Apple Working With NYPD to Track Stolen iPhones

[wkadamsjr]

Why report your stolen car to the police? How are the police to know if a car was really stolen or if it was something else?

1. You are talking about a report to the police. The previous poster was referring to a report to Apple. You don't report your stolen car to Honda.
2. Cars are registered through a government system. When they are sold, you go to the DMV to change the registration. It's pretty clear when one is stolen.

 

[Count Blah]

I worked at a major laptop repair center.
We kept a database of stolen laptops and noticed law enforce when required.

If a lowly paw shop can do the same in the US why can't Apple?

I say it's about time.
And it's only being done because some high profile equipment got pinched and LE would like some 'assistance'

Especially since they have your appleID and unique device UID in their possession.
1) AppleID reports phone stolen.
2) device UID is put on a flag list.
3) device UID is used in an attempt to associate itself with a new appleID
4) Apple notes IP and new appleID.
5) Apple sends IP, new AppleID, whatever else to law enforcement - QED

 

[Nunyabinez]

1. You are talking about a report to the police. The previous poster was referring to a report to Apple. You don't report your stolen car to Honda.
2. Cars are registered through a government system. When they are sold, you go to the DMV to change the registration. It's pretty clear when one is stolen.

The one way that this will work is if the telcos work in tandem to prevent stolen phones from being used on their network. I may be cynical, but the police aren't going to track down phones. And Apple is not going to ask store employees to put themselves at risk by confronting a thief.

 

[winston1236]

Was thinking the same.

1. Sell phone on craigslist , cash deal
2. Report phone stolen , call cops.
3. Get phone back.
4. ????
5. Profit but dam thats a crappy thing to do.

Person arrested shows cops ad and emails. Lawsuit and arrest for the false report.

 

[Rot'nApple]

Will Apple coordinate with the NYPD and use the Microsoft Crime Fighting Computer "Dashboard" to solve such crimes?

 

[convergent]

This is interesting. On a much smaller scale, we used FindMyIphone and the help of the Charlotte PD to recover my daughter's stolen iPhone 5 a few weeks back. I posted the story here... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1525308/ There was no direct involvement from Apple on this, but the PD sent an officer to my daughter's house where he watched the tracking and directed dispatch to send a cruiser to the location where they found the thief. He said that was only the second time they've ever recovered an iPhone... didn't say whether it was using this technique or not.

 

[commander.data]

Beyond whether someone falsely reports a phone as stolen to police there is also the possibility that the police can use this to track people for reasons/crimes other than actually stealing the device in question, which I believe would normally require a warrant. I wonder what legal procedures Apple has in place so they aren't just giving out cell phone locations as soon as police summit an IMEI request that they claim is stolen?

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

I'm sure most just get shipped overseas to the black market.

 

[wkadamsjr]

Especially since they have your appleID and unique device UID in their possession.
1) AppleID reports phone stolen.
2) device UID is put on a flag list.
3) device UID is used in an attempt to associate itself with a new appleID
4) Apple notes IP and new appleID.
5) Apple sends IP, new AppleID, whatever else to law enforcement - QED

IF the person contacts the authorities first, then yes.

I work for a company that sells used Apple computers. Do you know it is possible, if you register your phone/computer with Find My Mac/iPhone/iPad, to remote wipe or passcode lock the device even after a legitimate sale is made?

This has actually happened. Customer sold us notebook. We resold. Original owner passcode locked the device a year later, just for fun. Because the "Find My…" service is tied to the logic board, wiping the hard drive does not disable this possibility.

 

[SmileyBlast!]

Was thinking the same.

1. Sell phone on craigslist , cash deal
2. Report phone stolen , call cops.
3. Get phone back.
4. ????
5. Profit but dam thats a crappy thing to do.

I guess you have to take a photo of the guy selling it to you and maybe get them to sign an agreement of sale.

 

[Tiger8]

My iPad was recently stolen from my Hotel room. I wish I could utilize this and get my iPad back. I'm so missing it.

Was that in the US? In the US the hotel should be liable, if not, your renter or homeowner insurance shoudl cover you

 

[aliensporebomb]

Ah

There's another way to get a stolen laptop back - run Seti @ home on it (yes, a friend of mine was the victim):

http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/state/20070214-2240-ca-nerdylovestory.html

In this case when the IP address was detected the local police cybercrime unit was able to trace it to a local internet service provider who traced it to a subscriber.

 

[rnizlek]

Don't like. Works sometimes but what if you purchased it on Craigslist or something.... You'd have to give something to the PD you paid for in a deal you thought was legitimate.

I think it's worth doing a little due diligence when buying a phone on Craigslist. For instance, when inspecting the phone, call the carrier and just check that the IMEI is clear. Or you can ask to see a copy of the person's cell bill to establish their identity and that it was their phone. Personally, I'd rather purchase a used phone through eBay or another source where I have recourse (though buyer protection) if there was ever an issue with the phone being stolen.

I don't think this is a tremendous risk if you exercise some caution in purchasing. If you really want protection, make the payment through a service like PayPal that will give you 60 days to file a dispute if an issue with the phone arrises. I do a lot of overseas transactions and always pay through PayPal - it adds to the cost a bit but I am essentially buying myself insurance on the transactions.

 

[Plutonius]

A new crime show on TV. "Apple NCIS" .

 

[SmileyBlast!]

My iPad was recently stolen from my Hotel room. I wish I could utilize this and get my iPad back. I'm so missing it.

As long as you have the original packaging that ID is on a sticker on the side of the box. If Apple is starting to scan for stolen devices maybe they will send the local police over to his house after they service it.

You can't have Apple genius's arresting people. You might have to wait a while to get it back though.

 

[Consultant]

Was that in the US? In the US the hotel should be liable, if not, your renter or homeowner insurance shoudl cover you

Nope, hotels always say they not responsible for valuables, even if you put it in the safe in the room.

 

[crisss1205]

Why report your stolen car to the police? How are the police to know if a car was really stolen or if it was something else?

A car has a title with the registered owner on it. Once you sell it you give the title to the new owner with a sale date and signature on the back. It is impossible to sell a car and then report it stolen.

----------

I'm sure most just get shipped overseas to the black market.

Most criminals are not that smart.

 

[taxiapple]

Why criticize Apple for repairing or replacing stolen units? How is apple to know if a unit was really stolen or if it was something else?

In many cases Apple was notified a persons phone was stolen.

 

[Makman8]

Was thinking the same.

1. Sell phone on craigslist , cash deal
2. Report phone stolen , call cops.
3. Get phone back.
4. ????
5. Profit but dam thats a crappy thing to do.

Write out bill of sale?

Problem solved

 

[Count Blah]

IF the person contacts the authorities first, then yes.

I work for a company that sells used Apple computers. Do you know it is possible, if you register your phone/computer with Find My Mac/iPhone/iPad, to remote wipe or passcode lock the device even after a legitimate sale is made?

This has actually happened. Customer sold us notebook. We resold. Original owner passcode locked the device a year later, just for fun. Because the "Find My…" service is tied to the logic board, wiping the hard drive does not disable this possibility.

My step #3 is too specific. It should read "Apple checks existing device UID and appleID info(other than requesting Apple ID, and known device users(family/etc...)), and if none is found it waits until new requests are made"

Or something like that. Any activity will include the device UID in some way/shape/form. If it's there, and not a known Apple ID, sent that. If not, wait for new requests to come in.

 

[ChrisA]

Theft is great for Apple. Every time one is stolen Apple gets to sell a replacement.

Apple could eliminate this problem overnight. If the phone could be remotely "bricked" some internal fuse is blown that renders the iPhone useless until you send it back to Apple for repair. No one would take a phone if they know it would be useless in a day or two.

I think Apple sells more phones because of theft

 

[Tiger8]

Nope, hotels always say they not responsible for valuables, even if you put it in the safe in the room.

I spend 90% of my time in hotels (hello fellow consultant). Even though the disclaimer says that hotels are not liable, most hotels that value their customers do replace stolen goods within reason. A colleague of mine had his laptop replaced by a hotel.

In the grand scheme of things, a $500 iPad is much better than the hotel reputation being tarnished, and nothing is worse than developing a reputation of beign unsafe, just check out tripadvisor.com and see how hotel managers respond to negative reviews, it's all about reputation in this internet world

 

[tdtran1025]

Yes, it's about time. Car stereos are so 80's, laptop computers 90's, now the portable phones.

 

[charlituna]

Why report your stolen car to the police? How are the police to know if a car was really stolen or if it was something else?

His point was that Apple doesn't know in their own the state of a phone. My name might be in it because I sold it to you, you are my assistant, my boyfriend, who knows.

Now if the police come to Apple that's a different game.

That said, I don't know that we can fully trust the Post on this. They are only slightly above a gossip rag

 

[ChrisA]

Write out bill of sale?

Problem solved

Craigslist scam is foiled because craigslist keeps a record of the ad. The scammed buyer would have you prosecuted for fraud and then after the conviction take you to civil court.

Also because the cops need to be involved they would quickly figure this out after you reported your 10th lost iPhone in the same week.

The scam would only work once and even then you'd get cause because of the emails or phone calls needed to set up the meeting place where you do the cash deal.