Stolen Apple device - Serial Number Issue

You can possibly erase the device, but you will never be able to set it up to use it again. The Activation Lock will remain in place, and as soon as you try to set up the device, you will be asked for that Activation Lock screen Apple ID and Passcode....

GB

WHAT APPLE CAN DO IS DIFFERENT TO WHAT THEY WILL DO.

APPLE CAN TRACK YOUR DEVICE AND FIND OUT IF IT WAS REGISTERED TO ANOTHER COMPUTER BUT THEY MAY NOT TELL THE ORIGINAL REGISTERED OWNER OF THE DEVICE THE DEVICE IT IS NOW REGISTERED TO ANOTHER COMPUTER.

"Registering" an electronic device is NOT like registering a car. Apple is NOT a law enforcement agency. There are legal reasons why Apple can not prevent someone from using the device, or prevent them from "registering" it.

The police can get a court order that requiring them to provide whatever relevant information they have regarding the device to the proper authorities.

Nalongo wrote:

Hi my iPad was stolen. I can't trace it because it's not connected to internet. Any way apple can help me to find it?

No.

It is not Apple's job to find stolen property and since they are not the police, they are not authorised to do so. You should report the theft to the police, although the prospects of getting the device back are slim. Does your house contents insurance cover you for the theft?

As has been pointed out by KiltedTim, there are privacy laws which prevent anyone from simply giving out information about someone else.

Your repeated posts into this thread will change nothing. Report the theft to your local police.

Help Mac-gyver wrote:

Does apple have a policy indemnifying them of criminal black market activities? Can apple notify me if somebody tries to re-register my property? Can apple block re-registration attempts?

No, no and no.

What are you on about. The Find My iPhone Activtation Lock on iOS7 devices essentially initialtes a "kill switch" which will render your device useless to a thief.

The app will continue to be able to connect with your phone whenever it is online, allowing it to be remotely wiped by you, allowing you to see where it was last connected with (for 24 hours), allowing you to put the device in Lost Mode and to put a message on the device in hopes that if an honest person finds it, they will return it.

Beyond that, it is not Apple's job to go after criminals. That's what the police are for.

If the phone is unusable, then Apple is not "allowing" criminals to go on using stolen phones, are they? They are unusable....

You seem to be confusing Apple with Big Brother....

GB

Why is the only Wifi it will connect to your Home Wifi? If someone steals it, and can find an open guest Wifi, it will go online....

And just so you know, Find My iPhone is a generic term for all "Find My" apps.

You said: What concerns me is that according to other posts people can hook my iPod touch up to another computer and iTunes, wipe it clean and re-register so they can use it themselves.

What I said was - no they cannot. Period. It is a brick to them.

So, your statement: All I have queried is if somebody COULD wipe the device and re-register it, then apple makes it easy to use a stolen device.

Is invalid, because someone CANNOT wipe the device if you have your device signed onto iCloud and you have the Find My iPhone application enabled. Since they cannot wipe it, they cannot use it. Apple has made it virtually impossible to use a stolen device.

Is there some other salient point you were making that I missed?

GB

BTW - of course, all of my devices are registered with Apple. For a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is NOT so they can catch a thief using one of my serial numbers.

Double post.

GB

gail from maine, you said

"You said: What concerns me is that according to other posts people can hook my iPod touch up to another computer and iTunes, wipe it clean and re-register so they can use it themselves.

"What I said was - no they cannot. Period. It is a brick to them.

"So, your statement: All I have queried is if somebody COULD wipe the device and re-register it, then apple makes it easy to use a stolen device.

"Is invalid, because someone CANNOT wipe the device if you have your device signed onto iCloud and you have the Find My iPhone application enabled. Since they cannot wipe it, they cannot use it. Apple has made it virtually impossible to use a stolen device."

The OP said theyhave "iPod touch, iOS 6.1.6". That means they have a 4G. Theus, all onne has to do is place the iPod in recovery mode and restore via iTunes. Then they can use/sell the working iPod.

iOS 7 introduced the Acivation Lock

iCloud: Find My iPhone Activation Lock in iOS 7

Which, while allowing restoring the device with recovery mode, does not allow use of the iPod unless the Apple ID andf Password of the previous owner is entered. Of the iPods, only the 5G iPod can go to iOS 7

Thanks for pointing that out lllaass....

My apologies to Help Mac-gyver in overlooking your iOS version that you had clearly posted in your profile.

Sorry about your iPod Touch.... 😟

GB

if you look on ebay you will find, for example, "ipod touch" for sale by the dozens. They are all listed by 1 seller who has numerous accounts. I believe it is a company called Gazelle out of Boston. They buy ipods and such via the mail and then resell. When they buy a used elcetronic product they do nothing to prevent it from being stolen. Look on ebay for "ipod touch"..... you will see hundreds and it seems they are being sold by different folks but they are mostly being sold by 1 seller. APPLE supports criminal activity as it keeps them in business. THE BEST SECURITY MEASURE IS TO SCRATCH YOUR NAME ALL OVER THE CASE.

What?

APPLE supports criminal activity as it keeps them in business.

How is Apple supporting criminal activity? Gazelle is a well-known purchaser of used electronics. What they do to ensure that they are not purchasing stolen materials has absolutely zero to do with Apple....

GB