Blocking stolen iPhone using IMEI

If you contact your carrier, they should be able to suspend cellular service and calls/texts on the device. It also prevents the iPhone from being connected to other carriers. But as far as the iPhone itself goes, it would be prevented use if you had a passcode and Find My set on it. Your carrier cannot do that.

Hello~ Here’s the information you can follow if your iPhone has been stolen…

If your iPhone or iPad was stolen - Apple Support

~Katana-San~

If your carrier blacklists the phone, that will keep it from receiving cellular voice, text message, and data service from any carrier who honors the blacklist.

It will not prevent the thief or their customer from resetting and wiping the phone to "make the phone your own". Even if the phone companies refuse to provide service to the phone, if you had "Find My" turned off on the phone when it was stolen, the thief will be able to use it as a sort of "iPod touch".

You can only "brick" the phone against that if you had "Find My" turned on.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

I've been out of the game for a while, but I think, in the U.S., the list is shared between carriers these days. In the past, having your carrier block it only blocked it on your carrier's system.

The list is shared by all US carriers and many international carriers.

Your carrier may be able to block the IMEI. You can't and neither can Apple.

LD150 wrote:

That's good to know. Maybe the ones I read about were bought blocked.

On this side of the Pond I don't think carriers have that power anyway. It has been illegal even to lock a phone to a carrier for some years now

Blocking a stolen phone and carrier locking are two different things. Blocking a stolen phone puts the IMEI on a list that prevents carriers from activating it. It may seem like a distinction without a difference but it really is different. You don't have to fulfill carrier service requirements or to have paid off the phone to get it unblocked. You just have to prove you're the account holder for the number the phone was connected to when it was put on the stolen phone list.

I would think that, in the U.S., it is possible to have a phone both carrier locked (which wouldn't prevent someone from activating it on the same carrier) and on the stolen phone list (which would).

I've been out of the game for a while, but I think, in the U.S., the list is shared between carriers these days. In the past, having your carrier block it only blocked it on your carrier's system.

"Blocking stolen iPhone using IMEI: How can I block my imei and my iphone not to be used if it's stolen"

-------

For reference...

Troubleshooting a Stollen iPhone:

Do Two Things:

A. Verify this Device:

Verify that you the device is still logged in to your account, by using this link: Check your Apple ID Device List to See where you're Signed in - Apple Support

B. Consider Modifying your Credentials:

Having been stollen, someone likely has your credentials. So, by all means, consider modifying them.

• Modify: your login credentials (Using Both a New eMail and a New Password for each and all sites)
• Associate: a different method of payment to your account
• Enable: Two-Factor Authentication for Apple ID and for all other accounts that have such an applicable option

IdrisSeabright wrote:

LD150 wrote:

There is one other consideration .If you asked the carrier blocked it and you find the phone, it is a devil of a job to get it unblocked.

That hasn't been my experience. You call customer service, they transfer you to the appropriate team, you verify that you are the account holder for the number the phone was connected to, and it's done. Of course, it may vary by carrier. And if you're not the account holder, forget it.

That's good to know. Maybe the ones I read about were bought blocked.

On this side of the Pond I don't think carriers have that power anyway. It has been illegal even to lock a phone to a carrier for some years now

"B. Consider Modifying your Credentials:

Having been stollen, someone likely has your credentials. So, by all means, consider modifying them."

Only if the phone was stolen with a knowledge of the passcode. Katana-san's KB link refers to stolen device protection at the end.

Bearing in mind the OP was asking about IF their phone is stolen, reference to SDP is apposite as a precaution.

LD150 wrote:

There is one other consideration .If you asked the carrier blocked it and you find the phone, it is a devil of a job to get it unblocked.

That hasn't been my experience. You call customer service, they transfer you to the appropriate team, you verify that you are the account holder for the number the phone was connected to, and it's done. Of course, it may vary by carrier. And if you're not the account holder, forget it.

“Only if the phone was stolen with a knowledge of the passcode. Katana-san's KB link refers to stolen device protection at the end. Bearing in mind the OP was asking about IF their phone is stolen, reference to SDP is apposite as a precaution.”

———-

Thanks for that.

If, and, or but, it’s a scenario. Guess used the wrong vocab: “Having been stollen, and you’re absolute-positively-totally sure that someone likely has your credentials. So, by all means, consider modifying them.”

There is one other consideration .If you asked the carrier blocked it and you find the phone, it is a devil of a job to get it unblocked.

The link given by Katana-San is all the protection you need

Lawrence Finch wrote:

The list is shared by all US carriers and many international carriers.

Thanks! I thought it probably was.