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How to contact owner of lost+found iPhone with Activation Lock?

Found an iPhone 13 on the beach (in a foreign country while on vacation). It was actually below the tideline and so was in the water, and looked like it had been underwater for a long time. Tried to turn it on, but it was dead. Instead of just throwing the phone back, I decided to hang on to it and see if I could dry it out. Days later, back at home, I removed the SIM card tray to give the interior the ability to breathe and release moisture, and left it in the hot sun during the day for a few weeks. I tried periodically to restart, but with no luck. Eventually, after nearby a month drying in the sun on a windowsill, I tried recharging the phone -- and it came to life! It charged up and started.


However, the startup screen now says that the phone has an Activation Lock: "iPhone Locked to Owner. The location of this iPhone can be seen by its owner 'm••••@hotmail.com," with the email address given exactly like that: "m••••@hotmail.com." Otherwise, there is no emergency contact info set up on the startup screen.


So: Is there ANY way for me to find out the contact info for the original owner, so I can either send the phone back to them, or (if they don't want it any more) ask them to remove the phone from their iCloud Activation Lock? Otherwise, the phone is completely useless to them and me.


Presumably, the info exists -- somewhere in Apple's databases is the name and contact info of the owner. But I assume there's no way for me or anyone to retrieve that info.


And if I can't find their email address, is there any way for me to reveal my contact info to the owner, so they can contact me if they want? It also says that the original owner can now see the recharged phone's location on their "Find My" app -- but that still doesn't let the original owner know my contact info.


Any solution to this dilemma? I'm sure this identical problem has cropped up countless times over the years with lost iPhones. But without a solution, the phone is a useless brick, despite being brought back to life.



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


iPhone 13

Posted on Oct 20, 2023 12:33 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 30, 2024 7:25 PM

I picked up an iPhone 11 in the park and the iPhone is lost. How can I contact the owner of the picked up iPhone?

23 replies

Oct 20, 2023 2:14 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

That's what I thought. Oh well!


I imagine that all around the world there are literally millions of iPhones that have been lost, but the owners have not set up emergency contact info on the startup screen, so the phone cannot be returned to them. I suggest to Apple that they set up a system whereby the finder of a lost iPhone can press an on-screen button that says "This iPhone is locked and cannot be used. Click here to send a notification message to the owner of this iPhone," which sends an anonymous generic message to the owner's email address through the Apple servers, which says, "Your iPhone has been found. Your contact info will not be revealed to the finder unless you choose to do so. Do you wish to see a message from the person currently in possession of your iPhone?" If the owner clicks "No," then s/he gets no further communication from the finder, and the finder gets an automated message through Apple which says, "The owner has declined to communicate. No further actions are possible. Please recycle the phone." But if the owner clicks "Yes," then the finder gets a notification that a message can be sent, the owner then sees a message from the finder, and they can exchange messages (with email addresses hidden and anonymized by default) to everyone's satisfaction -- either by the owner removing the activation lock, or the finder giving the phone back, or whatever. This way, theoretically, everyone can remain safe and private if they want, but also the phone can be returned or unlocked if they want. May not be feasible, but it's an idea to ponder.

Oct 20, 2023 4:00 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

So, I took the SIM out of the found iPhone 13, and put in into an old iPhone I had in a drawer, and although I was not able to make a call using the SIM card (due to it being a foreign carrier), there was a benefit to doing this: I was able to see the phone number of the SIM card, and hence of the phone I found! (By looking in "Settings" in the old iPhone while the SIM was installed.) So at least I now have a faint clue, and a ghost of a chance of finding the original owner -- I can try to see if their number was ever posted online anywhere. Probably a 1% chance of success, but better than 0%. I don't have time to do this now, but maybe in the future. Thanks for the clever suggestion!

Jun 2, 2024 9:25 AM in response to bdowdy

bdowdy wrote:

Your idea is well thought through. It’s honestly complete nonsense that they don’t have some type of solution like this. In the VERY LEAST a finder should be able to mark the phone as found and Apple ping the owner and encourage them to mark it as lost if they want it back.


Anyone that has lost a device can set a message in the display, as has been mentioned. See the highlighted text below.


There are cases where that message won’t be set, whether because the mechanism wasn’t recognized as being available, or because the loss involves stolen devices from people or organizations that might not have been identified as being stolen yet or might not care it was stolen, and cases where the device was stolen by an abusive ex and the partner does not want to re-establish contact with someone harassing them, or is hateful or criminally-inclined, or physically abusive, or worse.


And for all anybody here knows, some of y’all posting in this thread are looking to contact, harass, or rip off, or assault, or worse, the owner of the device that y’all yourselves stole, too.


We just don’t know the situation.


And if y’all think even a simple “ping” wouldn’t be misused for at least harassment, well, welcome to the sordid side of humanity.


Got a found device, turn it into lost-and-found, or local police. Or recycle it.




Oct 20, 2023 2:19 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Well, the problem is that a lost phone has no way of sending anything; it has no cellular or Wi-Fi connection, and, as it is locked, there is no way to establish a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. It’s an interesting idea, but the implementation is close to impossible.


In this particular case the phone has been erased, which is why it is showing that it is activation locked, and it has probably also been blacklisted, so no carrier will allow it on the carrier’s network.

Mar 30, 2024 7:35 PM in response to Fredz_bais15

Fredz_bais15 wrote:

I picked up an iPhone 11 in the park and the iPhone is lost. How can I contact the owner of the picked up iPhone?


As was correctly mentioned by Lawrence Finch above “The owner of a lost phone has an option to display a message on the screen with instructions on how to return the phone, but if the owner doesn’t use this feature there is no way to contact them.”


Apple will not identify the owner. Too much risk of fraud, theft, scams, assaults, or worse.


Turn the device into local police if that’s an option, or to whoever manages lost and found for the park.


Oct 20, 2023 5:14 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Tuffy Nicolas wrote:

I think the real problem with my proposal is that nefarious people could use it to demand "ransom" money for the return of a lost (or stolen) phone, e.g. "I found your phone. Do you want me to send it back to you?" "Yes!" "OK, I'll sent it back -- but only if you first give me $100!" Then the naive owner Venmos $100 to the guy, who just laughs and keeps the phone anyway.

Bad people are why we can't have nice things (like a phone lost+found system).

Indeed.


There is a common phishing scam: The owner gets a text or email from “Apple” or “Apple Security” (or sometimes “Police”) saying your phone has been found and to click on a link to see its location. This is NEVER from Apple or from law enforcement; it is from the thief or fence to steal your Apple ID and identity. Delete any such message without responding to it. Apple never gets involved in lost or stolen devices→Avoid phishing emails, fake ‘virus‘ alerts, phony support calls, and other scams

Jun 2, 2024 9:15 AM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Tuffy Nicolas wrote:

Yeah, I guess there's no way to send a message. But...don't some phones have an "Emergency/SOS call" option that's even accessible on the startup screen, before any passcode has been entered? I think I've seen that before. If so, how are those emergency/SOS calls made, if the caller is some random person who similarly has no access to fully using the phone itself? The phone making the SOS call must have some way of making an outgoing connection.


Emergency/SOS calls. are what, in the U.S., would be called 911 calls – to the police, to the Fire Department, or to the hospital (because, e.g., someone is suffering a heart attack). They are for calls involving true emergencies.


The discovery of a lost or stolen phone is not an emergency. It is not equivalent to a house catching fire – which might result in killing those inside, and burning down the whole neighborhood if the fire is not contained. Nor is it equivalent to someone calling because a criminal is trying to break into their house in the middle of the night.


Could that same communication method be used to send my proposed "I found your phone" notification?


No, because it would be seen as a misuse of that high-priority communications channel.

Jun 2, 2024 9:22 AM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Tuffy Nicolas wrote:

Found an iPhone 13 on the beach (in a foreign country while on vacation).


Any solution to this dilemma?


You could always mail the phone to the police department or the hotel lost & found department in the town where you were vacationing, with a letter explaining how and where you found this phone there while on vacation.


If the owner of the phone is local to that area, and keeps checking lost & found departments, they might get their phone back that way.


Otherwise, recycle it responsibly.

Oct 20, 2023 2:38 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Yeah, I guess there's no way to send a message. But...don't some phones have an "Emergency/SOS call" option that's even accessible on the startup screen, before any passcode has been entered? I think I've seen that before. If so, how are those emergency/SOS calls made, if the caller is some random person who similarly has no access to fully using the phone itself? The phone making the SOS call must have some way of making an outgoing connection. Could that same communication method be used to send my proposed "I found your phone" notification? (This is just musing on an unrelated topic -- my original question has been answered.)

How to contact owner of lost+found iPhone with Activation Lock?

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