Lost iPhone

[MrBump10]

My daughter lost her iPhone 5s with iOS 8 on it. However the battery had gone flat so we couldn't locate it!
I put it in lost mode and blocked the sim and IMEI so everything was disabled on it.
The phone had been lost for 5 days when someone tried turning it on, it notified us using a wifi address that it had never used before!
So how does it log on to a wifi and transmit its location if it doesn't know the password to the wifi?
We did get the phone back finally and all is good now. But how does that work, it has baffled me because in couldn't use the cellular because the sim was blocked?

 

[varatep]

Could have been a hotspot that the phone automatically connected to. Some routers accept all seeking devices depending on the settings.

 

[dotme]

My daughter lost her iPhone 5s with iOS 8 on it. However the battery had gone flat so we couldn't locate it!
I put it in lost mode and blocked the sim and IMEI so everything was disabled on it.
The phone had been lost for 5 days when someone tried turning it on, it notified us using a wifi address that it had never used before!
So how does it log on to a wifi and transmit its location if it doesn't know the password to the wifi?
We did get the phone back finally and all is good now. But how does that work, it has baffled me because in couldn't use the cellular because the sim was blocked?

Good question. I can only guess... maybe there was no password on the phone, or maybe the WiFi network name was one the phone already knew (like at a McDonalds or something)

 

[noekozz]

Chances are it probably found a wifi hot spot with open access.

Where was the phone? Did someone have it?

 

[tekkt0r]

Good question. I can only guess... maybe there was no password on the phone, or maybe the WiFi network name was one the phone already knew (like at a McDonalds or something)

^^^ this.

 

[heisenberg123]

like above posts it very likely the wifi it picked up was one you daughter once used

 

[MrBump10]

She had never been anywhere near this address as it's the opposite side of the Town to where we live and it actually gave me the house number 121 street name and post code (Zip code) when they tried turning the phone on I had put a message with my contact number. So yes we got it back. However when I called to police to say where it was they said they couldn't use an App like find my iPhone as evidence so could not go to the house to check it out!!

 

[heisenberg123]

She had never been anywhere near this address as it's the opposite side of the Town to where we live and it actually gave me the house number 121 street name and post code (Zip code) when they tried turning the phone on I had put a message with my contact number. So yes we got it back. However when I called to police to say where it was they said they couldn't use an App like find my iPhone as evidence so could not go to the house to check it out!!

I'm having a hard time recalling in my work expierence dealing with activation locked phones but I think you can still start the setup process and join a wifi before you get the activation locked screen

 

[deeddawg]

I put it in lost mode and blocked the sim and IMEI

Doing that basically prevents (1) Find my iPhone from finding it when turned on unless it lucks onto a wifi hotspot, and (2) any good natured person is blocked from trying to get it back to you (using Siri via "call home" or "call dad" or "redial" or answering when someone like you calls the phone, etc...

I think you can still start the setup process and join a wifi before you get the activation locked screen

If you DFU wipe / restore it does get the wifi setup before attempting to activate as I remember.

Makes sense, else how would a freshly restored phone check if it's in Lost mode without some form of network connectivity?

 

[MrBump10]

I didn't wipe remotely because just before you go to do it, a warning comes on saying "If you wipe your phone then you will no longer be able to locate it using find my iPhone"
It's as if when in lost mode it can log on to the closest wifi or the blocked sim allows it to send location info only?
What is even crazier location services were turned off when she lost it. But when you put it in to lost mode it automatically turns it on when the phone is turned on again?

----------

I had sent a request to the lost phone that once next turned on to ask for a pin code that I had set from my iPad find my iPhone app. So no one could of gotten past that screen without that code!

 

[heisenberg123]

Doing that basically prevents (1) Find my iPhone from finding it when turned on unless it lucks onto a wifi hotspot, and (2) any good natured person is blocked from trying to get it back to you (using Siri via "call home" or "call dad" or "redial" or answering when someone like you calls the phone, etc...




If you DFU wipe / restore it does get the wifi setup before attempting to activate as I remember.

Makes sense, else how would a freshly restored phone check if it's in Lost mode without some form of network connectivity?

thanks for confirming I was thinking that was the case

 

[deeddawg]

I had sent a request to the lost phone that once next turned on to ask for a pin code that I had set from my iPad find my iPhone app. So no one could of gotten past that screen without that code!

Look up "DFU Restore". The process wipes the phone and reloads the OS. No need for PIN to do this since it can be done without getting into the phone.

However, with Activation Lock since iOS7, the phone checks in with Apple when activating to see if it's been marked as Lost -- this happens after the person doing the restore sets up the phone onto their wifi in the activation screens.

 

[noobinator]

Tell us how you got the phone back already!

 

[techiegirl]

I don't know what cellular service you have. I have AT&T and I know that AT&T automatically connects my phone to their wifi. If I'm at McDonald's or Starbucks or anywhere with AT&T hotspot, my phone automatically connects, even though I don't want to and never wanted to.

 

[noekozz]

I don't know what cellular service you have. I have AT&T and I know that AT&T automatically connects my phone to their wifi. If I'm at McDonald's or Starbucks or anywhere with AT&T hotspot, my phone automatically connects, even though I don't want to and never wanted to.

You can always just turn off your wifi and turn it on when you get home. Any open hot spot that doesn't need a p/w, the phone is going to jump on, since it's constantly searching for it unless you turn it off.

 

[stasha]

Can you tell us how you get your phone back? Could be a lesson to learn ,do you knock that door and ask where s my iphone? Should we bring cops if the phone is in someone ´s house?

 

[MrBump10]

We got the phone back because the person who had it was the girlfriend of the guy who stole it from the cafe where my daughter had been!
When the phone came active and I had the address I asked the cafe owner did he recognise the address and he said no! But he as I had hoped asked his employees did they know the address? So we believe one of the waiters had stole it and gave it to his girlfriend but when the owner said did anyone know the address, they must of gotten worried and decided to return it. Because we had left my daughters name in the cafe they found my daughter on Facebook and brought it to our house 3 hrs after I spoke with the cafe owner. She even had the cheek to ask for a reward for allegedly buying a stolen iPhone! My daughter said she would speak to me about a reward, she even text my daughter her bank details for me to pay a reward in to her account! So for the cheek of it all I passed every bit of info on to the police, and that was the last we heard about it.

 

[Jtludwig]

Lost iPhone

You can always just turn off your wifi and turn it on when you get home. Any open hot spot that doesn't need a p/w, the phone is going to jump on, since it's constantly searching for it unless you turn it off.

This is not correct. The iPhone doesn't automatically connect to any open hotspot unless you've previously connected to it or one with the same name.

The AT&T IPhones with the McDonald's and Starbucks access points are special.