HT201472: If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is lost or stolen

Learn about If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is lost or stolen
DeathByFlyness

Q: The biggest fail of "Find My iPhone"

Last night, I had my iPhone stolen by a cab driver. Without retelling the whole story, understand that the iPhone was left in the cab, and when I tried to call it within minutes of the cab departing, the iPhone was turned off. The cab driver was well aware that I had left my phone and chose to turn it off, rather than help me located it. It has now been over 24 hours and although I have continuously keep checking the icloud website, the iPhone remains offline. I'm 100% sure that "Find My iPhone" was activated on my phone. This is the second time I've had and iPhone stolen from me, and even with "Find My iPhone" app, I have not recovered either. I know that once the phone is turned on and connected to WIFI, that the message should come up and the phone should be locked, but here's the first prevention suggestion. You should have to punch in your passcode (or fingerprint) to turn OFF your phone. Most people leave their phones on 24 hours a day. There isn't a constant need to manually turn your phone OFF. It's been about 4 years separating both times I've had my iPhone stolen. In both instances, the perp immediately turned OFF the phone and it never came "online" again. If they were not able to turn the phone OFF, I could have located the phone using "Find My iPhone" I believe this is such a simple fix and only adds to the chances of recovering the stolen property. This issue needs to be fixed immediately. I write this post, not the complain and demand my phone back, but in hopes that someone from Apple will pass along this idea to the right people and make it happen.

iPhone 6, iOS 8.2

Posted on Jul 23, 2015 2:32 AM

Close

Q: The biggest fail of "Find My iPhone"

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by thehcd,

    thehcd thehcd Jul 23, 2015 2:53 AM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 2:53 AM in response to DeathByFlyness

    sorry for your loss

     

    yes, good point..although given that the iphone is probably never going to be able to be re-activated, I guess now it's only good for pieces.

    If the power off option wasn't there, the cab driver would probably just have dismembered it straight away.

     

    Anychance of tracing via cab company.. there's I suppose some slight hope that he could have dropped it to a depot...?

  • by Bitzs,

    Bitzs Bitzs Jul 23, 2015 3:26 AM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 3:26 AM in response to DeathByFlyness

    Hi DeathbyFlyness,

     

    Sorry to hear that you're having issues locating the device using Find my iPhone,

     

    I've been in this situation myself and have had my device stolen, but i was able to locate this as soon as it came back online so don't worry the system will help you find the device ASAP.

     

    The best thing to do in this situation is to report that this device has been stolen to your local law enforcement and it might be a great idea to also notify the carrier that the device has been stolen too as they can issue a network block for that device.

     

    If you have find my iPhone enabled on the device this is the best protection to fight against people that steal devices as they will not be able to use this device without the icloud.com password so in the end they loose.

     

    Hope all goes well

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Bitzs

  • by Johnathan Burger,

    Johnathan Burger Johnathan Burger Jul 23, 2015 3:34 AM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 6 (16,099 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 3:34 AM in response to DeathByFlyness

    IF your phone is frozen and you can't restart it, what good is that?

    Network connection can be blocked by a Mylar bag or foil lined bag, thieves will just pop it in one of those.

    your suggestion is not very well thought out.

  • by Bitzs,

    Bitzs Bitzs Jul 23, 2015 3:40 AM in response to Johnathan Burger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 3:40 AM in response to Johnathan Burger

    Hi Johnathan,

     

    If the phone becomes switched on and in a network connection at all it will be attached online and this is when it would show up online.

     

    Above is a great suggestion to start out for anybody to follow!

     

    If any further issues contact apple support and they will be able to provide you a better answer.

     

    Regards,

     

    Bitzs

  • by Philly_Phan,

    Philly_Phan Philly_Phan Jul 23, 2015 3:54 AM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 6 (13,576 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 23, 2015 3:54 AM in response to DeathByFlyness

    Go to the cab company.  They have a record of all pickups.  The driver can be located.

  • by DeathByFlyness,

    DeathByFlyness DeathByFlyness Jul 23, 2015 11:38 AM in response to thehcd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 11:38 AM in response to thehcd

    I doubt the cab driver would have disassembled the phone immediately if the power OFF feature was there. I don't think all cab drivers are out to steal iPhones and carry the necessary tools you'd need to disassemble a phone while they're working. Only good in pieces doesn't change the fact that I no longer have the phone.

  • by DeathByFlyness,

    DeathByFlyness DeathByFlyness Jul 23, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Philly_Phan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Philly_Phan

    Philly_Phan wrote:

     

    Go to the cab company.  They have a record of all pickups.  The driver can be located.

     

    Unfortunately, cab company regulations vary from city to city. We called the cab company. Because we flagged the cab down, there wasn't a permanent record of the ride.

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jul 23, 2015 11:56 AM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 9 (55,588 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 23, 2015 11:56 AM in response to DeathByFlyness

    Why are you not calling the police? That would seem to be the sensible thing to do.

  • by ZikzakCorp,

    ZikzakCorp ZikzakCorp Jul 23, 2015 11:59 AM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 4 (1,033 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 23, 2015 11:59 AM in response to DeathByFlyness

    Hi DeathbyFlyness,

     

    This suggestion has been made quite a few times.
    Find my iPhone - prevent from theif turning it off with passcode?

     

    There's the question of whether this would stop the thief at all, given there are other ways to disable network access such as the aforementioned tin foil or Mylar bag. There's also the more practical problem of how many people forget their passcode to unlock their phones, which would make things even worse if they can't even turn their phone off. But you're more than welcome to contact Apple with the suggestion at: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

  • by DeathByFlyness,

    DeathByFlyness DeathByFlyness Jul 24, 2015 12:41 PM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2015 12:41 PM in response to KiltedTim

    KiltedTim wrote:

     

    Why are you not calling the police? That would seem to be the sensible thing to do.

     

    Police contacted. Because it was initially left in the cab, it is being considered lost not stolen.

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Jul 24, 2015 12:46 PM in response to DeathByFlyness
    Level 9 (55,588 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 24, 2015 12:46 PM in response to DeathByFlyness

    And whoever has it in their possession is technically guilty of "theft by finding" if they don't turn it over to the authorities, or at least to the cab company's lost and found.