iPad iPad Stolen and Passcode has Been Reset

[AaronM5670]

Hi,

I have had the very unpleasant experience of my iPad 2 being stolen from me, the theft was reported to the police and I have now just got it back.

The passcode has somehow been changed on it (I have no idea how) and I cannot access it.

Is there any way to access it? Or should I call Apple Support (bearing in mind the device is over 3 years old and obviously out of warranty)?

Thanks very much!

 

[maflynn]

There's not much you can do about it now. Did you have Find my iPad on it (assuming you have iOS7)?

That will at least render the iPAd useless to the thief. If the passcode was changed sounds like they guessed your code, i.e., it may have been a simple sequence like 1234

 

[AaronM5670]

I rang Apple Support and they said to put it in recovery mode and reset; that's the only option apparently. The support woman on the phone said it was possible they could have used some sort of police-style software to crack the passcode, although she clearly wasn't interested and just gave me an internet link to perform the reset as my iPad is 2 years+ out of warranty. The iPad has been returned to me now, and it wasn't connected to the internet so Find My iPhone would have been next to useless; I did think about it.

 

[SpyderBite]

Recovery mode is your only option. But as long as you have a backup this shouldn't be an issue. If you didn't back it up regularly and it wasn't setup for iCloud backup/sync then you are starting over from scratch and have learned a valuable lesson.

Count yourself lucky as most people don't see their stolen electronics ever again as majority are sent over seas.

The support rep wasn't disinterested with your situation; she was simply making you aware of your only option. It would still be your only option if it was still under warranty.

 

[AaronM5670]

Recovery mode is your only option. But as long as you have a backup this shouldn't be an issue. If you didn't back it up regularly and it wasn't setup for iCloud backup/sync then you are starting over from scratch and have learned a valuable lesson.

Count yourself lucky as most people don't see their stolen electronics ever again as majority are sent over seas.

The support rep wasn't disinterested with your situation; she was simply making you aware of your only option. It would still be your only option if it was still under warranty.

Yep, thank goodness it was regularly backed up to iCloud - I've always been one to ensure it is regularly backed up and take a "be safe rather than sorry" approach! I'm just installing the iTunes 11.2.2 update before starting up recovery mode and fingers crossed everything is OK.

If it was not recovered I would have simply claimed it on house insurance - I realise I am very lucky however!

 

[SHirsch999]

Are you sure they returned the right iPad?

 

[AaronM5670]

Are you sure they returned the right iPad?

I hope so and am fairly sure as it has the same case (cheap Amazon case with an official smart cover), and I vaguely remember the serial number and it seems to add up. It's the same 32GB WiFi + 3G model which isn't the most common either. I doubt the police would give me the wrong one, I'm sure they did some sort of identity check on it too - a long story.

 

[scaredpoet]

I rang Apple Support and they said to put it in recovery mode and reset; that's the only option apparently. The support woman on the phone said it was possible they could have used some sort of police-style software to crack the passcode,

Or, they could've used the same steps she gave you to reset the iPad and put in their own passcode.

 

[joplinG5]

Apple has been known to reset activation locks for corporate users and when the police request it. I'd ask the detective you dealt with to call Apple in your behalf and explain the situation. That just might be the "boost " you need to get this done. Nobody likes a call from the police... including Apple.

 

[AaronM5670]

Apple has been known to reset activation locks for corporate users and when the police request it. I'd ask the detective you dealt with to call Apple in your behalf and explain the situation. That just might be the "boost " you need to get this done. Nobody likes a call from the police... including Apple.

I tried, he said that there was nothing in his power that he could do, even as a policeman. A very strange situation though, not one I'd like to happen again to myself or anyone else for that matter.

----------

Also, I have just restored the iPad, luckily I had an iCloud backup from 13 days ago before it was nicked and everything seems to be working fine, although I'm expecting an overnight restore even with 50Mbps broadband.

 

[joplinG5]

I tried, he said that there was nothing in his power that he could do, even as a policeman. A very strange situation though, not one I'd like to happen again to myself or anyone else for that matter.

----------

Also, I have just restored the iPad, luckily I had an iCloud backup from 13 days ago before it was nicked and everything seems to be working fine, although I'm expecting an overnight restore even with 50Mbps broadband.

Dang! That's too bad. Seems like the police would want to see you "made whole" on the loss.

 

[firedept]

Looks like this story is going to have a happy ending. You never hear the good ending of getting the device back. Good on you for having properly backed up your device. Too many threads on here about "My data is lost and do no have a backup".

 

[AaronM5670]

Or, they could've used the same steps she gave you to reset the iPad and put in their own passcode.

On the phone, she went through quite a lot of security questions, asked for pretty much all of my personal details for verification and I was on the phone for a good 45 minutes going through it, so I don't think this would have been possible for a crook, and it also required my Apple ID to sign in and erase on iCloud/Find My iPhone.

Having said that though, any old Joe Bloggs who has any old PC - without even any basic technical knowledge whatsoever - could easily search for something like 'recovery mode' or 'forgotten iPad passcode' and have reset everything and had a new iPad for themselves or sold it, albeit with a serial number logged as stolen by the police.

 

[Ledgem]

Having said that though, any old Joe Bloggs who has any old PC - without even any basic technical knowledge whatsoever - could easily search for something like 'recovery mode' or 'forgotten iPad passcode' and have reset everything and had a new iPad for themselves or sold it, albeit with a serial number logged as stolen by the police.

iOS 7 changed things so that the situation you're worried about is no longer possible. You can reset the device, but the first boot-up screen will request the AppleID credentials that the device was linked to before the reset. There is no getting around that screen unless you enter the information correctly.

If you don't use iCloud on your device then that protective feature likely won't come into play. If the thief knows your AppleID login information then you're also in trouble; this is just one reason among many to have a strong AppleID password.

There was also some news that came out earlier this week or late last week that someone had figured out a way to bypass it. That hasn't been confirmed yet, and I'd imagine that Apple will issue a fix for it if it turns out to be true.

 

[AaronM5670]

There was also some news that came out earlier this week or late last week that someone had figured out a way to bypass it. That hasn't been confirmed yet, and I'd imagine that Apple will issue a fix for it if it turns out to be true.

That's what I was worried about. Modern thieves are pretty smart and will probably manage to bypass it somehow at any possible opportunity if they really want to access what's on it.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I rang Apple Support and they said to put it in recovery mode and reset; that's the only option apparently. The support woman on the phone said it was possible they could have used some sort of police-style software to crack the passcode, although she clearly wasn't interested and just gave me an internet link to perform the reset as my iPad is 2 years+ out of warranty. The iPad has been returned to me now, and it wasn't connected to the internet so Find My iPhone would have been next to useless; I did think about it.

If the thief had used some type of "police type software" to break into you iPad then all that Apple has done to protect us and our data is in the toilet. If the police got a back door, thieves do to.

 

[Ledgem]

That's what I was worried about. Modern thieves are pretty smart and will probably manage to bypass it somehow at any possible opportunity if they really want to access what's on it.

I'd wager that most thieves don't care about the data on the device. They probably want to use the device for themselves, or sell it.

If the thief wipes the device, then the data is lost. If you're worried about someone cracking your code and gaining access to your data or accounts, you can log in to your iCloud account and designate the device to be remotely wiped. Once it connects to the internet it will receive the command and will erase everything. It will still prompt the user for the AppleID login and password before the device can be set up new.

If you have your device set to back up to iCloud and/or if you've been backing up to iTunes regularly, wiping your device isn't a big deal. If you get it back (or if you buy a new one) you simply restore from the backup.

 

[charlituna]

Apple has been known to reset activation locks for corporate users and when the police request it. I'd ask the detective you dealt with to call Apple in your behalf and explain the situation. That just might be the "boost " you need to get this done. Nobody likes a call from the police... including Apple.

This isn't activation lock but a passcode. There is nothing they can remove for a user on a passcode. A Recovery restore is the only option.