Can anyone block a stolen (sim free) iPhone?

If the phone has never been linked to a carrier, there is nobody who can block it. It is not Apple's responsibility, all they did was manufacture the device.

Giving the details of the phone here won't help - we're just users like you, and none of us can do what you wish.

Merls1003 wrote:

I would have hoped that apple would want a record of stolen iphones because any thief can go into the shop and ask for a replacement by complaining about battery problems.

Sorry - does Ford have a record of stolen cars?

The big difference is that cars have to be titled by and registered with the State. Phones, on the other hand, do not, and there is no government record kept of their sale or transfer from individual to individual. There is too much room for the carriers or ANY phone manufacturer to get into big legal trouble by blacklisting or disabling a device reported as lost or stolen without a court order to do so, which is why the US carriers won't do it. If a CDMA network customer reports their phone lost or stolen, the carrier will shut it down, but that is, in effect, no different from shutting down the SIM card for a GSM phone. If someone walks into a Verizon shop with a Verizon phone and says 'I bought this off e-bay', Verizon will be happy to activate it and start taking their money, regardless of what the previous owner reported to them as to the status of the phone.

U need your IMEI and hand it to your carrier. International Mobile Equipment Identity number. Depending on your ISP, some of them may allow blocking of IMEIs. All it does is it causes your phone to be unable to use SIMs from any carrier until the phone is removed from the IMEI blacklist.

Phone your carrier. But this service is performed at their own descretion, they're not really obliged to do so although some carriers offer this as a free service. Good luck.

There's some workarounds to the blockade though, but can only evade the blockade for some minutes, some hours or whatever sometimes by doing a few tricks by flicking the airplane mode switch.

P.S. I also heard USA ISPs do not offer IMEI blacklisting

My purpose was not to clear anything up for tonefox, it was to point out to you that thee is a substantial difference between a car manufacturer keeping tabs on vehicle serial numbers. FWIW, Ford, nor any other manufacturer will do that without a court order. I am fairly certain that if Apple were served with similar legal papers, they would do the same. The police, however, generally won't bother much over a stolen cell phone.

I am suitably chastised. Meanwhile, I still have my iPhone. Why did you attempt to sell your "never used" iPhone for £490 when the retail is £599?

It is your carrier that makes phone calls possible, not Apple. Contact the carrier.

No, but I'm sure your government would be very interested in the 'fake money'.

You have of course informed the Police haven't you