fentoozler84

Q: Stolen phone security

My iPhone 6 has been stolen and is being accessed and used by the person who took it. Find my iPhone has also been disabled and so I cannot lock and erase the phone. Is there any other way to do this? The phone is direct from Apple ie not locked to a particular network.

 

Cheers

iPhone 6, iOS 9

Posted on Nov 11, 2015 8:58 PM

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Q: Stolen phone security

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  • Helpful answers

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Nov 11, 2015 9:00 PM in response to fentoozler84
    Level 7 (26,354 points)
    iCloud
    Nov 11, 2015 9:00 PM in response to fentoozler84

    So, are you indicating that you disabled Find My iPhone? Because if you did not, then the only way the person who stole your phone could disable it would be if they knew your Apple ID and Password.

     

    GB

  • by KC7GNM,

    KC7GNM KC7GNM Nov 11, 2015 9:01 PM in response to fentoozler84
    Level 4 (2,893 points)
    Nov 11, 2015 9:01 PM in response to fentoozler84

    did you put a passcode on the phone? If not then you are out of luck because the thief has complete access to your phone and the first thing they probably did was disable find my phone.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Nov 11, 2015 9:03 PM in response to KC7GNM
    Level 7 (26,354 points)
    iCloud
    Nov 11, 2015 9:03 PM in response to KC7GNM

    Find My iPhone cannot be disabled by anyone who does not know the Apple ID and Password for that Apple ID. Whether you have a Lock Screen passcode or not has no effect on the Activation Lock which is enabled when the device is signed into iCloud with Find My iPhone turned on.

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by fentoozler84,

    fentoozler84 fentoozler84 Nov 12, 2015 12:51 AM in response to fentoozler84
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 12:51 AM in response to fentoozler84

    I had previously turned off the Find My iPhone feature but had a 6-digit passcode on my phone. The person who has it however did know my Apple id and password until I realised and changed it, would they have been able to get around the passcode with the id?

     

    Cheers

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Nov 12, 2015 12:55 AM in response to fentoozler84
    Level 7 (34,011 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 12:55 AM in response to fentoozler84

    Yes, if your AppleID and password is known.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Nov 12, 2015 8:16 AM in response to fentoozler84
    Level 7 (26,354 points)
    iCloud
    Nov 12, 2015 8:16 AM in response to fentoozler84

    If you turned off Find My iPhone, then the person who took it can restore it via iTunes. You removed all security on your device when you turned off Find My iPhone....

     

    Sorry,

     

    GB

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Nov 12, 2015 8:23 AM in response to fentoozler84
    Level 7 (24,850 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 8:23 AM in response to fentoozler84

    fentoozler84 wrote:

     

    I had previously turned off the Find My iPhone feature but had a 6-digit passcode on my phone. The person who has it however did know my Apple id and password until I realised and changed it, would they have been able to get around the passcode with the id?

     

    Cheers

    If they are using your phone then they must have known your 6 digit passcode as well. With find my iPhone disabled, they would still need your screen lock passcode to get in and erase and reset it, or connect to an untrusted computer and restore it in iTunes.

     

    If they had your AppleID and password then they did not need your phone to make purchases, or use your iCloud email account as they could do all that from any web browser, logged in with your credentials.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Nov 12, 2015 8:29 AM in response to Michael Black
    Level 7 (26,354 points)
    iCloud
    Nov 12, 2015 8:29 AM in response to Michael Black

    A device that is not protected by Find My iPhone can be restored on any computer - trusted or not - by putting the device into Recovery mode (emphasis mine):

     

    Erase your device with recovery mode

    If you've never synced with iTunes or set up Find My iPhone in iCloud, you'll need to use recovery mode to restore your device. This will erase the device and its passcode.

    1. Connect your iOS device to your computer and open iTunes. If you don't have a computer, borrow one from a friend, or go to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider.
    2. While your device is connected, force restart it: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. Don't let go when you see the Apple logo — keep holding until you see the recovery mode screen.
    3. When you see the option to Restore or Update, choose Restore.

      iTunes will download software for your device. If it takes more than 15 minutes, your device will exit recovery mode and you'll need to repeat steps 2 and 3.
    4. Wait for the process to finish. Then you can set up and use your device.

     

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Nov 12, 2015 8:36 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 7 (24,850 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 8:36 AM in response to gail from maine

    Thanks Gail, of course you're correct. I was thinking if the op really knows they are using the phone then they must be using it as them, since if restored it would be wiped clean so there would be no evidence of its use (that the op could be aware of) from that point on (and assuming they called their carrier and reported theft).

     

    If the presumption of use is based on purchases made or emails, then that doesn't mean the phone is being used, just their AppleID is or was compromised.

     

    To the op, be sure to report the theft to your carrier. They may well be able to blacklist the device (depends where you are and what carrier - in the USA all carriers share a common blacklist) so it cannot be activated on any carrier's network.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Nov 12, 2015 8:47 AM in response to Michael Black
    Level 7 (26,354 points)
    iCloud
    Nov 12, 2015 8:47 AM in response to Michael Black

    And you also are correct There would be no way for the OP to know the device was being used without some sort of evidence of that fact. It would have been helpful if the OP had indicated how they knew that....

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Philly_Phan,

    Philly_Phan Philly_Phan Nov 12, 2015 8:51 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 6 (13,576 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 12, 2015 8:51 AM in response to gail from maine

    gail from maine wrote:

     

    And you also are correct There would be no way for the OP to know the device was being used without some sort of evidence of that fact. It would have been helpful if the OP had indicated how they knew that....

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

    Phone bill?

  • by Philly_Phan,

    Philly_Phan Philly_Phan Nov 12, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Philly_Phan
    Level 6 (13,576 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 12, 2015 8:53 AM in response to Philly_Phan

    Even without waiting for the phone bill, I can access my account on my carrier's web site and see what calls were made and when they were made.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Nov 12, 2015 10:21 AM in response to Philly_Phan
    Level 7 (24,850 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 10:21 AM in response to Philly_Phan

    I was wondering if their friends had complained of texts or iMessage that the thief had sent.