I refused payment so he gave me a W850i mobile phone he had found in his taxi. I thought I would keep it for spares (it was IMEI barred so unusable as a phone) but when I had a look around the phone I found a load of telephone numbers for family etc and decided to return the phone to its original owner. But I couldn't just ring the numbers on the phone because I would have to invent a story of how I came to have the phone and I didn't want to get my neighbour into trouble so I posted it off to the local police station with a letter saying that the numbers of the owners family were on the phone and could they sort out returning the phone (the phone could then have been unbarred and restored to use). So a couple of days later my neighbour comes over to see me all confused and crapping himself after having a phone call from the police asking him to come to the police station regarding a lost phone that had been sent to them. Apparent when he first found the phone in the back of his taxi he had put his sim card in it and transfered *his* phone numbers into it and used it for a few days before it was barred. So the police had traced and called him thinking he was the owner. A couple of weeks later I talked to him and he said he never went to pick up the phone from the police station in case they asked him awkward questions about it.

[Santa Rosa]

Im pretty sure Apple and AT&T can trace the owner from the IMEI. I know that on my O2 iPhone if it gets lost I just have to phone in with the number and it will be barred. They are going to need more information than just the IMEI hence they can tell if you are the person who has lost the phone.

Reverse the logic and you can track the phone back to the owner. I think its plainly wrong what you have done as you could have easily got in touch with the owner before the phone was deactivated. To make it right you should at least get it to Apple or AT&T so they can look into it.

[Rotara]

Dear Original Poster, Wouldn't you like to live in a world where if you fell over someone offered a hand to help you up? Or if you lost your wallet you got a knock at the door and a person handed it back to you?

One day I was at the ATM machine, I waited in line and when it was my turn I was faced with a wad of cash sticking out of it, the person in front forgot to take his cash before walking away. I grabbed it and ran down the street after him. He was shocked when i handed it back because it never dawned on him that anyone would do that. He said thanks and I said no problem then walked away. No, I didn't get a physical reward, the reward was knowing it was the RIGHT thing to do, it gives you an quantifiable power.

But it takes everyone to buy into the philosophy, difficult, but they seemed to have managed it in Japan.

Hand the Phone in.. You know it is the right thing to do, and you don't need anyone here to tell you that!!

If you hand it in to the authorities then you have at least completed your part of the process of its journey home. Failing that you could go through the contacts list and make a few phone calls. But the bottom line is you've really got to want to do it.

[Shadowriver]

In my country (Poland ;p) if police legitimate you (for drinking in public place with friends for example, can happen unexpected to anyone;p) they usely pick phones and check IMEIs, and compare to operators database. If IMEI is marked as stolen or blocked in past in past you can get in to trouble. Only pay-mothly phones are traceable with this method, if phone is from pre-paid you don't sigh any license so they officially don't know who you are and who was past owner ;p

[sparkyms]

I'd say read this thread...
then go to your local police dept. and hand it in.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=418713

[gothamm]

Originally Posted by ravikc

also if jailbreaken is it completely void of any apple warranty? would i be able to tell apple that i found it or bought it on ebay?

you are bitching about the warranty on an iphone you found?



Thanks for setting our people back another 1000 years, Mr. Ravi.

[mets1125]

Dont go to the police, its just gonna get lost in the precinct. I say you go thru the contacts on the phone and try to locate the owner. If you call a few of the contacts on the phone you will def locate the owner. Its the right thing to do. Put yourself in the owners position wouldnt you like someone to return your $400+ phone???

[Keane Fan]

You disgust me. So does everyone in this world who takes what isn't theres.
I'm a high school student and someone stole my Ipod Video in my art class which i bought for $350++ with extended warranty. Same situation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dagless]

Take it to the police or an Apple Store. If you are actually planning to keep it then you're a bell end.

I'm glad my parents, and evidently a lot of peoples parents here, taught their kids to return lost items.

[~*allison*~]

Originally Posted by Rotara

Dear Original Poster, Wouldn't you like to live in a world where if you fell over someone offered a hand to help you up? Or if you lost your wallet you got a knock at the door and a person handed it back to you?

One day I was at the ATM machine, I waited in line and when it was my turn I was faced with a wad of cash sticking out of it, the person in front forgot to take his cash before walking away. I grabbed it and ran down the street after him. He was shocked when i handed it back because it never dawned on him that anyone would do that. He said thanks and I said no problem then walked away. No, I didn't get a physical reward, the reward was knowing it was the RIGHT thing to do, it gives you an quantifiable power.

But it takes everyone to buy into the philosophy, difficult, but they seemed to have managed it in Japan.

Hand the Phone in.. You know it is the right thing to do, and you don't need anyone here to tell you that!!

If you hand it in to the authorities then you have at least completed your part of the process of its journey home. Failing that you could go through the contacts list and make a few phone calls. But the bottom line is you've really got to want to do it.

Yes, return the phone to the police or Apple. They will know what to do to help properly locate the phone's ACTUAL owner. I was behind someone at an ATM once, it was one of those that sucks your card in and doesn't give it back until you're completely done. The person grabbed their cash and walked away, leaving their card in the machine. It was still there when I walked up to it and was asking me if I wanted another transaction. I could've drained that guys bank account. Instead I chose to hit "no" get the card and chase after the guy to return it to him. He was greatful. You see, I'm not poor, but there's no doubt in my mind that I could've used anything that I could've gotten outta that machine for free. Seriously, I'm on a payment plan for a couple of monthly bills to pay off the past due portions, all because the company I was working for went under and there was a problem with my UI. So, yeah, I'm doing ok now, and I would have been better off with a couple extra dollars, but the point is, I chose not to steal what someone else worked hard to get. Whether it was something I found, or something that I intentionally took, I couldn't do it. How would you like to be on the other end of that situation you got there? I surely would like someone to return something of mine had I lost it.