My iphone was stolen and I use the FindMyIphone app to erase data and wipe it out.. the question is.. what happen with the telephone once I've erased data.. Is there a chance that anybody else can use it.. Does this procedure become it unusable?

Depends, if you live somewhere where lost/stolen phones are blacklisted, then the phone could not be reactivated in that country. If blacklisting is not available, then the phone could be reactivated & used by whoever found it.

The phone is technically usable. All the thief has to do is reset it as a new iPhone.

But it depends. If it was locked to a carrier, they would need to get a SIM from that carrier, but if you report it stolen to the carrier, the thief might have a hard time doing that.

If it was bought legally unlocked the thief could reset it as a new iPhone, and get a SIM from anywhere. I think you can report it stolen to Apple and they will eneter it on their database in case someone brings it in for servicing.

Maybe others here can add to this...

Good luck.

wj, is there a kb article that identifies the countries where blacklisting is available? Also info on how to do that, contact the carrier, or something else? Curious to learn more on that.

FelipeV wrote:

I think you can report it stolen to Apple and they will eneter it on their database in case someone brings it in for servicing.

Apple has no such database & will do nothing to help locate a lost/stolen iPhone, or any other Apple product for that matter.

Thanks.

No KB article, but exists in the UK & now exists in the US. There is no global Blacklist...just country-by-country.

Thanks, one of these days there may be enough countries to warrant a KB article listing all the countries and process to get on the blacklist.

You just report the loss to your carrier. In the US, the FCC has gotten agreement from the carriers to participate. All of this is controversial, as many carriers simply don't want to play police. Not to mention the potential for abuse. The whole idea is to cut down phone thefts. In the UK, it appears to be working, somewhat, but the thieves just ship the phones out of the country.

Great info, wj...haven't kept up with that and really should have so thanks for the quick education. This really answers the question about what to do about stolen iPhones, in a couple countries anyway.