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Don't expect a bureaucrat to solve your problems.

Don't expect him to know how to solve it. If it is a stupid bureaucrat he or she will think they know how to solve it and try to solve their "solution". If they are clever they figure out who knows how to solve and makes them solve the problem.

That's why demanding a "dead switch" was stupid - what Apple has in iOS7 is better.

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don't people carry pocket knives in public ?? I know its against the law, but i have a right to defend myself, nuts to what the law says...

I always have one on me all the time..

In Britain, you would go to jail for carrying a dangerous weapon if it is found out.

In Germany, if you hurt something with that knife and claimed self defence, you would be told that by carrying a knife with you you clearly demonstrated that you anticipated getting into a fight, so no self defence for you. If someone gets killed, carrying the knife would be premeditation which makes it murder (equivalent to 1st degree murder in the USA).

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Can't a thief open the phone and remove the battery and resettle memory. If the phone can be opened all bets are off.

Wrong. The state of an iPhone is on the flash drive, which you can't power off. You can't replace it with a different flash drive either because flash drive and processor have to match.
 
Activation Lock nor any of these proposed "kill switch" methods are going to be effective at stopping theft. When a would-be thief sees a person on their iPhone or iPad, they're not thinking "oh he might be on iOS 7 so I better not take that", they're going to snatch it anyway. All Activation Lock did was reduce the resale value of stolen phones but there is still value in them so they will still be stolen. That's why "Apple-Picking" thefts are still largely unchanged since the even with iOS 7.

As evidenced by eBay and some other venues I've encountered, there is already a large and growing market for the Activation Locked iPhones. The thief doesn't care whether he gets $50 or $100 for the phone, he got it for free and there are always large resellers who will buy them. No amount of kill-switching or blacklisting will prevent that.

People just need to be more careful with their devices and more wary of their surroundings when pulling out their phones.
 
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Umm, you do understand that those shows are *fiction*? That they don't reflect reality?

While there are a few organized groups, the *vast* majority of thefts are committed by people with low impulse control who just see something that they can take, grab it, and run. And then try to sell it on CL, or give it to someone else to sell.

Fictional crime shows need some sort of puzzle or mystery to solve, so they use these kinds of plots, but what you see on "Cops" is much, much more common.

WAIT ONE F@#$%^&* MINUTE! Are you seriously trying to tell me TV crime dramas aren't real? Sir that is blasphemy. You, you sir, need to re-evaluate your life. I mean come on dude! The next thing you're going to tell me is I've wasted 6 years of my life living at a Holiday Inn Express to further my education.

My TV shows are fiction? Balderdash!

Good day to you sir.

/walks into bathroom

/stacks meds into a six layer pyramid
 
It's so sad that thieves are usually not bright or opportunists who figure an iphone if just like any other device that they can sell on.

My wife had hers fall out her pocket and someone was not a good Samaritan and stole it for themselves (She only had a baby a few days before so not usual for her). Poor them though, the phone was activation locked, erased, IMEI blocked and reported to Police.

They must have no option but to sell for parts but they are unlikely to know how to do that.

I'm kind of the opinion that we have a great system in place as ios users that should stop most if not all thieves who want the phone.

The carriers should be blocked from making the decision on other phones though, it's important that law protect the customer from extortion and this is it in a nutshell!

The sale for parts issue is a big one though, it should be made impossible IMHO, repair and parts should be authorised only and made illegal though other vendors.
 
The easiest way to stop iphone, ipad, and imac theft is with the help of Apple.

Every time you use itunes to download and app, music, or video you need to connect to itunes and when you do it your device sends apple all the information of your device including serial number.

When you first buy your Apple device and you setup with itunes and with your icloud email and password Apple knows that you are the first buyer, they could disable all devices that get lost with find my iphone.

The only way for a device that is disabled thru icloud to be accesible with itunes and icloud will be with your email and password of your icloud account, if people lost this information they could go to an Apple with their original recepit to unlock the device.

Without access to itunes or icloud any locked device will be useless because you could not have any app, do any upgrade, etc, etc, etc.

Apple could stop all this if they want but they choose to do nothing instead.
 
Just to much money involved Greed

Folks this could be fixed in a months time, at least 80% by bringing back the blocked IMEI number database that has been in place for yearrrssss, and if Apple or any of these carriers tell you that it doesn't exist or this won't help in deterring thieves, they are Lying. I have been in the cell phone business for years, starting back in Houston Tx with Houston Cellular back in the day. For years we used this system for tracking stollen phones and removed them from the system (bricked) so they could not be used anymore. I remember that even if the phone was recovered by the owner it took an act of God to get it back on the system again.
Theres just been to much money being made off of stollen iPhones for Apple or these carries to really want to do anything about this. Sad but true.

Don't let anyone tell you this won't work. It has been in place for years and it does work.

And for the folks that will try and probably get around, i kind of agree with a prior post from Ryth.

Catch them..cut off their hands.

Worked in the past...would work now.

No real deterrence for crime nowadays.

So True So True

Joe
 
Not if it has iOS 7 and you remotely locked it after it's been stolen. If you don't have the apple ID and password associated to that phone to unlock it, it'll be basically a brick.

Exactly — and once word gets out, I'd think iOS devices would, over time, become a lot less appealing to steal, unless people want to start mining them for parts...
 
Odd that this occurs right after new iPhone releases...

I wonder if Apple could be paying people $50 per iPhone so those who have them stolen have to rebuy a new one.
An ambitious thief could make $200-500 cash a day easily & Apple turns around a sells a new $600+ iPhone.
 
If you really want to make sure "Find My iPhone" works after your phone is stolen, you need to prevent the thief from turning your iPhone off.

1. Fill in your SIM slot with superglue, so they can't pop it out.
2. Fill in the screws with superglue, so they can't take it apart.
2. Manually disable your sleep/wake button.

Then they can't turn off your iPhone. :D

You can still turn off via accessibility options. It gives you a little floating transparent dot that can turn the phone off. This is for folks who cannot press buttons easily. I understand this would need to be known but it can be done in a few seconds if they know about it and it is not passcode/finger print locked.
 
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I'm thinking an iPhone case made out of DetCord. Someone grabs your phone you press a button on your secret decoder ring or (iwatch) and ruin their day.

As a slightly less violent, but not nearly as much fun or bloody. A 2 or 3 watt resister that fries the phone. Resisters can hold a charge for a while. So They grab the phone. I bet I can press that button on my secret decoder ring before they can get it to power off while running. They end up with a smoldering pile of goo.

A Case filled with Bank INK that sprays them in the face? "I know what you did last night cause you are GREEN"

A Case filled with Pepper Spray that sprays them in the face? "I know what you did last night cause you are crying like a little girl"

Nah, I like the DETCORD. Makes a wicked noise too.

Come on my droogs... we need a bit of the old ultra-violence.

You mean capacitor. ;-)
 
I have found a foolproof way of avoiding getting my stuff stolen in NYC: don't go to NYC!

Right, like phones don't get stolen anywhere else. Most of the iPhones that get stolen here are owned by transplants who didn't grow up here and don't pay close attention to the environment around them. That bright screen at night is like a magnet for poor kids looking for "opportunities", like flashy jewelry was 30 years ago. I try not to use my iPhone in the subway or at night on a dark street, but unfortunately, smartphone addicts can't stop from using their phones even just for a half hour. Let's just hope that more of these "apple pickers" begin to realize that the phones with iOS 7, which should be the majority by early next year, are a lot less useful than they were before.
 
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If I'm on the London Tube, New York Subway, or L.A. Subway/Light Rail, iOS devices remain out of sight. I will admit I'm a bit more relaxed about this in L.A. using the light rail or Amtrak. New York or London? Hell no.

Exact opposite here in Hong Kong, you look out of place if you don't have your shinny new smartphone/tablet on display in use on the subway/public areas.

But again Hong Kong is not the Land of the Free. :rolleyes:
 
Exact opposite here in Hong Kong, you look out of place if you don't have your shinny new smartphone/tablet on display in use on the subway/public areas.

But again Hong Kong is not the Land of the Free. :rolleyes:

Going to Hong Kong was like going to a formal wearing t-shirts and jeans. Everyone looked at you funny cause of you weren't in "style".

I believe the people of Hong Kong lost their freedom in 1997. Their so called freedom is slowly wittering with all the officials and policies sent down from China.

Too bad there's nothing Hong Kong can do against the big communist state.
 
I believe the people of Hong Kong lost their freedom in 1997. Their so called freedom is slowly wittering with all the officials and policies sent down from China.

Too bad there's nothing Hong Kong can do against the big communist state.

We have very low taxes and crime is almost non existent here.

The Hong Kong government is so flush with cash, they give it back to residents most years recently.

I am perfectly fine with the big red dog across the border, and Apple seems to like it here too. :D
 
But did you get repaid for a new phone?

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"According to the New York Daily News, police believe such a measure would make it easier to search for stolen smartphones, Apple products, and other items, though pawn shop owners have opposed the bill, declaring it an invasion of customer privacy."

That's such a lame excuse.

No - I didn't.
 
Right, I'm sure they're concerned about privacy. It probably has nothing to do with the hit their business is going to take when they can't sell as many stolen goods. Pawn shops thrive on stolen goods, anything that helps deter that sort of activity is a big hit to their bottom line.

I know a few pawn shop owners, and believe it or not, they really don't want anything to do with stolen property. Why would they? Someone comes in and fences a stolen phone, the cops show up a few days later and confiscate it, and the pawn shop is out the cash.

Why would pawn shops be against these new measures? Because they're the ones that have to do all the work--keeping track of all the phones and carrying the burden of the entire process. This is not free--it costs the business owner money for something that they have nothing to do with.

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ha pick pocketing is such a normal occurance here in Barcelona, people dont even care anymore. One of my classmates is on her 3rd iPhone in 2 months and mine got stolen recently but i ran after him and got it back after he asked me which of those 4 iPhones he had in his bags were mine. its gotten so bad that if u bust them and get your stuff back they try it agaib literally one second later on your other pockets. its almost offensive, at least be a "polite" thief and leave after you get caught

It boggles my mind that there are places where people shrug off the idea of a thief stealing their $700 phone once a month as a minor inconvenience.

"Polite" thief? Eff that...you try taking my stuff, I'm going to try to make your day miserable.
 
If you really want to make sure "Find My iPhone" works after your phone is stolen, you need to prevent the thief from turning your iPhone off.

1. Fill in your SIM slot with superglue, so they can't pop it out.
2. Fill in the screws with superglue, so they can't take it apart.
2. Manually disable your sleep/wake button.

Then they can't turn off your iPhone. :D

They can jam the signal
 
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