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Notify Apple of Stolen iphone

A

aj701

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 27, 2008
4
0
so around 11pm last night I was jumped by 3 thugs who stole my iphone (1st gen). It was pwned and on tmobile, i called tmobile and put service on hold, i got the imei number and gave it to the police who i guess might try and track it... but i don't think it's likely :(
does anybody know how this works? and should i notify apple of the stolen phone so if it's hooked into itunes it will show up as stolen, and maybe lock the phone up?
I am so angry right now!
any help on what to do would be greatly appreciated.
 
Apple does keep records of stolen computers, so I'd be surprised if phones are different. They mark the serial number as stolen in their system, and if it comes back for service they know it's stolen. Maybe they don't bother doing that with the phones, I don't know...
 
I'm really sorry but I don't think they will do anything. Mine was lost/stolen and AT+T said the only thing they could do for me was call it and see if someone answered it.

I know Apple is a different company but I read all kinds of stories that basically even if your IMEI was reported stolen the phone can still be activated on iTunes and Apple does not pursue the person or work with you to try to get it back:(

However, you may be able to get a refund from you credit card if you file a police report.......you may want to call them.
 
If you have cell insurance, file a police report, pay $50, and the insurance will pay the rest.

If you live or are in a ghetto place I suggest not showing them anything flashy and expensive.
 
thanks for the replies... ac people here mentioned apple doesn;t do anything, even though i have the stolen imei number, the people who mugged me can still activate via itunes, and even call for tech support :(
after this incident I will be getting an AMEX card and making all mobile gadget purchases on it... ugh
 
amex will only cover purchases for 90 days, which is better than nothing i guess.... u can always try going into a store with your IMEI number and have them type it in to see if its on an account?
 
if nobody will do anything than whats the point of IMEI numbers, i thought the whole purpose was to curb theft.
 
as with most serial numbers, IMEI is more for inventory purposes... we can search customer accounts by the IMEI and see who is using it.

try calling regular customer service and checking, 18003310500.
 
Gimzotoy said:
Apple does keep records of stolen computers, so I'd be surprised if phones are different. They mark the serial number as stolen in their system, and if it comes back for service they know it's stolen.
Click to expand...

They do NOT do this.

We had several MacBook Air's stolen from central receiving at my job and our statewide Apple education rep said they do not, and will not flag serial numbers as stolen due to liability issues.
 
goodcow said:
They do NOT do this.

We had several MacBook Air's stolen from central receiving at my job and our statewide Apple education rep said they do not, and will not flag serial numbers as stolen due to liability issues.
Click to expand...

thats wiggity wack.
 
lakaiordie said:
thats wiggity wack.
Click to expand...

Not really.

Now in they had a computer version of the NICB, and built a central database from insurance and police reports it would be different.

Apple is loath to do much without warrants, or court orders.

Can't blame them really.
 
Hmm. A family member had an Apple laptop stolen, and Apple wanted the serial number supposedly so they could watch if it ever came in for service, although we never heard anything. That's been many years ago, now. Maybe they stopped? Or maybe they just told her that's what they'd do to appease her? Not sure...

I guess I'm not surprised. If they did, some idiot would probably sue because Apple never returned their stolen laptop/phone.
 
Apple does not keep track of stolen products as someone mentioned earlier due to liability issues. Apple cannot verify whether a particular product has been stolen or not. Also Apple legally cannot confiscate or refuse service to a product they believe to be stolen as they cannot verify whether the product is stolen or not; Apple is not law enforcement so they legally cannot do anything for you if a product is stolen and Apple is aware of it. So to the OP, its unfortunately time to buy a new phone.
 
My Iphone was stolen

Early moring of new year's day my 3G iphone serial # 849317PJ3NP IME1011985002928017 was stolen at an hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. I reported to the police but no recovery has been done.
Is there a way Apple can help in tracing and blocking the phone?
Henry
 
You better be careful that these thugs do not do worst if they see you again for only having a 1st gen iPhone.

Get over the theft, buy another phone and move on. Thousands of iPhones are lost or stolen every day and Apple is not going to help you one bit!
 
Last edited:
cWeems said:
as with most serial numbers, IMEI is more for inventory purposes... we can search customer accounts by the IMEI and see who is using it.
Click to expand...
For inventory control, and in the case of CDMA, to activate phones within their database. That way you cannot activate a sprint phone on the VZW network (or vice versa).

Its unfortunate but apple and carriers don't want to be in the business of tracking, and reuniting stolen merchandise with the victims. They're in the business of selling phones. May be harsh but there's no profit in it for them, they'll be dedicating resources and people just to do that purpose.

Then there's the liability of failing to return a phone. What happens if one slips through the cracks. You can be sure in this society, a lawsuit will be filed at that point. So its a headache that will cost apple and/or carriers lots of money, open them up to the possibility of lawsuits and will not create any revenue streams.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

Unfortunately poliece usually don't do anything to find lost or stolen phones. Given the number of stolen phone reports they get each hour it's a huge waste of resources. Apple does nothing as well. So you will just have to buy a new phone.
 
henry mweemba said:
Early moring of new year's day my 3G iphone serial # 849317PJ3NP IME1011985002928017 was stolen at an hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. I reported to the police but no recovery has been done.
Is there a way Apple can help in tracing and blocking the phone?
Henry
Click to expand...

Uhh, you should blur out those numbers
 
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