can a wipe iphone be tracked

The cellular carriers can and do track every device connected to their networks. Use of tracking software like Find My is NOT required to do so. It's fundamental to how cellular networks function.

Some carriers offer locater and tracking services for devices you own. Those are based on the IMEI of the device. If the owner of the device subscribed to such a service, and you purchased a phone that was stolen from them, as soon as you connected to the cellular network, they could potentially be notified.

So Yes. Technically, it can happen.

You should get the police involved if you believe you bought a stolen phone.

Yeah you should get the police involved, because the phone belongs to you. Common law in these types of matters is in favor of the innocent purchaser. Since the phone was purchased without the purchaser having any idea it may be stolen they take the item free and clear of any claims and are known as a "good faith purchaser." It doesn't matter if the seller knew it was stolen or even stole it themselves. The victim would only be able to recover the property (a court could order the sheriff to go somewhere and take it using as little force as necessary in an action called "replevin" or "claim and delivery") only if it has not yet been purchased once or the purchaser knew or should have known it was stolen and hasn't themselves resold it to a good faith purchaser. The victim can only attempt to recover for damages (like the cost of the phone and related injuries from the theft) from the thief.

You may have bought a hacked device or worse, a stolen one.

Common law really doesn't apply in this case. Up to the time the OP (original poster, who is not KiltedTim) had people coming to his house asking for the phone he indeed can show no criminal intent and not be charged. If however it can be shown that he either paid an unreasonably low price or he knew the electronics shop sold suspicious phones then he is no longer a good faith purchaser.

We actually don't know for sure that whoever came to the house was looking for the OPs phone or that they are looking for it because it is stolen. We don't even know who was looking.

Where are you going to school?

You need to read things more carefully. Nothing I said indicated that the phone was stolen.. "the phone was purchased without the purchaser having any idea it may be stolen". I said it belongs to him regardless of the fact if it was stolen or not, which obviously can't be determined based on the information provided.

Common law is the legal system in place throughout most of North America. It applies because a private individual can only prosecute such a case in tort meaning the only option for such a victim is a civil one against the tortfeasor (the person who stole the phone) and because of this a lack of Mens Rea is irrelevant. The police might be useful to explain this fact and prevent a potential incident should these people try to take matters into their own hands.

By [incorrectly] asserting that he "can show no criminal intent and not be charged" "up to the time" these people arrived you are implying that the phone in question actually is the stolen phone being sought and the person who purchased it has somehow committed a crime based on being informed they possessed property that had been stolen.

The only semi-correct thing you said is a reiteration about a purchase made in good faith, assuming you meant by "sold suspicious phones" that any reasonable person would be suspicious the phone being sold was a stolen one. I say semi-correct because items purchased at a pawnshop, for example, have a higher-than-typical likelihood of and reputation for being stolen property but the suspicion some items may be stolen does not indicate that any particular item was stolen or meet the standard of meaning a purchaser "knew or should have known" an item was stolen just because it was purchased from a pawn shop and thereby nullify every customer's good faith purchaser protections. And at what point is a price low enough to mean it is stolen and not just a good sale? The phrase "pennies on the dollar" isn't code for "stolen stuff for sale".

One can assume these people were there because they believed the victim (by victim I mean the person who had a phone stolen) held the rightful title to this phone. If it is true that they traced the phone's location using the IMEI to a particular house, it sounds like these people were convinced and that the stolen phone and the phone in question are the same (and were probably correct too). Without knowing what a good faith purchaser is and the premise of why the victim would no longer entitled to the property it's understandable for them to demand stolen property be returned to them. To simplify it, I mentioned this so that he could explain to these people they were SOL, even if they were correct and had located the stolen phone.

Also, I was agreeing with KiltedTim's statement about the police...which is why I replied to him assuming the OP (everyone knows what this means btw) would see it either way.

Some of the forum users reading this thread are or were police, so they may know more about it than you.