Q: Unlinking Apple ID from a used iPhone

hello people,

my situation with unlocking the iPhone4S is similar - i have the iphone as a gift. i have correct AppleID credentials (email and password). BUT the account was "disabled for security reasons". while trying to reset the password on iforgot.apple.com i was asked security question which i dont have answer. i contacted the owner but he doesnt remember the answers. resetting the password on email is not available as there is not such email domain anymore (the company was closed, email domain does not exist anymore).

so my gift is a brick?

If the owner didn't set up a rescue email address, and doesn't know the answer to security questions, and having the previous owner contact Apple's Account Security Team to reset the password (Apple ID: Contacting Apple for help with Apple ID account security) there's nothing you can do.

i found an iphone 4 at the fair and gave it to my cousin who rest it. we thought that would get rid of the old persons account but it didnt. (we left it in alone for a few days just incase the previous owner tried to track their phone but nothing happened.) so is there any way to bypass it and get rid of the apple id?

No. Not only is there no way to bypass the activation lock, but you are guilty of a crime known as "theft by finding". Your cousin is guilty of receiving stolen property.

Turn it over to the police. It does not belong to you.

There is no way to bypass Activation Lock, the iOS theft deterrent feature, without the cooperation of the person who enabled it. The lock status is not stored on the phone, it is recorded in Apple's activation servers, so nothing you do to the phone can get around it.