Deactivating SIM in a Lost iPhone

[MJedi]

Hello,

My daughter lost her 5S two weeks ago, and there seems to be no hope of finding it. Find my iPhone cannot find it anymore. So, we're thinking of moving on, and giving her an old 4S or an older Nokia feature phone since we still need to be in contact. Since we will need a new SIM for the same number, I'm hesitant because the SIM in the lost iPhone will be deactivated. This means it cannot connect to AT&T anymore, right? So if by some miracle the iPhone is found and turned on, even if I turn on Lost Mode or Erase iPhone, the commands will never get to the iPhone, right? Hope someone can clarify. Thanks.

 

[Spudlicious]

I'm sure you are right in that once your cellphone number is attached to a new SIM number on the carrier's registry the old SIM will be unable to connect and thus Find My Phone won't work, even if nobody has switched it off in Settings. However, the phone's IMEI will remain the same and cannot be changed, so you should report it to your carrier (it is on the box the phone came in) and ask them to block it, because after two weeks I don't think that baby's coming home.

 

[I7guy]

But don't remove the phone from iCloud.

 

[Applejuiced]

Hello,

My daughter lost her 5S two weeks ago, and there seems to be no hope of finding it. Find my iPhone cannot find it anymore. So, we're thinking of moving on, and giving her an old 4S or an older Nokia feature phone since we still need to be in contact. Since we will need a new SIM for the same number, I'm hesitant because the SIM in the lost iPhone will be deactivated. This means it cannot connect to AT&T anymore, right? So if by some miracle the iPhone is found and turned on, even if I turn on Lost Mode or Erase iPhone, the commands will never get to the iPhone, right? Hope someone can clarify. Thanks.

Did she have a passcode lock setup?
If its been 2 weeks most likely they're not answering or have intentions of returning it.
Just make sure you do not remove it from your icloud account so it cannot be used.
Even if it never receives the erase or lost mode commands the phone is still tied up to your icloud account and cannot be used by anyone without the correct Apple ID and password.

 

[MJedi]

Thanks everyone. She did have a passcode lock on it, in fact it was a long password. Thanks for the recommendation to keep the iPhone in my iCloud account. I would've removed it. And blocking the IMEI through my carrier is a good suggestion, too.