Stolen iPhone 4

The only way I know of to locate iPhones is to have it registered with Mobile Me. I don't know how you could track it by using the Mac address...

I have the Serial number and IMEI from the Box, will Apple know the Mac Address of this phone from it's Serial number and or IMEI number ?

Sorry but no. Even if they know, they would not be able to give out that information to a private individual. Even with the MAC address, it would be almost impossible to physically locate the iPhone with that information, since it could be traced only to a given wireless access point, presuming that the iPhone is connected to WiFi, and that usually covers a pretty large physical area. Police usually take a really dim view of private citizens mucking up the waters by attempting to play detective (and people have been injured or killed trying to do so), so it's best left up to the police.

Does anyone know if Rogers Canada can trace phones by the IMEI number ?

They may be able to lock out the IMEI number and/or deactivate the service, but you'll have to call them to find out for certain. There are ways around such a lock, though, so about all that can be done is to get that iPhone off your friend's service and hope that that police can eventually recover it, though the chances are slim.

Regards.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

Sorry to hear about your problem Bakke. I hate to be the barrier of bad news but unless you get lucky and someone returns it or you find it somewhere your pretty much out of luck. About 3 or 4 months ago mine also got stolen in the Houston area and after weeks on the phone with at&t and Apple and the Houston police dept (filed a stolen phone report)and doing some extensive searching on the web the conclusion is that apple and at&t are allowing stollen iPhones to be put back into service Nowing that they have been reported stollen. After long and extensive phone calls and visits with Apple and at&t I have found out that there is no stollen iPhone blacklist database. (IMEI #s) I even spoke to a few people that have worked for other carriers that say that when they went to work for at&t they were shocked to find out about the lack of a blacklist database. Just ask anybody that reported a phone stollen a few years ago how hard it was if they found it later and tried to get it reactivated. After about a week a detective called me back and actually told me if the phone was back on they could probable find it using the E911 system,but they wouldn't because of the cost and the fact that its not a police emergency.
This has been the super short version of the story. Its just so wrong that both Apple and at&t now about this and are doing nothing. And guess what, I went and bought another iPhone. So Sad

joeip

I don't believe that they do, though I'm not sure.

and doing some extensive searching on the web the conclusion is that apple and at&t are allowing stollen iPhones to be put back into service Nowing that they have been reported stollen. After long and extensive phone calls and visits with Apple and at&t I have found out that there is no stollen iPhone blacklist database.

I was once advised that all countries require the blacklisting of stollen mobile Phones, except the United States.

Blacklisting a mobile Phone doesn't get it back, but it makes it (almost) worthless to the criminal.

Let us know how things are in Canada.

Very interesting information here. I had done extensive research on tracking iPhones after my iPhone 3GS was stolen in a European country this August 2010.

I have also studied wireless engineering among other things.

So basically, the bureaucracy and capitalist mechanism of the high tech market hides all truth about this issue. Anyone who has not studied "wireless" has no idea what's going on and simply listens to all the chatter online.

Most phones of the last 10 years are traceable to a very good proximity if you have the the money and authority to immediately pay everyone up the hierarchy of this aim. An iPhone 3GS can be tracked as long as it is on, from a deep engineering perspective. The phone does not have to be transmitting explicitly, as it is transmitting every few seconds anyways.

An EMEI number can be blacklisted internationally and can be found as long as the phone is on. Of course, no one wants to deal with this mess, so found phones are resold and reused because even though they show up as stolen, there is no one to check them, unless they have money, authority and a lawyer. It is cheaper to get a new phone. A proper kind of database for this can be programmed by an intelligent high schooler.

Someone one day might make a great business as a "personal investigator" with the wireless tools to help others find their phones. Thieves do not know how fast they can be caught and are very naive to think they can get away with smartphones for long. Give it a year or two and the person next to you on the beach with a smartphone will key in your EMEI and see who has your phone under their towel.

Message was edited by: daystar88

There are a number of iPhone recovery apps available, such as "Undercover" Even some of the instant messaging apps, like IM+ provide optional phone location data back to a central server. Unfortunately they all require action BEFORE the phone is stolen. If it is already gone, and no countermeasures were invoked ahead of time, there is not much you can do. All you can count on the carrier to do, is turn off the service to the phone... Of course turning the Internet off most likely eliminates any possibility of recovery.