Stolen Iphone with Erase Pending but location updated

Does this mean the phone only reported it's location via bluetooth and didn't receive the command to wipe itself?

According to the information that you have provided.....yes. The phone is powered off, but it still sends out a brief intermittent Bluetooth signal for location purposes.

The phone will need a good Internet connection over either cellular or Wi-Fi to carry out the erase command. But.....this cannot occur as long as the phone is powered off.

Unfortunately, there is not really anything that you can do at this point other than check a few times each day to see if the status of the phone has changed.

domeed wrote:

My iPhone was stolen 2 days ago and within 30 min, I had requested It be ERASED through my apple account. It is still pending, but I continue to see its location updated. And I have had several email hacking intentions in the past 24 hours. Why won't it erase already, if it's clearly connected? Apple operation system doesnt seem to work when you most need it... How can I force en emergency erase?

It’s not connected. Its location is being reported by nearby iPhones using Apple’s crowdsourced Find My network, which reports the location of the phone using its Bluetooth radio, which remains on when the phone is turned off.

The phone will need a good Internet connection.....either cellular or Wi-Fi.....in order for the erase to run. Older models did not have the Bluetooth feature, so when the phone was powered off, the phone could not report on its location.

Unfortunately, thieves often turn the phone off to limit things that the owner can do, so you will have to be patient.

You will be notified when the erase occurs. In the meantime, your passcode protects the data on the phone.

You might receive a legitimate email from Apple stating something along the lines of, “Activation Lock is Requesting Your Password”

Note that this communication does NOT try to generate any urgency your part; ask you to do anything; or provide a link to anywhere.

It’s completely informational.

It does however indicate that the criminals have reset your phone — which completely erases the already-encrypted data — and that the phone is Activation Locked.

Additionally …

… as long as your iPhone is protected by a secure passcode (known only to you and not easily guessed) the information on your device will remain inaccessible by whoever DOES have your phone.

Be vigilant for any messages from the thieves, usually claiming to be from Apple and stating they have “found your phone” but need you to “validate yourself” by entering your AppleID credentials into a web page they provide.

These are NEVER from Apple.

DO NOT RESPOND OR REPLY

Hello Bob,

I am in a similar situation as OP where my phone which got stolen 4 days ago, was detected somewhere 13 hours ago on Find My app. It was detected in the middle of a grocery store parking lot so I assume it got reported via bluetooth of someone nearby.

I had the erase pending status on it on the app for 4 days but now it just shows the address where it was last detected, and still gives me the option to cancel erase.

Does this mean the phone only reported it's location via bluetooth and didn't receive the command to wipe itself?

Is the bluetooth feature only one way reporting of location and doesn't tell the phone it is lost?

Since I've already got a new phone, it has no cellular connection nor wifi(I think I had it turned off to save battery), so it is very likely that it will stay with the thief with my data on it forever. I hope they didn't look over my shoulders to see my pin before hand.

Thank you in advance.