iphone activation
I bought an iPhone 5s 16 gb off ebay and the old owner has left their apple id on it, and have tried to contact them but had no reply, is their anyway to activate it without using their apple ID
iPhone 5c, iOS 9.1
Sorry, but without knowing the AppleID and password that has been used to set up the phone, the phone can't be activated again. There is no other way, and Apple Support can't do anything about that either.
What if I purchase a device that is still linked to the previous owner's account?
Contact the previous owner as soon as possible and ask them to erase the device and remove it from their account. Learn how to remove a device from a previous owner's account.
copied from Find My iPhone Activation Lock - Apple Support