Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can you track a stolen iPhone by IP Address?

A

atacinus

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 25, 2003
310
0
New York City
So my fiancee's iPhone got stolen while she was in the hospital. However I noticed that a day later it's still accessing her e-mail (she didn't change the password yet) and it gave me an IP address where it was doing so. Cell service has been shut off to the device, so this would most likely be wifi - is there anyway to give this number to the police etc. and have them be able to track down the phone...or is this a total waste of time? I live in NYC so they might not even devote time to it. Thoughts - is it even possible?

Thanks!
 
I used to use a service for our laptops at work that did exactly that. But I'm thinking they worked with the ISP to track down the owner of the IP, THEN went to the cops.

I'm pretty doubtful that taking an IP address to the cops will get you very far. But who knows?
 
Muad'Dib said:
I used to use a service for our laptops at work that did exactly that. But I'm thinking they worked with the ISP to track down the owner of the IP, THEN went to the cops.

I'm pretty doubtful that taking an IP address to the cops will get you very far. But who knows?
Click to expand...

Well if you take it to the cops, the ISP is more likely to tell them the owner than you
 
Well for one, she needs to change all of her passwords. It's good that you disabled the cell service though. Never have anything remember your passwords-- it mitigates issues like this. That said, no, there's not much that can be done.

The problem lies in the IP issue; as you're well aware the person is using wifi-- unless its a personal home address it's useless because the address links back to the router, not individual devices and their locations. More than likely they're on public wifi, which means due to DHCP you can't even find out what IP address they have on the subnet unless you have the MAC address of the device-- even then you won't know the location of said device. If they're using their own router, however, it will link back to that router which would then tell you the general proximity of the thief, but again, keep in mind that other people frequently use other's Internet connections. Without location services (GPS) finding the whereabouts of a missing mobile device is near impossible, since it's not connecting to the same network consistently and usually has a different IP on the subnet at least daily.
 
The quick answer is No ... the ISP will not give you any info on an IP address ... something about Privacy Rights ... good luck :cool:

and coolwhatever below is not a start to anything


Vigher said:
coolwhois.com will give you a starting point
Click to expand...
 
darkplanets said:
Well for one, she needs to change all of her passwords. It's good that you disabled the cell service though. Never have anything remember your passwords-- it mitigates issues like this. That said, no, there's not much that can be done.

The problem lies in the IP issue; as you're well aware the person is using wifi-- unless its a personal home address it's useless because the address links back to the router, not individual devices and their locations. More than likely they're on public wifi, which means due to DHCP you can't even find out what IP address they have on the subnet unless you have the MAC address of the device-- even then you won't know the location of said device. If they're using their own router, however, it will link back to that router which would then tell you the general proximity of the thief, but again, keep in mind that other people frequently use other's Internet connections. Without location services (GPS) finding the whereabouts of a missing mobile device is near impossible, since it's not connecting to the same network consistently and usually has a different IP on the subnet at least daily.
Click to expand...

True, it will only provide the public IP of a router, but you fail to consider that ISPs have records of this...despite using DHCP. No GPS is needed as the ISP has the customer's phyisical address.

It could be someone leaching WiFi, but it could also be the theif's home WiFi.


Apple OC said:
The quick answer is No ... the ISP will not give you any info on an IP address ... something about Privacy Rights ... good luck :cool:

and coolwhatever below is not a start to anything
Click to expand...

I'm sure you meant to add...."unless they are presented a warrant".

Like I mentioned before, there are companies out there that do just this exact type of thing with laptops. Somehow they have a 97% retrieval rate. They work with the cops and ISP to track them down. But you have to subscribe to their service and install their software (often installed in the BIOS on corporate laptops.)

But truly, the OP has a very slip chance of getting anywhere. As has been mentioned, the NYC Cops most likely won't bother. I'm not sure how Absolute does it, but I'm sure they are more prepared to work with the cops than the general public.
 
Muad'Dib said:
True, it will only provide the public IP of a router, but you fail to consider that ISPs have records of this...despite using DHCP. No GPS is needed as the ISP has the customer's phyisical address.

It could be someone leaching WiFi, but it could also be the theif's home WiFi.
Click to expand...

My point exactly; as I said, you'd need the MAC address. As you said, ISPs aren't giving MAC addresses up without a warrant, and I doubt anybody would go through the trouble (besides a specialist company) of getting a warrant for such a relatively low-value item. Unless the OP wants to pay for the service, there's no legal (or practical) way to DIY. Of course you can always change your MAC address, again making it untraceable. I'm sure this is possible with a jailbreak at least-- you can spoof it under OSX with ifconfig. The iPhone's physical serial (IMEI, plus IMSI in the SIM) is only good for cellular data, as far as I'm aware it doesn't broadcast in the data link layer for WiFi? Someone could correct me here if I'm wrong, I'm not entirely sure. The point is that if you want to be untraceable, at least to previous history, it's quite possible in this case. The thief will not be able to reactive the phone for service, however, unless they get a new SIM and IMEI. Just like with MAC addresses I'm sure it's possible to change your IMEI somehow, again though I'm not well versed in cellular technology.
 
Actually, all they need is a new SIM. AT&T won't block/track the IMEI. I found that out the hard way when I left mine in a cab.
 
Phones are lost or stolen all the time, take the loss and get a new phone. There are far worse things to worry about then a stolen cell phone.
 
This is why find my iPhone is so excellent, though it would have to rely on Wifi and hence your window of opportunity would be slimmer.
 
Muad'Dib said:
I used to use a service for our laptops at work that did exactly that. But I'm thinking they worked with the ISP to track down the owner of the IP, THEN went to the cops.

I'm pretty doubtful that taking an IP address to the cops will get you very far. But who knows?
Click to expand...
OH YEAH IT WILL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back