Sending Possibly stolen iphone to Apple??

[NIfty668]

I bought an iphone off craigs list for pretty cheap, once I was home and fully started to see everything I noticed that it probably hasn't been used for about 3-4 months and the last text message reads "who has this phone" so im sure it may be stolen.

I'm having problems with the speaker and I talked to Apple on the phone about this and since I haven't yet activated an iphone plan on my att he said he couldnt do a repair. He kept putting me on hold and said he spoke to the technicians and that they would repair it. Is it possible that they know its stolen and want me to send it to keep it? Though i got a good deal, its still a lot of money. Any advice? Thanks

 

[renewed]

I bought an iphone off craigs list for pretty cheap, once I was home and fully started to see everything I noticed that it probably hasn't been used for about 3-4 months and the last text message reads "who has this phone" so im sure it may be stolen.

I'm having problems with the speaker and I talked to Apple on the phone about this and since I haven't yet activated an iphone plan on my att he said he couldnt do a repair. He kept putting me on hold and said he spoke to the technicians and that they would repair it. Is it possible that they know its stolen and want me to send it to keep it? Though i got a good deal, its still a lot of money. Any advice? Thanks

Yeah. Take the high road and turn it into the police and let them know who sold it to you. I mean come on, keeping an item you know to be stolen and then actually contemplating getting it repaired.

 

[bigchief]

Yeah. Take the high road and turn it into the police and let them know who sold it to you. I mean come on, keeping an item you know to be stolen and then actually contemplating getting it repaired.

What he said and there would be a chance of getting your money back, maybe. Remember when you keep an item that you know is stolen, you become an accessory to the crime.

 

[mavis]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (white): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

So you didn't care that it was stolen when you thought no one would find out and you've been trying to get away with using it secretly (no iPhone data plan) just to save a few bucks each month? You sound like a real winner.

I say send it in. Then look into figuring out why your conscience doesn't seem to work.

 

[zap2]

I'd say call the number(from the text "who has this phone")

Explain the issue, see what they say. Maybe you'll find a nice person who'd be willing pay you what you paid for the phone(or part of it) if not, at least you did the right thing(and no long have an illegal phone which you know is stolen)

 

[iMacoo7]

I agree with everyone here. Click on the little blue arrow of the text you received and call them, call the police and let them know.
Wouldn't you want someone to render the same kind of curtsey unto you?
FYI, Apple and ATT can find out and probably already know that the phone you use to make phone calls with is stolen.
Do the right thing and turn the darn thing in, your reward might be greater than the amount you paid for the phone

 

[Interstella5555]

Yeah, if you have reasonable knowledge that the phone was stolen, you can be charged with receiving stolen goods and possession of stolen property. It's unlikely that it will happen, but still, you should turn it in.

 

[Keebler]

I'd say call the number(from the text "who has this phone")

Explain the issue, see what they say. Maybe you'll find a nice person who'd be willing pay you what you paid for the phone(or part of it) if not, at least you did the right thing(and no long have an illegal phone which you know is stolen)

+10000

try to call them back.

"do unto others as you would expect done to you"

i'm not a bible thumper and I can't remember if that is from the bible, but i try to live my life this way. I made a terrible hunting mistake in the fall, but I called it in. Paid a fine, but i'm guilt-free (except for the mistake I made), but I didn't break the law.

keep us posted.

 

[NIfty668]

Well I restored the phone once I got it to the newest firmware so that text that was there is gone. I'm all for being nice and doing the right thing but I got to draw the line somewhere, I'm not about to lose a few hundred dollars over someone else's wrong doing.

 

[Rusalka]

Well I restored the phone once I got it to the newest firmware so that text that was there is gone. I'm all for being nice and doing the right thing but I got to draw the line somewhere, I'm not about to lose a few hundred dollars over someone else's wrong doing.

I think it's a little inconsiderate how people just expected you to take such a huge hit to your wallet when you did nothing wrong.


Although it would be nice for the original owner to get their property back, unless you recoup what you spent (or more considering you probably wont find a phone for as cheap as you got this one) That warm fuzzy feeling you get from being a good Samaritan is cancelled out by the light empty feeling of your wallet.

 

[chinarider]

kharma?

You took a chance on Craigslist - You got burned.

You refused to do the right thing (And even erased evidence) even though there is a chance that doing the right thing would get some or all of your money back.

By not reporting the crime, that thief will burn someone else.

You asked for help here and ended up being crude.

I figure you are screwed for the future dude.

 

[vipergts2207]

I think it's a little inconsiderate how people just expected you to take such a huge hit to your wallet when you did nothing wrong.

This part I agree with. He shouldn't lose $xxx amount because he didn't know the phone was stolen. (Although he should have tested the phone before purchasing it because he's buying it from craigslist. That's just common sense.) It's easy for other people to say "turn it in" when it's not the hundreds of dollars coming from their pocket.

Although it would be nice for the original owner to get their property back, unless you recoup what you spent (or more considering you probably wont find a phone for as cheap as you got this one) That warm fuzzy feeling you get from being a good Samaritan is cancelled out by the light empty feeling of your wallet.

No, he shouldn't get more just because he got it on the cheap. What kind of crap is that? If the guy bought the phone for $50, the original owner shouldn't have to give him $150 just because the guy got it for cheaper than usual.

 

[NIfty668]

I think it's a little inconsiderate how people just expected you to take such a huge hit to your wallet when you did nothing wrong.


Although it would be nice for the original owner to get their property back, unless you recoup what you spent (or more considering you probably wont find a phone for as cheap as you got this one) That warm fuzzy feeling you get from being a good Samaritan is cancelled out by the light empty feeling of your wallet.

Thank you, this is what I was trying to get at. Not really fair to of some of you to make me look like the bad guy, but its alright.

 

[zap2]

Thank you, this is what I was trying to get at. Not really fair to of some of you to make me look like the bad guy, but its alright.

Admittly sometime doing the right thing is hard


But here is a push for you

In the U.S. and most other countries, if the individual knew the goods were stolen then it is usually prosecuted as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on value of stolen goods. If an individual knows about themselves having possession of stolen goods from another state, then, according to numerous federal laws, it is prosecuted as a federal crime. If the individual didn't know the goods were stolen, then the goods are returned to the owner and the individual is not prosecuted. Though there are often exceptions, because it is not easy to prove or disprove simple knowledge.

So basically if Apple/AT&T/Feds were to find out you know(which you do, it seems) that it was stolen, you could be in some trouble(although its not clear if you knew when you bought it)

 

[NIfty668]

Admittly sometime doing the right thing is hard


But here is a push for you



So basically if Apple/AT&T/Feds were to find out you know(which you do, it seems) that it was stolen, you could be in some trouble(although its not clear if you knew when you bought it)

So the right thing would be for me to lose a few hundred dollars? Is that correct? It's easy to tell someone to return it since it doesn't really affect you, but this is a lot of money to lose, if it was a smaller amount then, yes, I would report it. But like i said, I have to draw the line somewhere, and I didn't know it was stolen (or if it is, but it seems very much so) when I bought it.

 

[mavis]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (white): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Admittly sometime doing the right thing is hard


But here is a push for you



So basically if Apple/AT&T/Feds were to find out you know(which you do, it seems) that it was stolen, you could be in some trouble(although its not clear if you knew when you bought it)

So the right thing would be for me to lose a few hundred dollars? Is that correct? It's easy to tell someone to return it since it doesn't really affect you, but this is a lot of money to lose, if it was a smaller amount then, yes, I would report it. But like i said, I have to draw the line somewhere, and I didn't know it was stolen (or if it is, but it seems very much so) when I bought it.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but most people would be bright enough to realize that 1) the 'really cheap' iPhone they found on craigslist was probably really cheap for a reason and therefore 2) check it out thoroughly before handing someone cash for it. It's not rocket science, bub.

 

[chinarider]

So the right thing would be for me to lose a few hundred dollars? Is that correct? It's easy to tell someone to return it since it doesn't really affect you, but this is a lot of money to lose, if it was a smaller amount then, yes, I would report it. But like i said, I have to draw the line somewhere, and I didn't know it was stolen (or if it is, but it seems very much so) when I bought it.

So where is this "line"? $50? $100? Exactly how much until you are "Bought"? What is the going rate for morals these days?

 

[Eso]

I noticed that it probably hasn't been used for about 3-4 months

In 3-4 months, it's all been taken care of. The owner deactivated the SIM, canceled the contract, whatever they had to do. It's over and they have moved on.

And please, if you have ever had to deal with the police with respect to stolen property, you know it never amounts to anything. Hell, my home got broken into and $2000 worth of computers were stolen, and we never heard anything. They don't care. You think they are going to care for a "possibly stolen" iPhone from 3 months ago? Get real. The only thing the police report we filed was good for was having reasonable proof for the insurance company that we weren't scamming them.

By the way, the only way to prove a person knows their goods were stolen is if they admit it, but any lawyer is going to tell their client to keep their mouth shut and protect themselves against self-incrimination as afforded by the fifth amendment. And even if the client lets slip they think it was stolen, any lawyer is going to show it is all circumstantial - he didn't "know" it was stolen, i.e. wasn't specifically told it was stolen, didn't see it happen, etc. And even then, if the original owner never filed a police report about the incident, it wouldn't even legally be considered stolen. :/

Of course, ignore this post if any of you self-righteous "private investigators" are willing to take the case.

 

[xUKHCx]

Enough. This thread may look a little odd but that is because 20 (53%) posts have been removed.

It is worth pointing out, as I am sure has been previously, that there are laws governing these situations but obviously this changes on location.

Around here there are rules regarding trolling and insults. Thanks to the odd few people who reported this thread.