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iPhone 5 is locked..please help

S

shizashams2417

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2014
2
0
so i bought a phone, an iphone 5 to be specific, the phone was ordered from UK, and i live in different country. the phone is locked, and it says
"This iPhone is currently linked to an Apple ID (l******@hotmail.com). Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iPhone."
I have no contact with the owner of this phone, and the phone is locked. This phone was bought randomly from some dude selling on the street in UK. When I turn on the phone, all it says is "This iPhone is currently linked to an Apple ID (l******@hotmail.com). Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iPhone". I have been told that I need to login using the id and password that was used to register this phone, but I have no contact with the owner. I have searched and searched, but I have not found a solution. ANy ideas??
 
shizashams2417 said:
so i bought a phone, an iphone 5 to be specific, the phone was ordered from UK, and i live in different country. the phone is locked, and it says
"This iPhone is currently linked to an Apple ID (l******@hotmail.com). Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iPhone."
I have no contact with the owner of this phone, and the phone is locked. This phone was bought randomly from some dude selling on the street in UK. When I turn on the phone, all it says is "This iPhone is currently linked to an Apple ID (l******@hotmail.com). Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iPhone". I have been told that I need to login using the id and password that was used to register this phone, but I have no contact with the owner. I have searched and searched, but I have not found a solution. ANy ideas??
Click to expand...

There is nothing you can do, the phone is nothing more than a paperweight. It was likely stolen to begin with.

Next time, you should probably not buy a phone from a guy selling it on the street. Usually a red flag that something isn't right.

Sorry, but you're money is gone and there's nothing you can do with the phone.
 
I think it was a mistake buying a phone from some dude selling it on the street. Obviously it was a stolen phone and thanks to iOS7 and its activation lock you cannot do anything with it.
 
Tyler23 said:
There is nothing you can do, the phone is nothing more than a paperweight. It was likely stolen to begin with.

Next time, you should probably not buy a phone from a guy selling it on the street. Usually a red flag that something isn't right.

Sorry, but you're money is gone and there's nothing you can do with the phone.
Click to expand...

theres nothing at all?? no chances??
http://unlock-icloud.com/
this site says something about unlocking iphones.......have you ever used this..this icloud remover?

----------
antiprotest said:
Use it as a paperweight or some sort of decoration.
Click to expand...

thanks for your help!! -_- my my, you were so hepful my device is unlocked now!! -_-
 
Why would you ever buy an iPhone from some random guy on the street. You just bought yourself a very pretty paper weight. Nothing can be done without that password.
 
Those sites will charge you money to unlock it and none of them will work.

Don't waste any more money trying to unlock it.

The cheap iphone deals on street corners are cheap for a reason.
 
Unfortunately as much as it sucks and I know because its happened to me too, but there's nothing you can do besides get the original owner to give you that information. Apple can't help you either unfortunately.

What you could do is sell it for parts online and at least get some of your money back.
 
Nothing you can do. The one, and ONLY ONE, thing you could do is contact the owner and remove the lock. This is Activation Lock, meant to deter theft. My question to you is why didn't you check it when you bought it?

shizashams2417 said:
thanks for your help!! -_- my my, you were so hepful my device is unlocked now!! -_-
Click to expand...

Was a little rude I'll admit, but he/she is right. All you have now is a fancy, expensive paper weight. Take this as a lesson learned.
 
shizashams2417 said:
theres nothing at all?? no chances??
http://unlock-icloud.com/
this site says something about unlocking iphones.......have you ever used this..this icloud remover?

----------



thanks for your help!! -_- my my, you were so hepful my device is unlocked now!! -_-
Click to expand...

Sorry bud, he gave you the best advice you can do. You didn't do the proper research before hand and now you're stuck with a paper weight. Thinking about taking it to the Apple Store, don't, they can't do anything either. Just take it as a loss and educational opportunity.
 
He can sell it for parts online and get some of the money back. I forgot what model it even was now, but if its a 5 I would guess maybe $50 for parts. $50 is $50 more than $0.

Hoppesangen said:
Sorry bud, he gave you the best advice you can do. You didn't do the proper research before hand and now you're stuck with a paper weight. Thinking about taking it to the Apple Store, don't, they can't do anything either. Just take it as a loss and educational opportunity.
Click to expand...
 
I would email the owner and ask about it. Maybe you can legitimately claim it or maybe he will offer a reward. But then I wouldn't buy a phone off the street corner....

Edit: Sorry I wasn't thinking. You probably don't really have the full email address. :(
 
You could always sell it on a street corner. Other than that, sell it to some repair shop or on eBay for spare parts. I guess returning it to the original owner is not possible? Also, if it was stolen, couldn't the original owner use find my iphone to locate where you are keeping it and possibly send the police to arrest you for the theft? Just saying, you might not want to hold onto it very long.
 
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Selling it for parts or turning it into police is about all you can do now. Consider it a lesson learned and move on.
 
He says this phone was bought from abroad, from some dude selling it on the street in the UK. Well surely the Op then bought it on the Internet and imported it? Which was it?

Not that it matters much - as others have said the phone is good only for parts now.
 
shizashams2417 said:
theres nothing at all?? no chances??
http://unlock-icloud.com/
this site says something about unlocking iphones.......have you ever used this..this icloud remover?
Click to expand...
Sir, you've been duped once. Stop while you are ahead. There is absolutely no way you can unlock that phone without the original owner's information. Those sites are probably being maintained by the guy on the street that sold you the phone in the first place. They will take your phone, your $50 dollars and walk out and sell it to the next sucker.

The good news is that you can change from a sapp into a 'fine human being' by walking to the nearest police station and turning the phone in. The original owner may have filed a police report.

Stiff upper lip and such.

Lesson 1:
If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.
Click to expand...
Lesson 2:
Before handing the cash over, ask the seller to tap->Settings->General->Reset->Erase All Content and Settings. Ensure the activation lock is removed.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
960design said:
...The good news is that you can change from a sapp into a 'fine human being' by walking to the nearest police station and turning the phone in. The original owner may have filed a police report.

Stiff upper lip and such.
Click to expand...

Great advice above.

Your purchase is exactly the same as if you bought a phone that no longer worked -meaning broken, out of commission.

Sorry.
 
I'm not sure if its so much as these phones are stolen so much as they are phones that are legitimately sold without the ORIGINAL seller realizing they left iCloud on the buyer not being aware of the Activation Lock until its too late. Not saying this is every case, but I don't believe that every case is the case of a stolen phone.

I've never been a fan of the activation lock feature. I think it creates more headache than its worth and seems to do more bad than good. Find My iPhone is secure enough that anyone who honestly cares enough about there phone should be able to go in and lock and/or erase there iphone if something every should happen to it.....but that's just my unprofessional opinion :apple: :cool:
 
In the first sentence he says he ordered the phone online from the UK and he is in a different country and then says he bought it from a person in the street.. It's quite common practice for blacklisted phones to shipped abroad and i don't really believe the OP didn't know the phone was stolen so i'm kinda glad he lost his money serves him right.
 
Theoretically it could be done but practically probably not. I know for a fact that apple employees have access to switch icloud credentials for given IMEI and I witnessed it my self but it is not something they are allowed to do. Chronicunlocks has this service for $150 but I've never used it so I'm not sure if it works.
The software thing advertised on YouTube and other places is a most likely scam. I also heard about using SIM card with pin lock that would activate the iPhone but network would be off.
 
Last edited:
shizashams2417 said:
theres nothing at all?? no chances??
http://unlock-icloud.com/
this site says something about unlocking iphones.......have you ever used this..this icloud remover?

----------



thanks for your help!! -_- my my, you were so hepful my device is unlocked now!! -_-
Click to expand...

Not *your* device. It's the device of the owner it was originally stolen from.

Someone might have been physically hurt or attacked while someone stole that phone from them. Think about who you're giving money to.
 
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