My son had his phone stolen. We were able to activate lost mode and track the phone and amazingly the police got it back and have now returned it to us. However, it appears that somehow the thief was able to change the passcode and the phone is in airplane mode, so we are unable to get in to the phone or turn off lost mode via Find My.
Is there anything we can do?
It is an iPhone 11.
Many thanks.
As it sounds like the AppleID was not tampered with; you should be able to reset the phone and restore from a backup.
How to factory reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
However … if …
If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support
You might also use this as an opportunity to teach your son that passcodes are NOT a joke and should NEVER be shared …
… NOR should an unlocked iPhone be handed to anyone unsupervised.
As the odds of correctly guessing a passcode are near-zero; any of his “associates” are likely suspects.
Thanks for you advice about the phone, I'll try a factory re-set.
It seems that you didn't read my message properly though. The phone was STOLEN. The thieves threatened my son and forced him to also give his passcode. The police were able to retrieve the phone due to me constantly phoning them to update where it was every time it was switched on. They have CCTV of the thief trying to sell the phone in a shop and an arrest was made. I take offence at you implying that my son was to blame in this matter.
Re: “… The phone was STOLEN [by] thieves [who] threatened my son … “
Had THAT critical piece of info been included from your OP, my reply certainly would have been different.
Def glad your child is presumably safe and wasn’t harmed.
That said, “kids” can be notoriously lax about their passcodes — sharing them willy-nilly — and leaving their parents at a loss as to how the passcode was changed (as your post inferred).
Finally, I never impugned your child; although given the OP I indeed harbored doubts about his associates (who might have known his passcode)
Turning off lost mode
