iPad shows "Lost iPad" without being reported as lost by owner.

Question

Level 1

6 points

iPad shows "Lost iPad" without being reported as lost by owner.

Hi!

My boss's iPad shows "Lost iPad" on the screen.

The owner has not reported it as lost. Neither has any knowledge of ever installing an app such as "Find my iPhone".

The phone number shown to contact is not that of the owner but when we call that phone number a lady picks it up and says she has not reported any iPad as lost.

All we have is the receipt from the shop we purchased this iPad from and they have gone bankrupt since.

What should we do?

There are five more Apple products in the same household which are all functioning normally.

Please help!

iPad 2, iOS 7.0.3

Posted on Nov 13, 2013 1:10 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 13, 2013 6:22 AM in response to alandT

The only way I can think of to correct this is to restore the ipad back to factory settings.

Go to settings/general/reset/erase all content and settings/'set up as new'

How to back up and restore (iCloud and iTunes)

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766

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Answer 2

alandT Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 14, 2013 4:11 AM in response to GrumpyGator

Thanks for your reply GrumpyGator.

We are stuck in the setup itself, this is the setup after it upgraded to iOS 7.

So we cannot yet get into your suggested part: Settings/General/Reset/Erase all content and settings/'set up as new'

Any other suggestions please?

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Answer 3

Nov 14, 2013 5:20 AM in response to alandT

do you have a computer?

Update itunes on computer and then connect ipad, open ipad in itunes and restore

Via itunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414

if that does not work, then you can put it into recovery mode

Unable to update or restore

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808?viewlocale=en_US

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Answer 4

alandT Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 18, 2013 1:07 AM in response to GrumpyGator

Hi GrumpyGator,

Thank you for your reply.

I have tried both of your suggestions.

Sorry but neither of the two suggestions work.

For your knowledge and everyone else's:

First suggestion of restoring through iTunes didn't work at all, as soon as I clicked on the restore button in iTunes, it again asked for the Apple ID of the ghostly person who doesn't exist. (the same person whose phone number is suggested to call but when called, that person denies reporting any iPad stolen.)

Second suggestion of recovery mode, did give some hopes, but we ended up just updating to iOS 7.0.4 and then when the update was completed and iPad restored, it went back into the same loop of asking for the Apple ID of a person who doesn't exist!

Please help! Thank you.

The iStudio employees in Thailand are extremely rude and unhelpful, approaching them yields nothing.

All they're interested in is selling new products but no support whatsoever for previously sold products, especially those products which you didn't purchase from their shop.

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Answer 5

Nov 18, 2013 6:42 AM in response to alandT

This is perplexing

During the restore process, were you prompted to restore from a 'backup' or as 'new device'

did you choose new device?

have you tried contacting apple technical support?

Contacting Apple for Support and Service

http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57

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Answer 6

Nov 18, 2013 6:53 AM in response to alandT

Honestly, that sounds like iOS 7's Activation Lock kicking in exactly as it is designed to do. Activation Lock will require the previous owners AppleID password to be able to activate and use the device.

It sounds to me like this now bankrupt store you purchased from was selling stolen devices, and you are now stuck with one. Without that previous owners AppleID password, you will never be able to use that device.

see http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13695 for info about Activation Lock.

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Answer 7

Nov 18, 2013 6:56 AM in response to Michael Black

I guess I was assuming that the ipad was functioning normally at some point and now it isn't. But your answere makes sense.

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Answer 8

lizdance40

Level 4

2,424 points

Nov 18, 2013 7:00 AM in response to Michael Black

If not stolen, as least used.... The person you contacted may have been the original owner of the iPad. She may have brought it in for repair or upgraded to a newer device. Save her contact info, it may help to get the device back in service.

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