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Why would you lose an iPhone and not bother to find it?

I went through this same thing a couple months ago. Found an iPhone 6s plus. The service had already been turned off so I opened the sim tray and saw it was a TMobile sim so I went to my local TMobile corporate store. They called 5 different contacts from the account since it was a family plan (they would not give me any numbers obviously) and left voicemails with my personal cell number. No one contacted me. Kind of amazing someone wouldnt want their phone back even if they already bought a replacement.

After a week without a call, I dropped it off at the local PD. I would imagine its still there lol
 
HallStevenson said:
How did you look up any contacts at all if the phone was locked ?
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The phone was locked with a passcode (not truly locked down as it would be if it were disabled) so I asked Siri to place a call. I worked my way through 'call home', dad, etc. and so on until I came up with a partial list of names. Tried calling those but they were either disconnected or belonged to different people.

As a side note, this is a 6s. Sorry, I didn't make that distinction clear earlier.
 
80stg1 said:
The phone was locked with a passcode (not truly locked down as it would be if it were disabled) so I asked Siri to place a call. I worked my way through 'call home', dad, etc. and so on until I came up with a partial list of names. Tried calling those but they were either disconnected or belonged to different people.

As a side note, this is a 6s. Sorry, I didn't make that distinction clear earlier.
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Wow you are quite persistent if you literally kept trying random names: Call Anna, Bob, Carol, Dale, Emma, Frank, Gale etc...
 
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80stg1 said:
The phone was locked with a passcode (not truly locked down as it would be if it were disabled) so I asked Siri to place a call. I worked my way through 'call home', dad, etc. and so on until I came up with a partial list of names. Tried calling those but they were either disconnected or belonged to different people.

As a side note, this is a 6s. Sorry, I didn't make that distinction clear earlier.
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Were they local numbers? If so, that would rule out an int'l visitor...

(Also hard to imagine a list of contacts being stored on a so-called "burner" phone.)
 
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mpavilion said:
Were they local numbers? If so, that would rule out an int'l visitor...

(Also hard to imagine a list of contacts being stored on a so-called "burner" phone.)
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Hard to tell but the contact names were in English. I found about 7-8. All of the ones I reached spoke English so I would say US. I guess I was lucky to find anything...Siri and my voice requests do not readily mix.
 
jhearty99 said:
I think that is just the 'Hey Siri' feature. You can use any voice by holding the home button.
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Provided of course that Siri is not disabled.

Not only do I disable Siri, but because my phone is JB, I've also removed the Airplane toggle from CC.

Somebody can turn off the phone, but they can't turn off the cellular radio.
 
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80stg1 said:
The phone was locked with a passcode (not truly locked down as it would be if it were disabled) so I asked Siri to place a call. I worked my way through 'call home', dad, etc. and so on until I came up with a partial list of names. Tried calling those but they were either disconnected or belonged to different people.
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Strange, because if your phone is on their contact list, then they would receive your call and the owner's name would be displayed as the caller on their phone.
 
gnasher729 said:
Strange, because if your phone is on their contact list...
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Nothing strange about that. Do you know how many people don't even do "contact lists" ? You've also got a large number of people who haven't the faintest clue about any type of contacts "backup". You see it all the time (on Facebook, for instance) where someone posts "Got a new phone, text me your details so I can update my contacts!".
 
I just scanned this thread. But, OP called and talked to someone. They would have seen the number if not blocked on lost iphone. All seems weird to me----
 
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bufffilm said:
Provided of course that Siri is not disabled.

Not only do I disable Siri, but because my phone is JB, I've also removed the Airplane toggle from CC.

Somebody can turn off the phone, but they can't turn off the cellular radio.
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In iOS 11, the CC is customizable so should be able to remove the Airplane toggle then. Pretty good idea.
 
rugmankc said:
I just scanned this thread. But, OP called and talked to someone. They would have seen the number if not blocked on lost iphone. All seems weird to me----
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When I called, the person on the other end didn't know whose iPhone it was. One of the people I talked to had just acquired the number. The phone's number might have been blocked on their display for all I know. I don't own an iPhone (just an iPad) so I don't know if the name pops up (caller id) or something else on their screen.
 
jhearty99 said:
In iOS 11, the CC is customizable so should be able to remove the Airplane toggle then. Pretty good idea.
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Agreed, if you can do this w/o JBing the phone...it's progress.

Now if only Apple loosens up on the UI. It's tragic that you can only go 4 icons across on the screen. If you have a + model, I would throw the phone against the wall.
 
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bufffilm said:
Agreed, if you can do this w/o JBing the phone...it's progress.

Now if only Apple loosens up on the UI. It's tragic that you can only go 4 icons across on the screen. If you have a + model, I would throw the phone against the wall.
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And they wonder why people still jailbreak. If Apple would only give me a 5-column home screen and dock, and the ability to turn animations completely off, I might be tempted to stay stock.
 
burgman said:
Another possibility is you are holding crucial evidence from a crime.
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I think the best bet is to just drop it off with the police. You can never go wrong with that. You have gone above and beyond trying to reunite the phone with its owner and I wish there were more people like you in the world.
 
Reno Raines said:
I think the best bet is to just drop it off with the police. You can never go wrong with that. You have gone above and beyond trying to reunite the phone with its owner and I wish there were more people like you in the world.
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There are still good people like the OP. The problem is that many now make fun of them being honest and wanting to do the right thing.

Sad day.
 
Reno Raines said:
I think the best bet is to just drop it off with the police. You can never go wrong with that. You have gone above and beyond trying to reunite the phone with its owner and I wish there were more people like you in the world.
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Thanks. I just wish I had been successful. It could be my iPad one day and I hope someone would go the mile for me.

At any rate, I'll drop it off. Not much else that can be done at this point. All I can do is wish the owner the best of luck! They've probably moved on but still...sad.
 
80stg1 said:
Thanks. I just wish I had been successful. It could be my iPad one day and I hope someone would go the mile for me.

At any rate, I'll drop it off. Not much else that can be done at this point. All I can do is wish the owner the best of luck! They've probably moved on but still...sad.
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Most probable outcome will be if the phone stays unclaimed then later, it gets sold off at some point as all unclaimed lost property is.

If there isn't an iCloud lock on the device...it will be reused.
 
bufffilm said:
Most probable outcome will be if the phone stays unclaimed then later, it gets sold off at some point as all unclaimed lost property is.

If there isn't an iCloud lock on the device...it will be reused.
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If there was insurance, don't they "force" the phone top be reported as "stolen" (blacklisted) so that no one can later activate it?
 
HallStevenson said:
If there was insurance, don't they "force" the phone top be reported as "stolen" (blacklisted) so that no one can later activate it?
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Depends on who insured it. Many want a copy of the police report if stolen. If lost they have to believe you. In Florida you do not ever claim stuff like this on your homeowners. In the land of hurricanes we are paying too much now and they can also cancel you at the end of your policy with no explanation.
 
I was referring to the typical "phone" insurance. We never get it but with Verizon, for example, I think it's Assurion (?). Same would apply if the phone is reported lost.
 
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