Lost iPhone - desperately seeking help

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Level 1

5 points

Lost iPhone - desperately seeking help

HI all who can assist,

I was robbed of my iPhone4 in Zhuhai, China a few days ago. I am very worried about my personal data etc in my phone. My questions are:

(1) sadly, my phone 3G and cellular data were off at the point of robbery. Two hrs after said event, when I had chance to contact my telco provider, I had also terminated my sim card. It was only then I found out about the "remote wipe" function, upon which I duly activated also. Obviously, the remote wipe couldn't work bec there was no Internet connection. If the robber removes my sim card, and subsequently uses his own sim card from china, would my remote wipe still work? Is the remote wipe function dependent on my sim card, or would it work as long as the phone receives its next Internet connection, whether thru cellular network or wifi?

(2) I believe I may have the 4-digit simple password lock on. Is this secure or is it easily hacked? I was not aware of the "erase data" function after 10 attempts until now, so obviously my phone wouldn't erase the data after 10 (hopefully failed) attempts. So what happens to my phone in this instance after 10 failed tries? When the thief tries to restore the phone using his iTunes there in China, would it restore the phone with all my data/photos etc on it, or would he only be able to restore it to the phone's factory settings only?

I am obviously very very concerned about my personal data etc on the phone, and have given up all hope of retrieving my phone now. Would deeply appreciate if any kind souls out there would help with my queries. As on now, my remote wipe request is still pending and I have not received any confirmation that my phone has been wiped.

MAny thanks.

Posted on Aug 31, 2012 11:51 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 1, 2012 1:35 AM in response to Gemini888

Hi there,

If the theif does insert a new SIM card with an internet connection or indeed connects to a WiFi network then your phone will recieve the remote wipe. This will then power off the phone and wipe all data on there. The iPhone is not dependent upon your SIM card, the remote wipe will be enabled through the iPhone's Serial Number, as every iPhone is an individual. Also you should keep trying to track the phone as the thief may have taken it home and connected to a WiFi network or inserted a new SIM. Also when you enable a passcode lock it automatically enables the 10 failed attempts erase data function, unless you have turned it off.

Also even if the thief tries to connect it to his/her own iTunes library they will find that it wipes the iPhone as it does not recognise it. They cannot recover any of your data and will just ben stuck with your iPhone, with nothing on it and a cancelled SIM card.

Hope this helps

Jack

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Answer 2

Gemini888 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 1, 2012 5:10 AM in response to robinsonjack97

Jack,

Thanks for your response. It has helped eased my mind somewhat.

As I have activated the remote wipe control, I reckon there's no way now for me to "track" the phone as your good self has suggested. I guess i can only await the day will come soon when Apple sends me an email saying that my phone has been wiped :(

You mentioned that as I may have enabled the password code lock (which sadly I'm not entirely sure I did; I'm still in a state of shock following the robbery, and can't rem with certainty if I have not disabled it just the day before, sigh), the default mode would be for the phone to erase the data after 10 attempts. I'm not sure that is the case. Think the default setting for "Erase Data" is off, even if pass code lock is set?

Thanks for your help Jack. It has been an extremely trying week for me. Apart from the loss of the iPhone, I also had my wallet taken, with several thousand dollars in it. All of which i am ok to forgo, but I can only hope and pray that the thief do not have access to all my data in the phone :(

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

Sep 1, 2012 1:22 PM in response to Gemini888

Hi again,

Also I have found an article on the Apple Support site that may help. It will give you links to see what devices you had and the serial number, so that if the police find it somewhere or someone hands it in, they will know its yours.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2526

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Answer 4

Gemini888 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 2, 2012 12:27 AM in response to robinsonjack97

Thanks again, and very gratefully Jack.

At this juncture, I harbor no hope at all of ever seeing that iPhone again. I really, really only just hope and pray that my data all gets wiped, or restored to factory settings, before the thief can have access to them :( :(

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Answer 5

Gemini888 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 2, 2012 7:57 PM in response to Gemini888

As a follow on question from the above, ... assuming the thief do a RESTORE from his iTunes a/c, can it be safely assumed that that process would entail the presence of internet, which would in turn set off the remote wipe? Would i then get a confirmation email saying that the phone has been wiped? .... or would the thief's RESTORE merely set it to the phone's factory settings?

I'm dazed, panicking, and wanting/wishing to ascertain that the thief just gets the phone w/o all my data being accessible to him ...

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