activation lock

ami_16 wrote:

the iphone belonged to this person then they passed it on to another person but the person who got it before us doesn't know who gave him the phone which is quite strange .

That isn't at all strange, as that's the basic sequence that many lost or stolen or cast-off iPhone or iPad devices will follow.

Folks inadvisedly buying such get scammed. Routinely. Unfortunately.

The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying a used iPad/iPhone - Apple Community

This iPhone is useless to you for anything other than its constituent parts, and equally useless to anybody else other than the person holding the Apple ID and password.

Recycle it.

Apple won't unlock it for you, and will only assist the seller if they can't get into their own Apple ID or are the iPhone's original owner. The activation lock is an anti-theft measure.

(205519)

ami_16 wrote:

right but will i get any credit of it or is it just recycle and that's it nothing in return ?

The whole point of Activation Lock is to reduce the value of a lost or stolen iPhone.

The original owner had the option to offer a reward (as part of Lost Mode), but Apple is not going to pay for what may well be a lost or stolen iPhone.

Paying for what may well be a lost or stolen iPhone would encourage theft.

Recycle it.

No. It has no value. You can either have it recycled or turn it over to the police.

Drop it off at an Apple store for recycling.

It’s not that strange, it most likely means that the phone was stolen somewhere along the way. And that’s what Activation Lock is for; it renders a stolen phone unusable, so it is doing what it should be doing.