ios7 activation lock,previous owner,apple id,

So I called Apple and they do have instructions to provide law enforcement with email address about found iphones. It is not owner's email, but someone or some department at apple. They didn't give me that email address for the simple reason that I do not have a badge number nor do I work for law enforcement. But if police officer is reading that thread, please contact Apple and advise customer rep. to check instructions on how to work with law enforcement.

So Apple cant send an email to or notify the previous owner about a lost or stolen iPhone but they can send me an email whenever my Apple account is used. Apple knows what happens with all iPhones activated with them but they refused to do anything within their power to help. Seems like they are just using this FindMyiPhone feature to sell more new iPhones. Its not there to really help iPhone users.

That we already addressed. Apple does not interfere with ownership squabbles. So if you had a question, unless you got phone from Apple and have proof, there is no help for second or fourth hand users like you. Just do not buy locked phones. Found stolen/lost phone turn to police. They can actually call Apple and if presented themselves properly will get help.

Edit: I know this is a little off topic, but it's helpful 😝

Apple will not allow me to post the link, but if you google around there is a iPhone repair site in Beijing offering to help find lost or stolen iPhones even ones that have been errased!

Here's a little bit from thier site..

"This service works perfectly and doesn’t matter if the phone is switched on or not, or was connected to wifi or not. When an iPhone is restored or activated with a SIM card, the phone number will be registered on Apple's database. We can get this important information for you. If there is no number found on the Apple server, we will refund you without any question asked!"

"The police usually takes 3-4 months to actually find the mobile number on the phone, but we can do it within 1 to 24 hours (may take up to 48-72 hours in rare cases)."

"Once you find the mobile number which is on your lost/stolen phone, just take it to the police, with a proof of ownership of the iPhone. They will handle the rest.

In a case when the actual number cannot be found, we can still get the ICCID which is a serial number tied to the SIM card of the new number. We will also provide the carrier name so that you can get in touch with them."

I'd like to also take this moment to stress just how important making regular backups is, and making use of the iCloud. The iPhone is replacable, the memories and data are not. Please protect yourself!

Also DO NOT use the 4 digit pin option. It is NOT secure and can be easily bypassed. Especially if your password is on the list below....

• 1234
• 0000
• 2580
• 1111
• 5555
• 5683
• 0852
• 2222
• 1212
• 1998
• 0852
• 7777
• 2345
• 1379
• 1739
• 1793
• 5656
• 1313

Also don't forget to add the option to do a full data erase after x amount of failed attempts.

That sounds like a perfect scam. They will charge your very little money, but you will not ever get anything reliable out of it. 95% of stolen in US phones is shipped out of country within 7 days and no phone number will help anyone to track it even if those guys did have access to Apple database. I would bet 2 penny's that they do not. But thank you, very entertaining information.

Or and my passcode is on your list.

Why anyone would take sriously that dribble you just posted, i justdont know? Why would you NOT call a number for your stolen iPhone even if it is in another country? There is a big chance that your stolen iPhone is still in the USA even if 99% are shipped out of country. Why cant a SIM card(with the information that it holds) installed in your stolen iPhone not help you track it? What you say does not make any sense. Do you even know what an IMEI number is and why it would be in Apple's database? Do you even know how Apple activates iPhones with info from the SIM card? You should stop commenting on this topic.

trajan1 wrote:

Why anyone would take sriously that dribble you just posted, i justdont know? Why would you NOT call a number for your stolen iPhone even if it is in another country? There is a big chance that your stolen iPhone is still in the USA even if 99% are shipped out of country. Why cant a SIM card(with the information that it holds) installed in your stolen iPhone not help you track it? What you say does not make any sense. Do you even know what an IMEI number is and why it would be in Apple's database? Do you even know how Apple activates iPhones with info from the SIM card? You should stop commenting on this topic.

Topic of you being the village policemen? Country side detective? Master of IMEI? Apple activator professional?

Iphone sim card tracker? Phone number police triangulator?

iwant to apple id psword

Hola oye Necesito ayuda yo que del si la unica propietaria de mi iphone y le hice un borrado pero no desactive el id ahora intento ingresar al iphone y me dice que active mi iphone y coloco mi id y contraseña y dice que mi ID es incorrecto y ese es el que siempre he usado en mi celular que debo hacer?

intento entrar a icloud y dice que no esta configurada la cuenta en mi dispositivo ios ayudameee!

Carol!😐

So much arguing over who is at fault in this thread, but how about this - what's the logic of preventing the return of an iPhone?

Apple does not allow you to register the location of the phone - for return to the original owner.

They don't let you contact the original owner.

They brick the device, but absolutely do not facilitate any return of the phone - of any kind, at all.

They are not preventing theft. They aren't expediting the returns of phones. They are merely bricking devices.

The reality is, a great many phones are being bricked by Apple - that were not stolen.

But even those that were stolen, aren't being returned.

I bought a phone, the seller said it had a clean ESN - I checked online before making the purchase, it did have a clean ESN.

But the seller plain didn't disclose the phone was activation locked. Dishonest seller, happens all the time.

So my first inclination is to contact the person whose account is blocking the activation, to see if it was stolen - can't. Apple doesn't allow that.

Or I could, give Apple my email address, so they could contact me - can't. Apple doesn't allow that.

Did any of you ask yourself what happens to these bricked phones? They get placed in the trash, that's what happens.

If its stolen, and there was the opportunity to return it - what a ridiculous absurd logic, that doesn't allow any returns or even the possibility of a return.

And cut the nonsense about calling the police. I called the police, they just said it wasn't registered as stolen. Phone is still bricked. I still have the phone - waiting to be trashed.

Apple didn't lock the phone - previous owner did. Turn phone in to police and when they contact Apple they will get assist from Apple on how to return phone to owner. Apple gave previous owner tool to lock the phone to prevent activation, owner used it. You just whining here, cause you just learned a lesson - do not buy stolen/lost phone from a crook. Apple created ability that is used by millions of people and by June of next year every manufacturer that ships to California will have the same feature. It is a law.

They were either lost, stolen, or the original owner failed to remove the lock. A "clean ESN" means nothing.

Apple isn't in the law enforcement business and they aren't in the business of putting you in touch with the original owner. In many countries, doing so would violate privacy laws.

Next time buy from a legitimate source.

SAd to say you're stuck in there. Even apple wont help not unless you can provide proof of ownership (receipt of purchase)and pass the security measures they have

i recieved an iphone 5 from my friends mom. he passed on and she, being an elderly woman had no clue as to how to work the device so she decided to give the device to me as she departed home to france. this is the first time ive ever used an apple product so i had no idea that it has a lock feature. now i understand the whole security feature but apple needs to have a certain amount of consideration. how exactly am i supposed to get in touch with my friend when he has. passed on. he was an only child and i dont think he told anyone else his apple details. it ***** that i have to deal with this when the device isnt stolen and we pretty much do not know where his papers of puchase are. so smart ***'s who throw bad comments about stolen devices. tell me is the policy still fair in terms of this situation? dont dare compare it to the death of the previous car owner because it would mean i turn the device into the police station or some crap like that

I didn't even want to tell the 'clever' people that 'know' everything was stolen that I had bought an iPhone 4S off e-bay for $60.

Stolen, stolen, stolen! Is their motto.

Luckily the owner, did unlock the phone a few days later, and my problem is solved. So I won't be hanging out in this thread much longer.

I am not saying Apple should have no lock feature - because it does help reduce crime. What I am saying is they conveniently designed a lock feature that also maximized the numbers of phones that are accidentally locked.

Because Apple is in the business, they know full well that people lock the phone when they buy it, and years later, they toss the phone - and do not remember at that time to unlock the old phone. So all these not-stolen phones are out there, with activation locks, because its human nature.

Apple's program absolutely stops short of actually getting a phone to the original owner when its 'stolen'. They don't have any program to drop off a phone. They don't collect any contact information for the 'owner' to get their old phone back - it kind of hints apple doesn't even believe its stolen.

What apple wants is to brick the most phones, and the reason I say that, is they developed a program to brick the maximum amount of phones, and not a program that does much of anything to facilitate 'phone return' - if that was their goal, they'd have some common sense ways of facilitating phone returns. I've named them, take the email address of the person that is in possession of the phone. Have some program to return a phone, rather than place it in the trash.

And in your example, the original owner had died. That's something that happens sometimes, where is Apple's handling of that? No where to be found.

Brick the phone, brick the phone, brick the phone is their first try at this.....but that is not the appropriate response to every single scenario.