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[updated] My stolen iPhone is Back!!!
- Thread starter michaelkam
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This would be my reaction TBH
Although in all seriousness, I would be careful about calling the parents (definitely don't try and find out the address).
I know there is the temptation to contact him and 'politely' ask for your phone back and there is the risk that it will change hands quickly but wait for the police!
Besides if this was a 'professional' job with the aim of selling on the iPhone the 'culprit' would definitely not have added their own details to the phone and started using it. - They would be moving the goods as quickly as possible!
Consider the possibility: Person A steals your iPhone from the GYM, quickly deletes all the details (maybe not realizing what MobileMe is/Does therefore leaves the sync option there) and sells the fenced goods.
Person B is a young child, really wants an iPhone but his parents won't get him a contract and it's too expensive on PAYG. Therefore Person B saves up a few hundred bucks, finds a nice person selling an iPhone for a few hundred bucks and hey presto!
The person's details on the phone could be someone who is only guilty of unknowingly buying fenced goods and not stealing your phone...
You normal law-abiding citizens do not apparently know how to handle this situation, let me instruct you on how to deal with the situation at hand.
Call the person whom has the iPhone, let them know whom you are.
Gather up your friends, weapons, cars and prepare them to take a ride.
Take everyone and everything gathered above and drive by the persons last known domicile and proceed to discharge the firearms into the structure. Do not stop until the structure is riddled with enough bullets to sink an aircraft carrier.
After doing the above step, call the person and let them know it was you that committed the above crime and next time you may actually get the right house/person.
The above 2 steps should induce enough fear into the person with your iPhone that they will meet you somewhere to surrender the phone. Upon them surrendering the phone you should proceed to kill them and bury the body somewhere.
South siiiiidddeee in da`house, word`97 to yo mother!
love peace and chicken grease
You normal law-abiding citizens do not apparently know how to handle this situation, let me instruct you on how to deal with the situation at hand.
Call the person whom has the iPhone, let them know whom you are.
Gather up your friends, weapons, cars and prepare them to take a ride.
Take everyone and everything gathered above and drive by the persons last known domicile and proceed to discharge the firearms into the structure. Do not stop until the structure is riddled with enough bullets to sink an aircraft carrier.
After doing the above step, call the person and let them know it was you that committed the above crime and next time you may actually get the right house/person.
The above 2 steps should induce enough fear into the person with your iPhone that they will meet you somewhere to surrender the phone. Upon them surrendering the phone you should proceed to kill them and bury the body somewhere.
South siiiiidddeee in da`house, word`97 to yo mother!
love peace and chicken grease
LOL that was just awesome to read. Pretty darn accurate too except dont call him first call your homeboy and tell him whats goin on. Also, shoot up the theifs crib.
Anyway the swiss cheese translation was awesome/halarious/ 5 star
OP,
Based on your maturity in dealing with this situation I seriously feel that perhaps you're not ready to own technology like this.
I also question the validity of your story as a few things simply don't add up for me.
You say you know who did it and it was a guy at your gym, yet you fail to mention if you actually approached your gym and reported it stolen. You then say that you contacted the police, and were told to wait to hear from them, yet you decided to turn into Batman and take it into your own hands.
Calling the person and their parents and asking for your phone back, are you serious? You honestly thought that you could reason with someone who didn't have any issues with stealing?
As others have said, I think you have screwed up royally and would be surprised if you ever saw your phone again. If it were me that had stolen your phone I would have chucked it in the nearest lake and plead ignorance until the end of time.
You have tipped your hand and not allowed the authorities to do their jobs. You don't seem to have taken proper steps to protect your information, and you don't seem to have done anything (other than finally printing out the numbers and taking them to the police which you should have done in the first place).
My advice....
Get off this forum and do what you need to do to get your phone back. If there is any chance left that you can, then you need to gather as much information possible to make things easier on the police.
1. Print out the numbers from Mobile Me
2. Print out the serial number of the phone
3. Report the theft to your gym, let them know you have filed it with the police and you're sure you know who it is.
4. Call your provider and make sure they can't use your phone to call long distance or cost you money
5. Go to the police and explain everything that you have done, and bring all the information you have with you. Ask them straight out if they plan on doing anything about it and if they say no, then I would chalk it up as a lesson to protect your belongings.
And my final advice, is stop taking advice from the people on these forums. There is a mature adult way of dealing with this, and there is the ridiculous half cocked way....and you seem to have chosen the latter.
Based on your maturity in dealing with this situation I seriously feel that perhaps you're not ready to own technology like this.
I also question the validity of your story as a few things simply don't add up for me.
You say you know who did it and it was a guy at your gym, yet you fail to mention if you actually approached your gym and reported it stolen. You then say that you contacted the police, and were told to wait to hear from them, yet you decided to turn into Batman and take it into your own hands.
Calling the person and their parents and asking for your phone back, are you serious? You honestly thought that you could reason with someone who didn't have any issues with stealing?
As others have said, I think you have screwed up royally and would be surprised if you ever saw your phone again. If it were me that had stolen your phone I would have chucked it in the nearest lake and plead ignorance until the end of time.
You have tipped your hand and not allowed the authorities to do their jobs. You don't seem to have taken proper steps to protect your information, and you don't seem to have done anything (other than finally printing out the numbers and taking them to the police which you should have done in the first place).
My advice....
Get off this forum and do what you need to do to get your phone back. If there is any chance left that you can, then you need to gather as much information possible to make things easier on the police.
1. Print out the numbers from Mobile Me
2. Print out the serial number of the phone
3. Report the theft to your gym, let them know you have filed it with the police and you're sure you know who it is.
4. Call your provider and make sure they can't use your phone to call long distance or cost you money
5. Go to the police and explain everything that you have done, and bring all the information you have with you. Ask them straight out if they plan on doing anything about it and if they say no, then I would chalk it up as a lesson to protect your belongings.
And my final advice, is stop taking advice from the people on these forums. There is a mature adult way of dealing with this, and there is the ridiculous half cocked way....and you seem to have chosen the latter.
Not strictly true, read back through the post there are some good bits of advice from members too!
Not strictly true, read back through the post there are some good bits of advice from members too!
What I meant was (sorry I should have clarified) is that there is no more advice that this person can get, it's time they actually start doing whats needed instead of sitting here listening to the same thing over and over as the days pass.
Does that include you as well?
Yes, of course it does. Every day that goes by that they don't deal with this appropriately is a day the thief has to get rid of the evidence. I also don't think that the OP should be taking anyones advice other than the police because they obviously don't understand the difference between good, and bad advice.
Honestly, you've done enough with the police. Don't bother going back there as they have little interest in helping you. I know it's an expensive phone for you but to the cops it's just a case of he said she said where it's a lot more work then it is worth.
Go over to the guy's house and talk with his parents. The longer you wait the more likely he is to get rid of it. I'm sure his parents are reasonable and you have more then enough proof.
Go over to the guy's house and talk with his parents. The longer you wait the more likely he is to get rid of it. I'm sure his parents are reasonable and you have more then enough proof.
As somebody mentioned above, it's the police's duty to deal with any and all crime and this is most definitely a crime. I don't remember exact amounts but theft of property worth over a certain amount ($300 maybe?) is considered a felony.
While it's true he probably destroyed any chance he had of getting it back by calling the father, he should by no means give up working with the police. With the proper proof (which he has in the mobileme uploads) the thief can still be prosecuted for the crime even if the phone is not in his possession anymore.
There is an alternative that has not been mentioned here, but I dont know if its pursuable in your legal structure.
If you have strong, incriminating evidence, you can speak to your lawyer who will file a motion for claims at your disctrict magistrate. This will compel the accused to appear in court to plead his case, but the burden of proof is upon you.
This is actually similiar to a Small Claims Tribunald, and it fast tracks you getting back your phone. Be mindful though that it is not a criminal case where investigations are done - you may not wish to press charges if so, and you can actually withdraw the complaint that you have made with the Law Enforcement.
Once again, the burden of proof lies with you. Whether the contacts that you have gained through ME suffices, I suggest only your lawyer can give u sufficient legal advice on that - you may have gotten it through other means, and you have to prove that you do not know this person hitherto, which you have mentioned that you do know him from your gym. Hence.
If you have strong, incriminating evidence, you can speak to your lawyer who will file a motion for claims at your disctrict magistrate. This will compel the accused to appear in court to plead his case, but the burden of proof is upon you.
This is actually similiar to a Small Claims Tribunald, and it fast tracks you getting back your phone. Be mindful though that it is not a criminal case where investigations are done - you may not wish to press charges if so, and you can actually withdraw the complaint that you have made with the Law Enforcement.
Once again, the burden of proof lies with you. Whether the contacts that you have gained through ME suffices, I suggest only your lawyer can give u sufficient legal advice on that - you may have gotten it through other means, and you have to prove that you do not know this person hitherto, which you have mentioned that you do know him from your gym. Hence.
Interesting thread. My iPhone got stolen two weeks ago, and really, besides reporting it to the police and my carrier, there wasn't much else I could do. I'd guess the thief was tech-savvy and knew how to avoid my carrier's location finder (they can do that if the phone is turned on). Lesson learned, keep valuables in places they aren't likely to slip out of.
I'm just being honest about the cops. There was a case where a guy had his iPhone stolen and the owner found out where the guy who stole it lived with proof that he had stolen the phone. The police said they'd look into it and NOTHING happened.
I'm not saying never talk to the police, but honestly you should just go to where the kid lives and get your phone back. You're spinning your wheels doing anything else.
I'm not saying never talk to the police, but honestly you should just go to where the kid lives and get your phone back. You're spinning your wheels doing anything else.
Hey guys, I have done anything I could.
The minute I found out my phone was stolen. I reported to the provider, Apple, gym and police. I also printed all the information on MobileMe and handover to the detective yesterday.
I also tried to solve the problems by calling the guy's parents. So, I think I did my best at this point. The only thing I can do now is waiting.
Thank you all.
The minute I found out my phone was stolen. I reported to the provider, Apple, gym and police. I also printed all the information on MobileMe and handover to the detective yesterday.
I also tried to solve the problems by calling the guy's parents. So, I think I did my best at this point. The only thing I can do now is waiting.
Thank you all.
if you don't get it post the numbers here (if MR allows it) and we can all give them a few rings for you. (except me cause it would be an international call for me)
Everyone is being a bit harsh on the OP for the way in which he's handled this. Maybe he's mishandled it, maybe he hasn't, but he hasn't altered his chances of getting his phone back one way or the other as a result of his actions. Once these things are stolen the chances of getting it back are slim to none-regardles of what steps you choose to take. People are stealing these things left & right because once they've got them it's literally like finding a needle in a haystack for the rightful owner. The police really can't do anything even with strong evidence because the phone is almost always long gone & AT&T claims there's nothing they can do, as does Apple, in terms of tracking the phone. It's pretty easy and risk free for someone to activate a stolen iPhone- seems like it shouldn't be, but my daughter & son in law each had their phones stolen and we were given the same story by police in two different communities. There's just very little the police can do. It's a shame.
You also don't want to spend money getting an attorney, or a detective, involved. There's vitually no chance of getting these things back once the thief
has gotten off with it so you might as well accept it & use that money on a new phone. It sucks, but it's a very low risk theft for these criminals- unless they're caught red handed there's not much risk involved. The best thing you can do is prevent someone from stealing it in the 1st place. It shouldn't be like that, but it is. Sucks, I know, we've been down this road twice in our family.
You should also enable the passcode lock option. I know it can be a PITA but you get used to it quick and it makes the phone useless for a thief and protects your identity, contacts, notes, etc etc from falling into the wrong hands. This won't help get your phone back, but it will cover your butt and frustrate the thief. Bottom line is once it's gone you've really got very little hope of seeing it again- since these things are lucrative to thieves the market for stolen phones will remain strong so you've got to focus on prevention of theft & then cover your tracks if it does happen. Unfortunately recovery has proven futile for most victims.
You also don't want to spend money getting an attorney, or a detective, involved. There's vitually no chance of getting these things back once the thief
has gotten off with it so you might as well accept it & use that money on a new phone. It sucks, but it's a very low risk theft for these criminals- unless they're caught red handed there's not much risk involved. The best thing you can do is prevent someone from stealing it in the 1st place. It shouldn't be like that, but it is. Sucks, I know, we've been down this road twice in our family.
You should also enable the passcode lock option. I know it can be a PITA but you get used to it quick and it makes the phone useless for a thief and protects your identity, contacts, notes, etc etc from falling into the wrong hands. This won't help get your phone back, but it will cover your butt and frustrate the thief. Bottom line is once it's gone you've really got very little hope of seeing it again- since these things are lucrative to thieves the market for stolen phones will remain strong so you've got to focus on prevention of theft & then cover your tracks if it does happen. Unfortunately recovery has proven futile for most victims.