How To DISABLE a Stolen iPhone...

[coochiekuta]

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.

one of the beautiful features of todays smartphone is, wifi. too bad they cant block the MAC address eh? well they might be able to on there networks but thats about it. theres always voip calls. not to mention the iphone works fine as a media device.

good post tho.

 

[Pavlo]

If someone steals my phone I am going to open terminal and SSH them a little message

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

Hi,
I bought New Factory Unlocked iPhone 4 16 GB in Apple Store in Toronto - Canada, and it was stolen from me - can you explain me how I can disable my device using Cyber Duck? I never had a chance to jailbreak it, because it was stolen from me. Please help me if you can.
Thanks for help.

 

[bytethese]

Hi,
I bought New Factory Unlocked iPhone 4 16 GB in Apple Store in Toronto - Canada, and it was stolen from me - can you explain me how I can disable my device using Cyber Duck? I never had a chance to jailbreak it, because it was stolen from me. Please help me if you can.
Thanks for help.

You are out of luck if you didn't jailbreak it. If you did, you'd need to know the IP to get to the phone. Your only hope is MobileMe's "Find My iPhone" and remote wipe it.

 

[Doczane]

You are out of luck if you didn't jailbreak it. If you did, you'd need to know the IP to get to the phone. Your only hope is MobileMe's "Find My iPhone" and remote wipe it.

Hi,
My phone was stolen also, ios4.2, jailbroken. Careless enough not to register to Mobileme. Made a police report, nothing done. Service provider also not helping, just replaced my sim. How to trace it based on the IP / IMEI of the phone, i hope to locate the position, know some suspect adresses to narrow them down. How to know the IP? I have the IMEI though. Please help, just taken pictures of my newborn before it got stolen. Careless enough to have it stolen.

 

[Applejuiced]

Hi,
My phone was stolen also, ios4.2, jailbroken. Careless enough not to register to Mobileme. Made a police report, nothing done. Service provider also not helping, just replaced my sim. How to trace it based on the IP / IMEI of the phone, i hope to locate the position, know some suspect adresses to narrow them down. How to know the IP? I have the IMEI though. Please help, just taken pictures of my newborn before it got stolen. Careless enough to have it stolen.

You cannot trace it or do anything to find it besides calling the phone and hope they answer and want to return it to you.
Next time install Mobile me findmyiphone right away.
Lesson learned.

 

[Doczane]

You cannot trace it or do anything to find it besides calling the phone and hope they answer and want to return it to you.
Next time install Mobile me findmyiphone right away.
Lesson learned.

Lesson learnt for sure, thanks. It was stolen right under my nose, in a cubicle with people that can be identified as suspects though cant pinpoint. How to call it if i dont have the number the thief is using, besides, i immediately blocked the sim after 15min of losing it as he/she shut it off immediately.
But I've been seeing a lot people mentioning about service providers being able to use the IMEI number to trace it, even after SIM card change and be able to trace the number of the new SIM used on the phone. How true is this?

 

[Applejuiced]

Lesson learnt for sure, thanks. It was stolen right under my nose, in a cubicle with people that can be identified as suspects though cant pinpoint. How to call it if i dont have the number the thief is using, besides, i immediately blocked the sim after 15min of losing it as he/she shut it off immediately.
But I've been seeing a lot people mentioning about service providers being able to use the IMEI number to trace it, even after SIM card change and be able to trace the number of the new SIM used on the phone. How true is this?

No service Provider will try to chase and find a lost or stolen cell phone. They don't care and they're not in the business of recovering stolen goods.

 

[Applejuiced]

This is a good way

Too bad that information is false though.
AT&T doesnt block IMEI's.
Most carriers thruout the world do that but AT&T or Tmobile dont.
So anyone can use any lost or stolen US phones. What that AT&T rep gave the poster "SFStateStudent" was bs maybe to make him feel better after he got his phone stolen.
That information is innacurate.

 

[famoussasjohn]

way to help the guy....

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

wrong. It is put into a data base to where each carrier can see if the ESN is blocked. If it is blocked, it will come back saying it can't be activated as the device is reported stolen. the phone will forever be blacklisted.

 

[Doczane]

No service Provider will try to chase and find a lost or stolen cell phone. They don't care and they're not in the business of recovering stolen goods.

Too bad, could be a good and honorable business where people who lost their precious phone would be willing to pay good money to get it back as well as deterrent to would be thieves. So, i guess its farewell to my lost phone..

 

[EricJD]

Moral of everyone's stories: Use Find My iPhone.

 

[A N G E L]

Moral of everyone's stories: Use Find My iPhone.

Find My iPhone is hit or miss when it comes to stolen iPhones.

I was robbed two nights ago visiting my hometown and my iPhone was turned off immediately after. I check MobileMe often for new location data on where it could be, but it has yet to connect to the location service.

My fear is that they (the robbers) took out the SIM card first before plugging it into their computer and wiping it. My phone has a passcode and Wi-Fi was off at the time, so even if they turned on my iPhone without a SIM card, there's no way the phone could connect to Apple's location service for Find My iPhone.

I'm still checking though. Remaining hopeful before I decide to call AT&T about the situation. :/

That is correct but why bring up a 4 month old thread?

This thread is one of the first results on Google when searching "disactivate stolen iPhone" or "disable stolen iPhone", hence why it's still active after so long, lol

 

[Jerjer]

So my phone was stolen today, but it turned out fairly okay a million hours later since my renewal was due and the phone they stole had a trillion issues with it after an unfortunate incidence of me submerging it a few months ago. Oops... So, in the end, win for me, sort of.

The phone was immediately turned off when it was jacked, so we'll pretend that a findmyiphone app wouldn't have worked anyways, maybe. (though I will install it for the new phone)! I called AT&T and deactivated the phone, but didn't go further than that (out of ignorance).

But, the question I have is more about identity theft. Maybe I'm way too paranoid, but I don't want them to use my SIM & access my email & find bank info, etc. The phone (so, sim card?) was password protected. Basically is this a concern & if so, is there anything I can do about it?

 

[McIma]

Dropped my iphone in a parking lot last week. Returned within minutes, but it was gone already. Insurance replaced the phone within 2 days, and Verizon could disable the phone, but said that any information on it was accessible to anyone who picked it up. Creeps got a lot of great music...Verizon also said that passcode protecting phone would only work for casual users. A real thief could easily get around the security...

 

[160VVC]

You all really havnt got a clue what your talking about. For a start if an iphone gets stolen, it gets reported then blocked yes but then it can be unblocked via imei or sent out of the country it was blocked in and will work fine. A Iphone blocked in the UK will work fine in Europe etc. Also for all you loons that say oh well i can track my phone via software etc lol can you? no way because the software is on the iphone and as soon as the iphone is formatted or restored everyhting is erased including the software you put on it to track. So your going to track NOTHING!. Best thing to do if your iphone does go missing is cut your losses, have it insured and then at least youll get another. You will lose all your data for sure and your sim but you can keep your number by using any other sim then transfering your number onto the new sim. A Password will not help, nor any pattern code on Android phone as once the phones are master restored the need for password is gone. Be aware people that there is a market for all Apple items as they hold their money very well and people like Apple, but i have never understood exactly why as Samsung Galaxy SIII or HTC ONX X 32GB are far more superior than any Iphone. The morale of this story is if youve got the silly money to buy an Iphone youd have the money to have it insured, if not then your an idiot.

 

[bytethese]

You do realize you are commenting on a post from 2011, when no company in the US blocked stolen iPhones. That only started a few months ago.

 

[lelisa13p]

You do realize you are commenting on a post from 2011, when no company in the US blocked stolen iPhones. That only started a few months ago.

Additionally, the tone of the post which resurrected the thread is inflammatory.