Other Where did your stolen iPhone go?

[Tsepz]

So my gorgeous white titanium 15 Pro Max was stolen from my pocket at a bar that was pretty crowded a few weeks ago, luckily it was insured and swiftly replaced.

Last time this happened a few years ago and I kept track on Find My of where the phone was but it eventually died and stopped tracking.

The 15 Pro Max however seems to still be tracking after a few weeks, I am based in South Africa however it seems the phone has now made its way to….India! Lol.

Thought I would open this thread to see if you have gone through this and where have you tracked your stolen iPhone to?

 

[Reverend Benny]

I'm managing devices at work and its fairly common to see devices making their way to Russia or Morocco.
I did have a conversation with out network provider asking how its possible that these devices work when they are IMEI blocked. Was quite surprised to find out that this IMEI block list most providers use is "voluntary" and cellular providers don't have to use it.

If you are boored have a look at when its early morning in the country where the phones located and use the "play sound" feature on the phone :-D

 

[zorinlynx]

My question is why do people bother stealing iPhones at all? They're activation locked by default and can't be used at all without the owner releasing them.

 

[Tsepz]

My question is why do people bother stealing iPhones at all? They're activation locked by default and can't be used at all without the owner releasing them.

There is a global syndicate, what happens is your iPhone gets stolen by some low level criminal, they then pass on/sell the phone to some of the sketchy shop owners etc…then at this point things get interesting as the phone seems to pass through many places/hands, until it gets to the global syndicate:

1. First it seems they have a way of figuring out your number and therefore know that at some point you will do a SIM Swap (block old SIM, get new SIM). This means you will be back on your old number.

2. Once they have your number they then begin spamming you with messages that contain a fake iCloud link, if you open this link it looks exactly like Apple iCloud. The messages claim to have the location of your device etc…
If you are not wise to this situation and enter your iCloud details that web page captures your logins and they then have free reign on your phone and are able to:
- Wipe the phone and sell it pretty close to retail price in another country.
- Have access to your iCloud, passwords, banking details etc…

It seems to be a worthwhile gamble for the thieves, as many people are not wise to the scam and they are super desperate to locate their +$1000 phone, so they open the link in the SMS, give up their iCloud details without knowing and end up having their bank accounts emptied etc…

Here is an example of the type of message they send with the fake iCloud link, I have been getting these daily since the phone was stolen:

 

[cthompson94]

I live in Southern California and had my phone stolen one night (I believe it was the iPhone 6 or 6+ something like that) and wasn't getting anything on Find My, but in the morning I could almost watch it real time go south of the border and when it did I took a screenshot (just in case) and did the erase (I had already did the report as lost button or whatever) because I knew at that point I wasn't getting it back. I tried texting my number using a friend's phone and was tracking it via my computer. At the time I was just satisfied at least that I could stop looking for it you know, I was about to begin back tracking my steps from the night before since businesses were opening up and figured I would see if I got lucky with tracking it since at night it wasn't able to locate it.

 

[JPack]

My question is why do people bother stealing iPhones at all? They're activation locked by default and can't be used at all without the owner releasing them.

Parts. Many places offer upgrade services for flash storage on iPhone and Mac. People buy 128GB base model and upgrade to 512GB.

We all know the display, battery, and camera can be reused. Display and battery can be reused with a tag-on flex to remove warning messages.

 

[IngoX]

where have you tracked your stolen iPhone to?

iPhone 12 was stolen in Sweden a year ago. Tracked it to different locations in my city the first day, then one day later in Romania.

 

[Reverend Benny]

We will come to term will all these thefts when iPhones get a proper nuke feature so that the owner can trigger the device to self-destruct Mission Impossible style.

 

[ChoiMinji]

We will come to term will all these thefts when iPhones get a proper nuke feature so that the owner can trigger the device to self-destruct Mission Impossible style.

How about having the ability to have it emit a loud ear piercing sound whenever the phone is on that can’t be controlled the volume button😃

 

[d5aqoëp]

Some people remove their lost or stolen devices from Find My app just to have a clean page as they get OCD triggered with lost phone hanging in there forever.

My friend found a iPhone 4S few years back abandoned at Taiwan airport. Turning it on, it had passcode lock. He took it with him after waiting for a couple of hrs (Effectively stealing it) When he returned home, he gave it to a local shop who performed a DFU restore but phone was iCloud locked. He gave it to me to see if something can be done with it. I refused to do anything as literally nothing can be done to make it usable. After few months, he called me up again and said that iCloud lock is not present and he has started using it like any normal phone.

 

[JapanApple]

I do feel for you, brother! My niece had a few of her iPhones stolen (3 past 3 years.) When we tracked them find my there were everywhere. Then nothing. At that point, I knew they had been stripped and used for parts ( landing up on YouTube repair channels)

 

[AlixSPQR]

where have you tracked your stolen iPhone to?

I gave an Xr to my daughter who studied in France in late 2022. It was stolen by travelling pickpockets and went offline shortly thereafter. Probably ended up as parts. It did have a new battery. It’s erased but not removed from Find my.

 

[AlmightyKang]

We will come to term will all these thefts when iPhones get a proper nuke feature so that the owner can trigger the device to self-destruct Mission Impossible style.

New Thermite finish iPhone 16!

I'd buy that!