Request for Assistance: iPhone Possibly Reported as Lost or Stolen

Apple will provide you no information about the original owner and they do not get involved in third party sales at all.. I assume you are seeing the Locked to Owner screen which is the Activation Lock. Devices set up by the original owner are protected whether they are reported stolen or not. To sell or give away a device, the owner would wipe the device first to remove their ownership. If that is the screen you are seeing, you now have a brick unless you are able to contact the seller or get assistance from Facebook for allowing fraudulent sales on their platform.

Never buy an Apple device from a third party where you have no option for a refund. Facebook Marketplace is the worst for sellers ghosting you after purchase and being stuck with unusable products. Review the information provided here:

The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying … - Apple Community

aimad115 wrote:

I understand Apple’s policies and I respect them.

However, I live in a region without any Apple Stores or official resellers, so buying second-hand is often the only option.

My device works fine, I’m simply being cautious about updating iOS in case it was activation-lock bypassed before I purchased it.

I’m not trying to unlock stolen property; I just want to make sure I don’t lose access to my data or disable my phone accidentally.

Your posts keep being pointless and irrelevant. You have been told that you CANNOT get the information you require. Complaining here is NOT going to change reality.

Yes, we understand that some places do not have Apple Store or that you might want to buy a previously owned phone, but again that is IRRELEVANT. You can buy from a trusted source, of which Facebook is NOT one of them.

In any case, assuming the phone is stolen and you can't use it because it is activation locked; guess what? It is doing what it is supposed to be doing: preventing unauthorized use.

This is not Apple Support, this is a user to user forum.

Apple does not get involved with stolen devices, nor do they have a way to track if the phone was stolen.

Buying a phone from anywhere else but Apple is a very bad idea.

The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying … - Apple Community

While there are many sketchy websites, CTIA (the cellular industry telecommunications trade group) has a IMEI blacklist stolen device checking website: https://stolenphonechecker.org/spc/

Given you are presumably using the gear, it is not blacklisted.

As for the rest of your questions, you pay your money and you take your chances, as the online sales sites are all too often offering stolen gear, and problematic gear.

That's unfortunate. But you own a brick, which Apple will NEVER help you unlock. It's utterly, totally, completely useless to you. Recycle it responsibly. Do read the link Kurtosis12 and Mac Jim ID provided above.

You were advised that......

Apple will provide you no information about the original owner and they do not get involved in third party sales at all.

You can ask as many times as you want, but this answer will not change.

aimad115 wrote:

It’s not a brick, the iPhone works fine, but I’m not going to update iOS until I’m sure it wasn’t activation-lock bypassed.

It boots, I can use apps, calls and sign in with my Apple ID, and everything appears functional. However, if the device was activation-lock bypassed, an iOS update or restore will very likely re-enable the real Activation Lock and permanently lock the phone to the original owner’s Apple ID. I need confirmation (original owner removal from iCloud or proof of purchase) before attempting any update.

OK. But Apple will NOT provide you ANY information about the previous owner. If an update causes the phone to lock, then the phone will lock and there's not one thing you can do about that. You take a risk when you buy a used iPhone from someone you don't know and this could well be one of those risks.

aimad115 wrote:

At the time, I was not aware that the device might have been reported as lost or stolen.

Implying that you are now aware that the device may have been reported lost or stolen.

What happened to make you "aware"?

If you think the device is "lost or stolen", why would you want to hang onto, and keep using, a device that does not belong to you? Why do you "need" confirmation that the device was not "activation-locked bypassed," assuming that you plan to do the honest thing?

"However, if the device was activation-lock bypassed, an iOS update or restore will very likely re-enable the real Activation Lock and permanently lock the phone to the original owner’s Apple ID. I need confirmation (original owner removal from iCloud or proof of purchase) before attempting any update."

If updating iOS "re-enable[d] the real Activation Lock and permanently lock[ed] the phone", proving that the phone was lost or stolen (and that someone had somehow bypassed the anti-theft lock), wouldn't you want to do the right thing and turn the stolen property into the police? In which case you would be out the phone (that did not belong to you) whether it was locked or not.

I just want to make sure I handle this situation properly and in good faith.

If you are so afraid that the phone is lost or stolen property, and that Activation Lock will kick the first time that you update iOS, there is a "good faith" option: turn the phone in to the police.

Is it possible my husband bought my phone through a marketplace and not through Apple? I used stolen iPhone on my own phone for a password change.

The users on this site and Apple cannot provide you with any help for your questions.

This answer will not change.

It will be your decision as to whether you want to update the phone.

Thanks

Apple is not here and even if they were they would not give you the info you request. There are no options.