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I found an iphone 4...

L

lgates

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 3, 2011
2
0
Ok so I found an Iphone 4 while on vacation....We tried to open it and call the last person but of course there was a lock on it and when we looked at it again it was already shut off.

Is there any way to get the phone turned back on with no sim card because it is verizon...what do I need to do to activate it
 
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Take it to Verizon, return it.
 
lgates said:
Ok so I found an Iphone 4 while on vacation....We tried to open it and call the last person but of course there was a lock on it and when we looked at it again it was already shut off.

Is there any way to get the phone turned back on with no sim card because it is verizon...what do I need to do to activate it
Click to expand...

If its Verizon you cant activate it once its reported lost or stolen.
Only the original owner can do that while using his account to verify it again.
I'd try to return it somehow either by contacting verizon or something. It will be of no use to anyone the way it is anyway.
 
There's no way around that lock, just return it to Verizon and hopefully the person who was using it registered it with Apple or that Verizon can identify whose it is.
 
Return it, the owner could possibly give a reward for returning it. Once disabled, the phone is completely useless for you. The best and nicest option would be to visit a Verizon Wireless Retail store to return the phone. They will contact the customer.
 
Option 1. Wait and see if the owner use find my iphone to send an alert to it

Option 2. Restore and jailbreak it and use it as an ipod touch

Option 3. Flash it to metro.


It's too bad there isnt a way to return it to the owner....but u really cant do anything w it, I doubt turning it in to the police will do anything, they're just gonna leave it there and eventually probably auction it off or something.
 
romeo0119 said:
Option 1. Wait and see if the owner use find my iphone to send an alert to it

Option 2. Restore and jailbreak it and use it as an ipod touch

Option 3. Flash it to metro.


It's too bad there isnt a way to return it to the owner....but u really cant do anything w it, I doubt turning it in to the police will do anything, they're just gonna leave it there and eventually probably auction it off or something.
Click to expand...

terrible advice.

OP, take it to Verizon. You don't want this phone. Trust me. It's not the same as an AT&T phone. It's cdma and has an exclusive meid. Totally useless.

Plus you'll gain karma points by doing the right thing. Keeping something that isn't yours will never lead to anything remotely good.
 
Seriously, OP, do you really need advice to know what the right thing to do is? Turn the phone in to the police or to Verizon.

You'll feel better knowing that you are not a thief, and at least where I live in the UK one can legally claim the found property from the police if no owner claims it. I wouldn't be surprised if this were also true in the US.
 
Umm maybe they shouldn't have been drunk n lost it in the first place! I know what the right thing was if it didnt have a lock on it i would have called whoever on the phone and returned it but it had the lock and they turned it off. I found it in VEGAS theres no way the Police would be to any help!

They should have a reward for this kinda crap if it were me and my lost phone id never see it again so why should I do the right thing...other than the fact that its of no use to me!!
 
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Can the Apple Store look up the persons info? I wouldn't just simply hand it to the Police or a VZW rep.
 
lgates said:
Umm maybe they shouldn't have been drunk n lost it in the first place! I know what the right thing was if it didnt have a lock on it i would have called whoever on the phone and returned it but it had the lock and they turned it off. I found it in VEGAS theres no way the Police would be to any help!

They should have a reward for this kinda crap if it were me and my lost phone id never see it again so why should I do the right thing...other than the fact that its of no use to me!!
Click to expand...

You're right, they should, and there should be, but that doesn't mean you have to be a bad guy. If there's an apple store near you, take it in, see if they can extract seem details. They may not, but won't you feel better for doing the decent thing?
 
lgates said:
Umm maybe they shouldn't have been drunk n lost it in the first place! I know what the right thing was if it didnt have a lock on it i would have called whoever on the phone and returned it but it had the lock and they turned it off. I found it in VEGAS theres no way the Police would be to any help!

They should have a reward for this kinda crap if it were me and my lost phone id never see it again so why should I do the right thing...other than the fact that its of no use to me!!
Click to expand...

so , you know what the right thing to do is (hand it into VZ Wireless store), but you won't hand in something useless to you because you want a reward?
 
I have no sympathy for the stupid things people do while drunk, but don't you remember what it used to be like to own an Apple product. You were joining the Apple community, everyone would share secrets with each other and help a brother (or sister) out if they were having trouble. Do not turn Apple ownership into ownership of a just a superior product.

Edit: I'm saying do everything possible to find the owner, even if it was their own fault for losing the phone.
 
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lgates said:
Umm maybe they shouldn't have been drunk n lost it in the first place! I know what the right thing was if it didnt have a lock on it i would have called whoever on the phone and returned it but it had the lock and they turned it off. I found it in VEGAS theres no way the Police would be to any help!

They should have a reward for this kinda crap if it were me and my lost phone id never see it again so why should I do the right thing...other than the fact that its of no use to me!!
Click to expand...

You make me cry for humanity. You won't do the thing unless you get something out of it? Maybe the owner shouldn't of been drunk and lost it? How do you know he was drunk? If you do know, then you didn't "find" the phone. If you don't know, then you're assuming and looking really ignorant right now.
And if it were you that lost it you'd never see it again? Thats because of people like you!
Doing the right thing, the honest thing, the honorable thing is reward into itself.
If you only do things for just what you can get out of it, then I feel sorry for you.
 
lgates said:
Umm maybe they shouldn't have been drunk n lost it in the first place! I know what the right thing was if it didnt have a lock on it i would have called whoever on the phone and returned it but it had the lock and they turned it off. I found it in VEGAS theres no way the Police would be to any help!

They should have a reward for this kinda crap if it were me and my lost phone id never see it again so why should I do the right thing...other than the fact that its of no use to me!!
Click to expand...
You've decided they were drunk?

As for WHY you should do the right thing: that's why it's called "the right thing".

I think it's clear: you don't really want to do the right thing. So, then just wait for the karma.:(
 
about 20 years ago i found a laptop at the bus stop. i'd always wanted one and i found one! something in me, though, made me want to try to return it. i brought it to work and hooked it up to a power supply (it's battery died after about 30 mins) and was able to spend time digging around until i found a word file the guy wrote for his work. had his name and company.

boy was that guy surprised when i called him up and told him i found his laptop!

wouldn't take a reward, just wanted to do the dude right. got some serious karma that day.

i would have always felt like a creep had i just kept it.
 
BlindMellon said:
about 20 years ago i found a laptop at the bus stop. i'd always wanted one and i found one! something in me, though, made me want to try to return it. i brought it to work and hooked it up to a power supply (it's battery died after about 30 mins) and was able to spend time digging around until i found a word file the guy wrote for his work. had his name and company.

boy was that guy surprised when i called him up and told him i found his laptop!

wouldn't take a reward, just wanted to do the dude right. got some serious karma that day.

i would have always felt like a creep had i just kept it.
Click to expand...

Same sort of thing happened to me too.

I was at Target and found a 3gs in a shopping cart by the electronics dept. It was locked so I waited until someone called the phone and told them to tell the owner to call me if he had a house number. Eventually the owner called his 3gs from a payphone and I gave him my address to come get it.

When he got there he was so relieved! He tried to give me $50 but I told him "Naw its cool, just make sure if you ever find an iPhone lying around that you find the owner as well" :)

Stealing a phone is bad juju OP, return it and do the right thing...
 
lgates said:
Ok so I found an Iphone 4 while on vacation....We tried to open it and call the last person but of course there was a lock on it and when we looked at it again it was already shut off.

Is there any way to get the phone turned back on with no sim card because it is verizon...what do I need to do to activate it
Click to expand...


So now you want to activate it and use it for yourself?

:rolleyes:
 
Hey you found it, that's my phone. Give me back my phone:p

Nah just turn the phone in to Verizon and move on if its that serious.

Personally I would go to Verison and ask what the process is for returning a lost phone to its owner that resides in a different city/state. If the process is done by the Sim card I'd just give them that first and once they contacted the owner only then would I hand over the phone. If after a month of follow ups here and there and still nothing, then the phone would simply be kept for spare parts.
 
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