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Iphone 6s stolen?

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Comments

  • #32
    ForeverYoung90
    Registered Users Posts: 1,033 ✭✭✭ForeverYoung90


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    That’s because the region on iCloud.com isn’t set to Ireland. I have the same problem. I’ve changed it several times but it keeps resetting to the US. Annoying.

    Okay... so they didn’t log into your iCloud account. Which means they probably didn’t defeat your passcode either. And Find My iPhone/Activation Lock was disabled already, which means they just brought it home, erased it and set it up with their own Apple ID (or quickly sold it to someone else who did) which is why Apple is now saying Activation Lock is enabled.

    Phone is gone and you aren’t getting it back. But on the bright side, your data and personal information is safe. All you can do now is get the phone blacklisted.

    In future, always keep Find My iPhone enabled. It has no effect on battery life. And it will make selling the phone on very difficult if not impossible for a thief.

    Its been a rough (and costly 850e)few days,losing a phone makes you feel such anger and distress. Especially nowadays when it contains so much personal info.
    Ive learned alot about iphones the last few days mainly due to the posters here.Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread and hopefully it might help other people in the future.


  • #33
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    the_syco wrote: »
    Unless the person who stole it lives in a one story house, it won't be of any use, as GPS co-ordinates aren't helpful if there are several floors of apartments on that one spot.

    Most people in Ireland live in houses...
    Sad Professor wrote: »
    In future, always keep Find My iPhone enabled. It has no effect on battery life. And it will make selling the phone on very difficult if not impossible for a thief.

    That's not true. Pop the sim card or enable flight mode and find my phone wont work. It also takes approx 5 minutes to factory reset even a locked iPhone.


  • #34
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,679 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    smash wrote: »
    That's not true. Pop the sim card or enable flight mode and find my phone wont work. It also takes approx 5 minutes to factory reset even a locked iPhone.

    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH13695?locale=en_GB


  • #35
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH13695?locale=en_GB
    A factory reset will restore a phone completely and remove the activation lock and like I said, it takes just a few minutes.

    Turn off phone > Open iTunes on your computer > Press and hold the Home button on the phone while you connect the USB cable to your iPhone > iPhone will turn on but continue to hold the Home button > iTunes will alert you that an iPhone in recovery mode has been detected and you can factory reset the device.

    Even your link states:

    "When you erase your content, Find My iPhone and Activation Lock are also turned off." Because they are linked to your iCloud account.


  • #36
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,679 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    smash wrote: »
    A factory reset will restore a phone completely and remove the activation lock and like I said, it takes just a few minutes.

    No it won't.


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  • #37
    the_syco
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 37,303 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    smash wrote: »
    Most people in Ireland live in houses...



    That's not true. Pop the sim card or enable flight mode and find my phone wont work. It also takes approx 5 minutes to factory reset even a locked iPhone.
    Inner city thieves often live in flat complexes.

    Regarding resetting the account with iTunes, it (usually) won't allow you to do so without going through the current users iTunes account.


  • #38
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,679 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Tbh I think the location part of Find My iPhone is kind of useless in the case of theft. I can't imagine the Guards will care too much and most people aren't going to go kicking down doors and risk getting stabbed for a phone. Plus the chances of a thief not immediately removing your SIM are pretty low.

    Activation Lock doesn't stop someone erasing the phone, but it does stop them activating it again without the original user's password, hence "activation lock". The lock isn't on the phone, it's on Apple's servers. So in theory it renders the phone useless except as spare parts. Most of the bypasses I've seen only involve getting into the previous owners contacts list so you can call them. There were some brute force methods that used to defeat it entirely, but I assume Apple are actively patching these.


  • #39
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    the_syco wrote: »
    Inner city thieves often live in flat complexes.

    Regarding resetting the account with iTunes, it (usually) won't allow you to do so without going through the current users iTunes account.

    It's not always inner city thieves that steal phones. And yes, you can reset a phone through itunes without going through any account using the steps I mentioned earlier.
    Sad Professor wrote: »
    Tbh I think the location part of Find My iPhone is kind of useless in the case of theft. I can't imagine the Guards will care too much and most people aren't going to go kicking down doors and risk getting stabbed for a phone. Plus the chances of a thief not immediately removing your SIM are pretty low.

    Activation Lock doesn't stop someone erasing the phone, but it does stop them activating it again without the original user's password, hence "activation lock". The lock isn't on the phone, it's on Apple's servers. So in theory it renders the phone useless except as spare parts. Most of the bypasses I've seen only involve getting into the previous owners contacts list so you can call them. There were some brute force methods that used to defeat it entirely, but I assume Apple are actively patching these.

    You can reset a phone without the old account, but appologies for earlier, you were correct about activation lock being tied to the phone and not the itunes account. You can however bypass the activation lock if you jalibreak the phone.

    As for how useful Find My iPhone is, I always thought it was utterly crap. There is an option in settings to always send a location report to Apple if battery is critically low. I'm not sure if this is tied to activation lock(the phone) or to find my phone(iCloud account). If it's tied to the phone, it would be great. If not, then it's still useless.


  • #40
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,679 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    smash wrote: »
    You can reset a phone without the old account, but appologies for earlier, you were correct about activation lock being tied to the phone and not the itunes account. You can however bypass the activation lock if you jalibreak the phone.

    How can you jailbreak an iPhone without activating it first?

    I'm only aware of one exploit in Activation Lock which involved tricking the iPhone into thinking it was communicating with Apple's servers, which has since been patched. There are, however, plenty of scam apps and services still out there taking donations while making false promises.


  • #41
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    How can you jailbreak an iPhone without activating it first?

    I'm only aware of one exploit in Activation Lock which involved tricking the iPhone into thinking it was communicating with Apple's servers, which has since been patched. There are, however, plenty of scam apps and services still out there taking donations while making false promises.
    Didn't know this had been fixed. Then again it was an obvious exploit.

    I guess when your phone is stolen it's a matter of who gets to a computer first :D


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  • #42
    PucaMama
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭PucaMama


    smash wrote: »
    I guess when your phone is stolen it's a matter of who gets to a computer first :D

    It's really not funny to have a phone worth 100s stolen from you


  • #43
    FourFourRED
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,906 ✭✭✭FourFourRED


    smash wrote: »
    I guess when your phone is stolen it's a matter of who gets to a computer first :D

    Not really. Activation lock is either on or it's off.

    Once the phone is gone from you, there is no rush to get to a computer because you can't turn activation lock on remotely. You've either had it on, or not.

    The person who has stolen the phone isn't in a rush to get to a computer either because once activation lock is on, it's not coming off without the Apple ID password.

    (You've posted a lot of incorrect info in this thread so far about activation lock.)

    https://twitter.com/fourfourred



  • #44
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    PucaMama wrote: »
    It's really not funny to have a phone worth 100s stolen from you

    I know, I've had 4 of them stolen. And find my phone has never been any help.
    FourFourFM wrote: »
    You've posted a lot of incorrect info in this thread so far about activation lock.
    Well it's only relatively new (around a year) and there's been hacks around it.

    I have an iPhone 5 here that I'll be factory resetting over the weekend. I'll see what activation lock does for it before removing it from iCloud.


  • #45
    FourFourRED
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,906 ✭✭✭FourFourRED


    smash wrote: »
    I know, I've had 4 of them stolen. And find my phone has never been any help.


    Well it's only relatively new (around a year) and there's been hacks around it.

    I have an iPhone 5 here that I'll be factory resetting over the weekend. I'll see what activation lock does for it before removing it from iCloud.

    When you factory restore the device, it's going to partially show you the email address of the Apple ID it's locked to and ask you for the full email address and the password to be put in before you can get past the set up screen. I am 100% confident of this.

    https://twitter.com/fourfourred



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