Any way to track stolen iPhone 4 without having previously installed an app

One more question.. when the phone is locked, is it easy to try hacking the passwd and access to the phone? Or they normally restore everything? I'm quite worried cuz i have store all of my credit cards and also other important information inside. Thank you again.

It is not easy at all to hack an iPhone's passcode. If your device had a passcode, whoever stole it most likely restored the device.

If the phone is locked unless you had a really stupid password like 1234 or 1111 it is close to impossible to get around it. Each wrong guess makes you wait longer before you can make the next guess. If you had set the option to wipe the phone after 10 tries then you are really secure. If you didn't the chance of someone guess it is vanishingly small.

Actually, after 10 attempts if the phone has the option to wipe off, it will show "Connect to iTunes" and the only way to get past that is to restore, or plug the iPhone into the computer it is setup with.

As serial numbers are stored in iTunes, would not Apple somewhere be able to tell me which iTunes accounts has which seriaknumbers attached to them. If they could inforn me as the correct owner at least I would know if the phone was beeing used or tossed.

The serial number is stored in iTunes on your computer, it is not sent to Apple. As iPhones change hands all the time it is not practical for Apple to track the current owners of 250 million devices. Some carriers register the IMEI numbers, so if a phone is reported stolen a carrier has the capability to block it, although today most do not. The US carriers have announced that they are planning to in the future, but there are hundreds of carriers around the world, so there is a black market in stolen smartphones worldwide. If the phone was stolen by a professional it almost certainly is in another country by now.

Hello. It's an unfortunate event when a phone is lost or stolen, but here are a few thoughts:

1.) When you buy a phone, no matter if it has a SIM card or not, the IMEI is registered through your carrier. It's best to immediately notify your carrier that you suspect your phone has been lost or stolen. Your account can be suspended, and the phone can also be placed on a Lost/Stolen list, just in case that phone may ever be activated by someone else again.

2.) It seems to be overlooked when someone buys a phone, but insurance is almost necessary. It not only can have your back when it comes to breaking a phone that has glass on the front and the back, but also in times when you've lost the phone or it has been reported stolen. Insurance companies also place that phone on their own list of Lost/Stolen devices, just so that no one can use that phone again.

Find My iPhone is great if you've realized within about 30 minutes that your phone has disappeared - other than that, any half-educated teenager can figure out how to factory wipe the phone, leaving it to be forever lost in the world of Find My iPhone. At least if you flag it as stolen, the kid has to go and buy their own iPhone like everyone else.

Guys, my iphone 4s was stolen and never user Findmy Phone before. I lodged the poilce complaint with IMEI number. buit still it is not appearing on their tracker list gets from all carriers. I am missing so much without my iPhone. Any help or direction appreciated. 😢

I just lost my iPhone 3Gs. I am hoping it is not stolen and it is jus somewhere. I called it with a friend's phone couple of times right when I realized I lost it. It was ringing. But I know the battery was low, that's why just a few hours later it was going directly to voice mail.
I went to At&T the day after and ask what my options were. Pretty much nothing. I did/do not have iCloud or find my iPhone app.

Very very dissapointing!
Does anyone have a suggestion? Is there really a way to find it. and I mean honestly I do not care about the device much at this point (my iPhone 5 is on its way) but all im concerned about now is the stuff I had on it.

ANy help is highly appreciated.

Since you didn't activate Find my iPhone, there's no way to find it other than physically looking for it. If you're only concerned about what's on it, you should have a backupof your 3GS in iTunes that you can install on your iP5.

Yeah. The latest backup I have though is from March 😟

Experience is a tough teacher... backup more often, activate Find my iPhone and always use a passcode. 😉

wow! how I would love it to be true! My iphone was just stolen , right in front of me. And how ``i would love it , thaat there would be some bomb inside . So I would only have to activate something and....`boom`!!!!

My iphone 4s got stolen tonight, well i was mugged for it ha. anyway it didnt have find my iphone on it had notes with a bunch of my info on it, i filed a police report. also my girlfriend and i share an icloud account so i changed that also. but they havent turned my phone off because when i call it, it rings. i changed all my information on all the crucial accounts i had on there.is there anyway apple can track it, or the police? i figured so long as the phone was on and recieving texts and such there would be a way. im really concerned becacuse i had a lot of important information on that phone.

Apple cannot track it if you didn't have Find my iPhone enabled. The carrier can track it by IMEI, but they don't. If you had a passcode on the phone your content is safe from prying eyes, but not otherwise. I'm sorry for your loss.