My iPhone was stolen. What are the best steps

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Level 1

4 points

My iPhone was stolen. What are the best steps

Hello All, my iPhone wS stolen. I want to make sure I do all the right things to try to recover my phone and protect its content. I have activated find my phone, but it has been offline since it was stolen? Do indeed to keep checking find my phone every hour or will it notify me if/when the phone is turned on. If it does locate, what do I do next? Do indeed to erase phone? If I do will that content be lost forever even on iCloud? Will that also mean I can no longer track it? Thank you!

iPhone 4 (8GB)

Posted on Jun 7, 2014 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 7, 2014 11:15 AM in response to Heater9

You can put the iPhone in Lost Mode initially.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5668

If you perform a remote wipe and that is completed when the iPhone comes back online, you will no longer be able to track it. The iTunes content and iCloud data will not be lost forever when doing a remote wipe.

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Answer 2

Heater9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 7, 2014 11:23 AM in response to Heater9

Thank you to the person who emailed a response. I did do the Lost Phone option in the Find my Phone. It sounds like if I erase the phone it's gone forever. Are iPhones generally found or is it realistically gone forever. I hate to erase it when there is a chance of recovery

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Answer 3

Jun 7, 2014 11:28 AM in response to Heater9

You're welcome.

Did you also have the Passcode Lock feature enabled? If so, no one can access data on your iPhone or use the iPhone.

You can keep the iPhone in Lost Mode for however long you feel comfortable with doing so. The most recent location of the iPhone when brought back online will be saved for up to 24 hours.

There are reports of an iPhone that was stolen being located and recovered with police help.

If the iPhone is running iOS 7, the Find My iPhone feature includes activation lock which prevents someone from successfully restoring the iPhone with iTunes as a new iPhone making it unusuable to them.

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Answer 4

Jun 7, 2014 11:39 AM in response to Heater9

I've had two friends that have lost their iPhones and recovered them, and after a few hours of it being lost. If it's simply lost, you've got a slim chance. If it's been actively stolen (like, you know that someone actually took it away from you), then the odds are even slimmer.

Report it to police & wireless carrier, and see if you have some form of insurance to get it replaced. Just make sure never to 'remove it from account' at icloud.com, to keep the Activation Lock enabled on the device.

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Answer 5

Jun 7, 2014 11:39 AM in response to Heater9

Correct.

The odds of recovering any stolen merchandise are low and especially with a small handheld computer such as the iPhone with a worldwide market.

There are a number of good stories of people locating a lost or stolen iPhone with the Find My iPhone feature but it is not guranteed. The activation lock feature is designed to make stealing an iPhone less desirable since it makes using the iPhone again by anyone else extremely difficult if not imposslble since they must know your Apple ID email address and password.

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Answer 6

Heater9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 7, 2014 11:44 AM in response to Allan Sampson

It was definitely stolen. I coach soccer and during our practice mine and 7 other iPhones were taken from our bags. Sounds like I've done everything I can do. I'm just glad I had activated the find my phone and passcode lock.

Thanks for your help!

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