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Phone stolen DURING call - pass code lock?

F

fosman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 10, 2005
24
0
Hi,

I've just had my phone stolen. A kid rode up behind me and grabbed it from my hand WHILE I was on a call.

I tired to find it via my ipad - but it's offline. My worry is that, as I was on a call, the phone did not revert to a passcode lock - allowing him to turn on airplane mode and prevent a remote wipe.

I know the call ended. I have a 1 min auto lock on the phone. When the call ends (that is longer than a minute) does it revert to a passcode screen? Or stay live until I lock it?

Obviously angry and upset, but now worried about data. I have cancelled the sim, reported the imei number and remote wiped the phone, but find my iPhone shows the wipe as pending and the phone offline.

Advice appreciated!

Fx
 
fosman said:
Hi,

I've just had my phone stolen. A kid rode up behind me and grabbed it from my hand WHILE I was on a call.

I tired to find it via my ipad - but it's offline. My worry is that, as I was on a call, the phone did not revert to a passcode lock - allowing him to turn on airplane mode and prevent a remote wipe.

I know the call ended. I have a 1 min auto lock on the phone. When the call ends (that is longer than a minute) does it revert to a passcode screen? Or stay live until I lock it?

Obviously angry and upset, but now worried about data. I have cancelled the sim, reported the imei number and remote wiped the phone, but find my iPhone shows the wipe as pending and the phone offline.

Advice appreciated!

Fx
Click to expand...

What a loser!!! It's a sad thing but this is the world that we live in. Sorry for your loss OP.


As for your data, I believe it is out of your hands now. All you can do is to go to iCloud.com and click remote wipe. If the kid ever turns the phone on or connects it to wifi, then the phone will be wiped right then and you will get an email confirmation. Otherwise, the kid might just go to itunes and do a restore from dfu mode. Either way, all you can do is pray that you get that confirmation email as thats the most you can do. If you dont get the email, then...well you know
 
I always carry a MacBook Air, when my phone was stolen in a not to dissimilar fashion I was able to wipe it in mere moments after it was gone.

I didn't even try and track it, even though "find my phone" was activated. Instead I quickly turned it into a brick. Wiping out my data was far more important to me than a phone I can easily replace.

AT&T was the second move I made and they were equally quick to shut down the line. One of many reasons I have been very satisfied with their service over the years.

The system Apple has setup to deal with these situations is excellent as long as we are prepared.

The third and last action I took was to go to my local Apple store, buy a new iPhone and restored it ever so easily. You can't beat that. Total time from theft to resuming with a new iPhone was incredibly short.
 
If you haven't already, I'd be changing all your passwords on sensitive apps immediately. Email, Facebook, banking, eBay, amazon etc.
 
makes me wonder, why is "Find My Iphone" tied to a icloud or apple account and not phone's imei number? that way, even if the phone reset'ed to another icloud account, it can still be traced.

is there a technology or legal limitation or just that manufacturer doesn't want to do ...

i understand, there are potential issues if the phone exchanges hand when being sold second hand, any app that can do this ??
 
Sorry to hear about your phone... What above poster have said is good advice. Change your passwords.
 

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How did you buy the stolen phone? Did you use a major credit card? Also did you file a police report? All this things help in case a credit card or third party insurance can send you a replacement, instead of you blowing another $800 at the Apple store unless your income is a favorable one.
 
ParagJain said:
makes me wonder, why is "Find My Iphone" tied to a icloud or apple account and not phone's imei number? that way, even if the phone reset'ed to another icloud account, it can still be traced.

is there a technology or legal limitation or just that manufacturer doesn't want to do ...

i understand, there are potential issues if the phone exchanges hand when being sold second hand, any app that can do this ??
Click to expand...

Those potential issues are quite serious wouldn't you say? Buy a phone from a random dude in Cragslist, you meet in neutral/public place, specifically so the guy doesn't know where you live, next thing you know he's tracking all your movements, knows where you live and knows when you're not home. No thanks. I'd much rather deal with the consequences of my phone getting stolen and me being SOL, having to buy a new phone then the alternative. I'm also sure Apple and other companies aren't going to want to deal with the very serious lawsuits that would follow
 
2IS said:
Those potential issues are quite serious wouldn't you say? Buy a phone from a random dude in Cragslist, you meet in neutral/public place, specifically so the guy doesn't know where you live, next thing you know he's tracking all your movements, knows where you live and knows when you're not home. No thanks.
Click to expand...

This could be dealt with incredibly easily by just changing how the device is registered through Apple. A seller and buyer of said used device may have to go through more work initially, but overall I think it would/could be a better system. This could be as simple as the original buyer logging into their iTunes account, acknowledging change of ownership to a new iTunes account, and swapping devices over; it really doesn't have to be difficult. The funny thing is that Apple already does something like this with their Macs, and if you lock the Mac there is nothing they can do without requiring you to show up at the store with your ID so they can fix it. They are far more worried about computer security than phone security (in terms of physical hardware being stolen) it would seem.
 
Last edited:
fosman said:
Hi,

I've just had my phone stolen. A kid rode up behind me and grabbed it from my hand WHILE I was on a call.

I tired to find it via my ipad - but it's offline. My worry is that, as I was on a call, the phone did not revert to a passcode lock - allowing him to turn on airplane mode and prevent a remote wipe.

I know the call ended. I have a 1 min auto lock on the phone. When the call ends (that is longer than a minute) does it revert to a passcode screen? Or stay live until I lock it?

Obviously angry and upset, but now worried about data. I have cancelled the sim, reported the imei number and remote wiped the phone, but find my iPhone shows the wipe as pending and the phone offline.

Advice appreciated!

Fx
Click to expand...

Phone lock actually takes into account being on the phone, too. I have a 5 minute lock on my iPhone, and if my phone call lasts longer than 5 minutes, I have to unlock it, even while I'm still on the phone, if I want to do something else.
 
As above. Added to that the passcode can't be changed or turned off without knowing it. Additionally the second the screen goes off it'll relock.

Dfu restore would wipe it though
 
ParagJain said:
makes me wonder, why is "Find My Iphone" tied to a icloud or apple account and not phone's imei number? that way, even if the phone reset'ed to another icloud account, it can still be traced.

is there a technology or legal limitation or just that manufacturer doesn't want to do ...

i understand, there are potential issues if the phone exchanges hand when being sold second hand, any app that can do this ??
Click to expand...

"Potential issues?"

More like "extremely big issues that prevent anyone from buying a second-hand phone, ever." This would be a disaster.


lordofthereef said:
This could be dealt with incredibly easily by just changing how the device is registered through Apple.
Click to expand...

I don't feel there is a solution like you're hoping for. Thieves will find a way around it. (Notice how much success Apple has had at stopping Jailbreaking.) The only surefire solution to prevent this is to hardwire in a system that can't be circumvented. And that leads to no more re-sales.
 
lordofthereef said:
This could be dealt with incredibly easily by just changing how the device is registered through Apple. A seller and buyer of said used device may have to go through more work initially, but overall I think it would/could be a better system. This could be as simple as the original buyer logging into their iTunes account, acknowledging change of ownership to a new iTunes account, and swapping devices over; it really doesn't have to be difficult. The funny thing is that Apple already does something like this with their Macs, and if you lock the Mac there is nothing they can do without requiring you to show up at the store with your ID so they can fix it. They are far more worried about computer security than phone security (in terms of physical hardware being stolen) it would seem.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea if both parties are "in the know" as far as the proper procedure, but there are far too many people who aren't. I think it if was that easy and fool-proof, it would have been done already.
 
2IS said:
This is a great idea if both parties are "in the know" as far as the proper procedure, but there are far too many people who aren't. I think it if was that easy and fool-proof, it would have been done already.
Click to expand...

I guess I don't see why anyone has to be "in the know". The odds of someone selling a random stranger a phone with the intent to track them are much lower than the odds of a person selling a bad EMEI/ESN phone, which happens daily. If it helps, restoring the phone could say "this phone is being tracked by "find my iPhone on joeblow's Apple ID. If this is not you, please contact the buyer". There are answers for everything. My guess? Apple just doesn't want to add a whole other potentially huge segment to their tech support. People buy used phones all the time. People lose phones. People break phones. Apple really doesn't have a whole lot to gain by helping you track/wipe your phone this accurately.

For what is worth, as I have already mentioned, Macbooks are NOT wiped from the gps app when restored. I know this because I sold mine and it stayed on my "find my" app for ages (I never really check it, but the original owner did). We both had to go to the Apple store to sort out the lock that my wife put on the device trying to remove it from our list. Apparently, I could have been tracking the guy the whole time.

----------
Small White Car said:
I don't feel there is a solution like you're hoping for. Thieves will find a way around it. (Notice how much success Apple has had at stopping Jailbreaking.) The only surefire solution to prevent this is to hardwire in a system that can't be circumvented. And that leads to no more re-sales.
Click to expand...

Unless they are hacking IMEI, I don't see how they would find a way around it. AFAIK, it doesn't happen now (it would be a great way to use a banned phone like new). Once an IMEI is banned, you are SOL, at least on the carrier it was banned on.
 
2IS said:
Because if people are ignorant to this outlined procedure of buying/selling, which WILL happen, something like what happened below could happen to someone you know. ;)
Click to expand...

I did mention a way for them to fix it. I guess the take home point is, since this ALREADY CAN HAPPEN on their Macs, I doubt this is the reason they haven't implemented it on their phones. I also doubt they are unaware that this is a potential problem on the Mac.

Also, I offered some relatively easy fixes in my last response to alert the new user of the potential issue.
 
That totally sucks, OP. Sorry about your loss. As another poster suggested be sure and change your passwords on everything.
 
Thanks guys - I was actually on the phone to a colleague at the time about me being made redundant, so it's a pretty crappy time! C'est la vie... I've purchased a new phone and I'm back up and running.

The biggest problem with theft now seems to be the ability to turn the phone off so easily. I'm sure there's lots of counter issues (interested to hear your guys thoughts!) but if the phone required the pass-code to turn the phone off, then it would buy a bit more time with tracking the device.

All the research I've done on this seems to suggest that as soon as a thief picks up a phone, they turn it off and it's game over.

http://youtu.be/kqr2cTXf5iA
 
fosman said:
The biggest problem with theft now seems to be the ability to turn the phone off so easily. I'm sure there's lots of counter issues (interested to hear your guys thoughts!) but if the phone required the pass-code to turn the phone off, then it would buy a bit more time with tracking the device.
Click to expand...

how are you going to lock the sim in?
 
Ste Nova said:
how are you going to lock the sim in?
Click to expand...

Well firstly, just because you can't secure one thing, doesn't mean you should secure the other...

But Sim cards are a LOT trickier to take out compared to turning the phone off - it can't be done quickly and with one hand, and is a lot more tricky to do discreetly. AND, the GPS chip isn't reliant on a cellular connection, AND if the phone picks up wifi, it can still be tracked.

I think passcode locking the off function could have a significant impact of thefts.
 
fosman said:
I think passcode locking the off function could have a significant impact of thefts.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. You would be able to track the phone/wipe the data for a longer window, and the thief wouldn't be able to do a DFU restore. I'm sure there'd have to be some sort of work around to turn the phone off for legitimate reasons though. Build a better mousetrap and you just get smarter mice, right?
 
fosman said:
Hi,

I've just had my phone stolen. A kid rode up behind me and grabbed it from my hand WHILE I was on a call.

I tired to find it via my ipad - but it's offline. My worry is that, as I was on a call, the phone did not revert to a passcode lock - allowing him to turn on airplane mode and prevent a remote wipe.

I know the call ended. I have a 1 min auto lock on the phone. When the call ends (that is longer than a minute) does it revert to a passcode screen? Or stay live until I lock it?

Obviously angry and upset, but now worried about data. I have cancelled the sim, reported the imei number and remote wiped the phone, but find my iPhone shows the wipe as pending and the phone offline.

Advice appreciated!

Fx
Click to expand...

Did you make the call or receive?

If you received it and it was locked before you answered it it will go back to its locked state i think.
 
tardman91 said:
That's a great idea. You would be able to track the phone/wipe the data for a longer window, and the thief wouldn't be able to do a DFU restore. I'm sure there'd have to be some sort of work around to turn the phone off for legitimate reasons though. Build a better mousetrap and you just get smarter mice, right?
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm sure there's a reason why turning off the phone is necessary without a passcode (I'd still like to hear what it is). But this experience has really made me think.

As an idea - why not offer 'stand by' where trying to turn off without a passcode would kill all activity, but keep the radios alive, so that it can only be activated via find my iphone?

There must be a better solution - thives turning phones off with one press and a slide, regardless of the security, seems too easy a work around.
 
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