Thanks guys for your suggestions. I am glad all of you are asking me to do the right thing. The irony is the person who sold me the phone is a security guard. I met him outside the facility where he works, so I feel uneasy to deal with him again. My wife also made it clear the stolen phone cannot be in our home. I am going to contact the owner today or tomorrow and update you later.
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Stuck with a stolen iPhone. Should I contact the original owner?
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Let the police deal with the security guard. Looks like he doesn't like his job very much. He'll likely lose his job for selling a phone he may have "found". Some security guard. 
Keep this thread up to date. Love to hear how it plays out.
Keep this thread up to date. Love to hear how it plays out.
Here in the UK, the wife of a luggage handler at Heathrow airport was an eBay "powerseller" with over 9,000 items sold. Used clothing, shoes, handbags, stuff like that. You can make a guess where that stuff came from.
To be honest, if a security guard sells stolen goods you should really contact the police.
I personally would not return it to the original owner. I think that is going beyond the normal/expected thing to do. No need to be a hero. It sounds like you are going out of your way here to be considered so - even more so by asking a public forum about it. Just keep the phone.
The student who got his phone stolen has probably learned from it. Leave it at that.
Very few people would do what your doing. Its a noble thing to do but its probably not worth losing the money you used to pay for the iPhone. Just my opinion - probably not a popular one!
The student who got his phone stolen has probably learned from it. Leave it at that.
Very few people would do what your doing. Its a noble thing to do but its probably not worth losing the money you used to pay for the iPhone. Just my opinion - probably not a popular one!
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Is it sad Im actually looking forward to finding out what happens with all this?
Not at all. I've been following this thread from the beginning and I'm curious how this turns out. I love threads like this that end up being more like a story. They're a nice change of pace from the regular tech type posts we get here.
Remember, you only get one call from the station. Knowingly purchasing stolen items? Your word against the Guard. "Yeah officer, he knew it was hot".
I've just thought, if it was stolen does this mean it came with no box/charger/etc? Or did he maybe buy a spare box for it as well to make it look more legit?
Just sayin cause if someone sold me just a phone I'd be very suspicious straight away. Either way hope it works out well for the guy whos phone it is and the OP!
Just sayin cause if someone sold me just a phone I'd be very suspicious straight away. Either way hope it works out well for the guy whos phone it is and the OP!
Remember, you only get one call from the station. Knowingly purchasing stolen items? Your word against the Guard. "Yeah officer, he knew it was hot".
he didn't know the iPhone was stolen when he was buying it.
In most jurisdiction, the laws for receiving stolen property make it a crime to retain property once you know (or have reason to believe) that the property was obtained through the commission of a theft offense.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)
To intend to keep the property which you know is stolen is more correct.
Since to OP intends on contacting the police/real owner at the nearest oppurtunity they will be fine.
Number 41 said:
To intend to keep the property which you know is stolen is more correct.
Since to OP intends on contacting the police/real owner at the nearest oppurtunity they will be fine.
You risk getting a ticket for "recieving stolen property."
Just do the right thing. Give the phone back to the guy, because maybe this is the deed you need to do to have karma come back at you the next time you drop your wallet in a public place with a couple hundred bucks in it, credit cards etc...Possibly then that guy would call you and give you the wallet.
Moral: Treat other as you would have wanted to be treated. If your phone gets lost, won't you hope someone would get it back to you in one piece, not just to share the cost but to show someone that...hey wow there actually are decent people still in the world?
Good grief, contact the owner and then the police with all of the details. Let the police handle the crook, not you. Keep out of the Craigslist business. You're not good at it.
Use eBay for protection or buy from a store!
This.
Ask him to exchange the phone for the one he just got. As much as people want you to do the right thing.. losing out on your money is a far worse option in my opinion. Not sure how much you paid for it, but I'm the type of person who would return a 5 dollar movie ticket for an awful movie. It's seriously not your fault the kid didn't back up his stuff. You gotta look out for yourself first. On top of that the kid may have the police on hand. Even though u didn't steal it.. you can't really prove it. Best bet is let the original owner learn his lesson and move on.
If you've read this thread and you have a phone full of info that you don't have backed up somewhere.. shame on you. Not everyone is a good Samaritan.
If you've read this thread and you have a phone full of info that you don't have backed up somewhere.. shame on you. Not everyone is a good Samaritan.
Remeber the two guys on trial right now for the iphone 4 prototype case? They are charged with theft. It will depend on the state, but if it is reasonably easy to find out who an item belongs to or you can reasonably assume it is stolen, you have to report it or you can be charged with theft.
That aside, I would let the police contact the person whose info is on the phone. For all you know, the phone is legit and the person did own it previously, but they could play along and say thanks and then sell it again to someone else. Its likely though the security guard found it and sold it without contacting the polics first.
Remember, you only get one call from the station. Knowingly purchasing stolen items? Your word against the Guard. "Yeah officer, he knew it was hot".
That's the word of an admitted thief who has every reason to want revenge against the word of a respectable citizen who went to the police with the phone who had nothing to gain from the whole story but actually lost money.
Well, someone who I know personally had exactly the same attitude, and he doesn't even know how much money it is costing him (but I do). People around you know, and they take notice, and it will cost you. In the case of the OP, the fact alone that his wife would know that he is a dishonest person that cannot be trusted if he kept the phone could cost him hundred times more than the phone is worth in some years time.
(I heard of one company who got people in for job interviews, paid them expenses for coming to the interview, and the final test was paying $100 too much "by mistake" to any suitable candidate. Cheap way to find out whether a new employee is honest).
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Let the owner know you got it. It's the right thing to do and you'll feel good about it. Plus, think if it were YOU who lost it
Good post. I'm sure the OP will 'give in' eventually, as most people would knowing they have stolen property in their possession, might as well do it sooner rather than later.
Really stinks to be hoodwinked but just remember when it comes to doing the right thing... YOU CAN DO IT!
Then come back here and brag yourself for being such a great guy. I know that if it were my phone I would do what I could to reward you.
Hope it goes well for you.
Then come back here and brag yourself for being such a great guy. I know that if it were my phone I would do what I could to reward you.
Hope it goes well for you.
Well the guard committed a felony by selling stolen goods. Make sure to get the police involved and get scumbags off the street.
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