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Can the Police do anything if you lost your iPhone?

RonHC

RonHC

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 27, 2010
996
7
I never thought about this, so but can the Police help you if you lost your iPhone. to better explain it:

Ok say you lost your iPhone in a heavy crowded area. You go back home and use MobileMe's "Find my iPhone" feature. It tells you that the phone is located in this area.. blah blah
You sent a small message to the iPhone saying "Please give back, i'll pay $$ or else"
If they dont reply or say No, can you get the Police involve???
 
You may file a Lost Property report (aka total waste of time unless your phone is insured and your insurance company requires a report).
 
Sounds to me like the police would already be involved, if you already went to them and reported that your iPhone was either lost or stolen. ;)
 
Technically, if the finder of the phone doesn't do due diligence to return the phone, specially after you've contacted them via MobileMe, text message or a call, they're now considered to have stolen the phone.

That said, I highly doubt the police will use any resources to investigate the loss of your phone. By the time they get to your case, your phone will be long gone.

A way around this is to escalate the crime yourself ;) Go to the location you find your phone in MobileMe and demand the phone back. If they don't return the phone, you can make an attempt to recover your stolen property -- this justifies violence in the eye of the law. Calling 911 at that point will indeed get them to the location right away.

... of course, you're at risk of getting your ass kicked.
 
Personally, I would use mobile me to wipe the phone, then go to the Apple or ATT store and buy a new one. With 4 of us in our family with iPhones, we pretty much always have at least one that is eligible for an upgrade.

/Jim
 
ipedro said:
That said, I highly doubt the police will use any resources to investigate the loss of your phone. By the time they get to your case, your phone will be long gone.
Click to expand...

This right here. Most stolen property is never recovered unfortunately.
 
masterlimp said:
This right here. Most stolen property is never recovered unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Yeah, unless the iPhone falls into police hands or you can give them evidence of its location (a home address or location, a "crowded area" will not suffice) you will probably never see it again. Report it lost to AT&T and make sure the phone is shutdown.
 
nikhsub1 said:
Sure they can, just ask Apple to help you, they are tight with the cops and are good at raiding peoples houses. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

^This!

To add a little more spice, tell them your father is Steve J. and the Iphone is the 4G made of pure gold!
 
I don't have an iPhone right now because i accidentally left it in a cab. Although i had the "find my iPhone feature turned on, someone apparently turned the phone off. At that point, this feature is the only thing that can get you your phone back, but you have to act fast either way.
 
Yeah let's get the good ol' police to step away from arresting criminals, stopping robbers, burglars and murderers and rapists, so that you can get your iPhone back. :rolleyes:
 
ipedro said:
Technically, if the finder of the phone doesn't do due diligence to return the phone, specially after you've contacted them via MobileMe, text message or a call, they're now considered to have stolen the phone.

That said, I highly doubt the police will use any resources to investigate the loss of your phone. By the time they get to your case, your phone will be long gone.

A way around this is to escalate the crime yourself ;) Go to the location you find your phone in MobileMe and demand the phone back. If they don't return the phone, you can make an attempt to recover your stolen property -- this justifies violence in the eye of the law. Calling 911 at that point will indeed get them to the location right away.

... of course, you're at risk of getting your ass kicked.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1544631409][/doublepost]what if i have it on cctv camera?
 
RonHC said:
I never thought about this, so but can the Police help you if you lost your iPhone. to better explain it:

Ok say you lost your iPhone in a heavy crowded area. You go back home and use MobileMe's "Find my iPhone" feature. It tells you that the phone is located in this area.. blah blah
You sent a small message to the iPhone saying "Please give back, i'll pay $$ or else"
If they dont reply or say No, can you get the Police involve???
Click to expand...

No they cannot, too busy eating donuts and being thugs.
 
Thousands of phones are lost/stolen every day. The police are not going to get involved unless your were robbed at gun point. Sounds like you just left your phone somewhere which is not really stolen.
 
ipedro said:
Technically, if the finder of the phone doesn't do due diligence to return the phone, specially after you've contacted them via MobileMe, text message or a call, they're now considered to have stolen the phone.

That said, I highly doubt the police will use any resources to investigate the loss of your phone. By the time they get to your case, your phone will be long gone.

A way around this is to escalate the crime yourself ;) Go to the location you find your phone in MobileMe and demand the phone back. If they don't return the phone, you can make an attempt to recover your stolen property -- this justifies violence in the eye of the law. Calling 911 at that point will indeed get them to the location right away.

... of course, you're at risk of getting your ass kicked.
Click to expand...

This is hands down the absolute worst advice I have ever read on this site.
 
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