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From what I've heard apple only does that with a judicial order ...
No. Apple is free to disable/brick a device on their own volition if they believe it's required. They're also free to ban the serial number of the phone that are reported missing or stolen, making it useless with networks. Apple's had issues with phones being stolen from their stores before. They simply disable the devices. The monetary value is in the parts. That's it.

In the same manner, newer generations of iPhones and Android phones have pattern and key unlocking, coupled with extras. You get a few attempts, but each additional attempt increases the time between attempts, and one it reaches a set number, the phone wipes itself and locks itself down.
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I think it's the carrier that locks devices ...

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201472
That's in reference to the IMEI number. The phones also have their own unique serial number. When you report a stolen iPhone to your carrier, they place the IMEI/MEID into a blacklist that gets circulated these days with other networks. This prevents the phone from being used. The actual phone's serial number must be manually included in a ban list. You call Apple and give them the serial number of the phone, which your service provider has. Apple makes a note in their system, and if somehow someone wants to register your phone with a new Apple account, it will show up as banned hardware. This is straight from the Genius bar when I picked up my wife's phone last year.

iPhones were initially stolen a decade ago because they had weak security and it was easier to reuse the phone. It's not simple these days unless you're very committed, and then it can still be a fruitless effort. It's the data within the phone that's valuable. Thankfully, Apple's made it difficult to get access to said data, even if the phone is taken apart and the memory is examined with special tools and software. There's also iCloud locks and other stuff that automate the required call to Apple support.

None of this applies to your situation. You're worried about not getting your money back. Rest assured, you will get your money back. Provided you're not lying to VISA, neither VISA or MasterCard or the other major creditors will bother with the fallout over a EUR5000 loss, which is a drop in the ocean for them. For what it's worth, the investigation departments of these companies are often more advanced than police departments and even government agencies.
 
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No. Apple is free to disable/brick a device on their own volition if they believe it's required. They're also free to ban the serial number of the phone that are reported missing or stolen, making it useless with networks. Apple's had issues with phones being stolen from their stores before. They simply disable the devices. The monetary value is in the parts. That's it.

In the same manner, newer generations of iPhones and Android phones have pattern and key unlocking, coupled with extras. You get a few attempts, but each additional attempt increases the time between attempts, and one it reaches a set number, the phone wipes itself and locks itself down.
[doublepost=1492382768][/doublepost]
That's in reference to the IMEI number. The phones also have their own unique serial number. When you report a stolen iPhone to your carrier, they place the IMEI/MEID into a blacklist that gets circulated these days with other networks. This prevents the phone from being used. The actual phone's serial number must be manually included in a ban list. You call Apple and give them the serial number of the phone, which your service provider has. Apple makes a note in their system, and if somehow someone wants to register your phone with a new Apple account, it will show up as banned hardware. This is straight from the Genius bar when I picked up my wife's phone last year.

iPhones were initially stolen a decade ago because they had weak security and it was easier to reuse the phone. It's not simple these days unless you're very committed, and then it can still be a fruitless effort. It's the data within the phone that's valuable. Thankfully, Apple's made it difficult to get access to said data, even if the phone is taken apart and the memory is examined with special tools and software. There's also iCloud locks and other stuff that automate the required call to Apple support.

Thanks

Do you have a link so I can get more info on that ?
 
They might not even investigate unless there is absolutely clear evidence where they could catch the person. Sometimes it's not worth the time. VISA will take the loss, Apple will have almost nothing to do with it, to them it's just another transaction/sale. As everyone has said, VISA will reverse their charge to you and will issue a new card. Everyone moves on.
This is not true. Apple will take the loss as the merchant. However, after that, everyone will move on. Apple will put it against their profits as a loss. The rest is true.

What would be interesting is to find out how they got his card number, and from where.
 
Look at this:

Hello.
Does Apple have a database where victims of thefts could enter the device's serial number, so that a person who wants to buy a used device could check the serial number? My MacBook Pro was stolen 2 days ago in San Francisco, at the Golden Gate Park.

---

No. Contact the local police. Apple is not in the stolen property recovery business. It would be impractical for Apple to maintain such a list for many reasons including:

People would not report current status so the list would quickly become out of date
There could be false reports made to the list by disgruntled ex-spouses, etc.
Unscrupulous sellers could report computers stolen
etc.

Or this:

e5aa1c42ba311a4eff0c6879b551fef9.jpg
 
This is not true. Apple will take the loss as the merchant. However, after that, everyone will move on. Apple will put it against their profits as a loss. The rest is true.

What would be interesting is to find out how they got his card number, and from where.

I use my card on netflix, PayPal and AliExpress ...
 
There is a scam going around saying that someone used your card via PayPal on ITunes I spoke to apple and they confirmed no payments were made always check with bank and apple
 
Look at this:

Hello.
Does Apple have a database where victims of thefts could enter the device's serial number, so that a person who wants to buy a used device could check the serial number? My MacBook Pro was stolen 2 days ago in San Francisco, at the Golden Gate Park.

---

No. Contact the local police. Apple is not in the stolen property recovery business. It would be impractical for Apple to maintain such a list for many reasons including:

People would not report current status so the list would quickly become out of date
There could be false reports made to the list by disgruntled ex-spouses, etc.
Unscrupulous sellers could report computers stolen
etc.

Or this:

e5aa1c42ba311a4eff0c6879b551fef9.jpg

Which is incorrect. Apple will add a serial number to their internal database. You need to speak to a high tier support staff member. This prevents thieves from changing the IMEI number and being able to use the phone again. Through the device serial number, Apple can determine where a phone is pinging from and where it was sold. Apple will not do the legwork for you, though. This is what that user is trying to say. Apple have the capability to brick a phone, whether they'll admit that or not is up to them. Remote bricking of hardware and software isn't a new concept. If someone were to steal your iPhone, do a reset or sign out from iCloud/Apple Services and sign in, they wouldn't be able to use the phone to download software on their new ID or do anything that requires device handoff authentication. They could, however, jailbreak it. Which is useless to them if they plan on selling it, not parting it out. I'd place little emphasis on what Apple users say on Apple's forums, which aren't staffed by anyone who works at Apple.


Yes, and still useless if you report it to Apple to break any software capability aside from reporting your IMEI number to your carrier. I can't speak for iPads or their computers. I doubt Apple maintain such a blacklist because the theft of these aren't as important as a phone. Though anyone with a few minutes can bypass the password set for an account in OSX/macOS. On older laptops that used a physical drive, you could pop it into another computer and copy/paste the data. The same exists under Windows, except bypassing the software is convoluted and long. Easy to drop it into another computer and then figure out the file ownership and permissions. Ideally, you'd want to encrypt the data on your mobile computer using a third party tool that encrypts in AES256. Provided you don't pick a stupid password, it'll be hard for anyone decrypt.


I'm not sure why you're concerning yourself over stolen goods bought using your compromised card. The end result of those goods have no relation to you apart from your compromised card. Provided those goods are still in transit, they can be turned around. Stolen cards are only successful once the thief has attained the goods. My advice is to focus on helping Apple and or VISA if they request information from you. Other than that, enjoy your new card.

Too many people on this site go down the proverbial rabbit hole concerning themselves in these matters when people are investigating it. People whose job is to protect and amend any fraud committed by another party pretending to be you.
 
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This is not true. Apple will take the loss as the merchant. However, after that, everyone will move on. Apple will put it against their profits as a loss. The rest is true.

What would be interesting is to find out how they got his card number, and from where.

Thanks for the correction. At the end of the day, unless this is some part of a bigger theft scheme, the person who committed the fraudulent act will likely get away with it (whether or not Apple disables any applicable devices is irrelevant), any applicable parties will take whatever losses and move on, no one, especially big companies, are going to waste any resources tracking down one individual.
 
From what I've heard apple only does that with a judicial order ...
If it's a fraud,how difficult will it be to get a juridical order? Apple has probably already blocked the devices.
The only part in this,that concern you,is the card fraud,and that's something VISA will solve,Apple has almost nothing to do with the fraud itself.
 
I once bought a used MacBook that was used to buy thousands of dollars worth of iTunes purchases. No matter what new email address I used or name/address combo I used, trying to create a new iTunes account was instantly disabled. I called Apple to see why and they said that my MacBook was used to create several hundred iTunes accounts over a few years and the total outstanding balance on all the accounts was well over $6,000. They told me that any account I tried to make using that MacBook would not be opened. I ended up getting rid of the MacBook and finally was able to get past all this once I bought a brand new MacBook Pro.

As far as I know, the $6,000 in debt never got paid and Apple never tried looking for the person responsible other then insinuating it was me because I now owned that MacBook and no proof of purchase from Apple.

I also had to get new bank card numbers including credit card and debit card numbers. The ones I tried opening new accounts were banned forever. This was in 2011.
 
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Sorry, what does it mean: a huge uptick ? (sorry not my native language)

This happened to a friend.

When he called to cancel the card the bank said they were trying to catch the person and delayed cancelling the card. He wasn't out of pocket but he never found out what happened.
 
Never ever buy anything unless you are sure it's not stolen property.
I agree. I will never EVER buy anything used again after dealing this. It took many months to get passed this. I was still afraid that this might catch up with me again with the new MacBook Pro and so I was cautious in buying anything on iTunes for a few years.

The account I had up to that point got disabled as well and I lost thousands of dollars in purchases of movies and TV shows. The purchases continued to work for about two years after all this and then one day, my computer was deactivated from that account but my new account was working and still works today.
 
An important caveat to anyone who uses a credit card for purchases: It's a good idea to review your account periodically to look for fraudulent charges. That way, you can report them and not be liable for them while the FI is investigating. Their fraud-detection software will sometimes pick these up (for example, if a purchase is outside your usual buying pattern), but not always.
 
It matters because I want to know ! That was the intent of this post ...??


Apple doesn't investigate anything, your card issuer does. Most likely it will just get written off and they will move on unless they can get a credible lead. This is not Apple's responsibility so there is nothing for them to do.
 
Most likely it will just get written off
The police will take a report, but file it away. The credit card will document, but they'll not do anything further. It doesn't make economic sense to do anything further, its easier and less expensive to write off the loss
 
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To clear some stuff up here.

Apple will not take the hit if they followed proper protocol, and can provide evidence that they complied with all of Visa's requirements. As an example, if a signature transaction took place in store, if Apple can provide the signed receipt, they won't take the hit.

Apple *can* mark laptops, iPhones, etc, as stolen. All this means, however, is that they will be denied service at Apple stores/via AppleCare, and in the case of iPhones, the IMEI will be blacklisted in the country of purchase, if that country operates such a blacklist. Apple doesn't have any way to blacklist devices from working, though.

Beyond that, Visa will simply hand the details over to the police, and it's down to them from there. Visa isn't going to spend time (read: money) chasing a criminal - if you have stuff stolen from your house you don't go after the thief yourself - you let the police do it. They do the same. They'll do a quick investigation to make sure it was actually fraud, and not you conning them, but beyond that, they won't care.
 
To clear some stuff up here.

Apple will not take the hit if they followed proper protocol, and can provide evidence that they complied with all of Visa's requirements. As an example, if a signature transaction took place in store, if Apple can provide the signed receipt, they won't take the hit.

Apple *can* mark laptops, iPhones, etc, as stolen. All this means, however, is that they will be denied service at Apple stores/via AppleCare, and in the case of iPhones, the IMEI will be blacklisted in the country of purchase, if that country operates such a blacklist. Apple doesn't have any way to blacklist devices from working, though.

Beyond that, Visa will simply hand the details over to the police, and it's down to them from there. Visa isn't going to spend time (read: money) chasing a criminal - if you have stuff stolen from your house you don't go after the thief yourself - you let the police do it. They do the same. They'll do a quick investigation to make sure it was actually fraud, and not you conning them, but beyond that, they won't care.

As far as I know it's not apple (or Samsung or any other company) that gives the IMEI to a cellular company to be blocked !
 
As far as I know it's not apple (or Samsung or any other company) that gives the IMEI to a cellular company to be blocked !

Not normally, but they *can*. If a sim-free phone is stolen, they can report it.

They won't do it for *you*, but they *can*.
 
To clear some stuff up here.

Apple will not take the hit if they followed proper protocol, and can provide evidence that they complied with all of Visa's requirements. As an example, if a signature transaction took place in store, if Apple can provide the signed receipt, they won't take the hit.
But, I've already been ridiculed at suggesting this could be in-store. Apparently, we should always assume the transaction was online or over the phone, I'm not clear. And, I have no respect for the OP.

Assume it was in-store. The cardholder is not going to be liable. Who do you suggest is going to be out money?
 
But, I've already been ridiculed at suggesting this could be in-store. Apparently, we should always assume the transaction was online or over the phone, I'm not clear. And, I have no respect for the OP.

Assume it was in-store. The cardholder is not going to be liable. Who do you suggest is going to be out money?
The credit card company,or the bank,always take the economic loss,if the card owner is not responsible.
 
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