Stolen iphone erased

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Level 1

8 points

Stolen iphone erased

I just had my iPhone stolen. My reaction was to erase it from find my iphone, but having done this, I find out I can no longer try to track where it is.

But worse, some places on the web suggest that I also unlocked it, so the thief can now activate it without my Apple Id and password.

Is this correct? What should I have done to protect my identity saved on the phone?

I have already changed the main passwords including the apple, google, and bank accounts; also reported it to the phone company.

Any more thoughts?

I believed that trying to wipe it was the best option, given that I knew it was stolen. But was it? What should I have done?

I have the serial number and IMEI, is there any way I can prevent the stolen iPhone being activated?

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 10.2.1

Posted on Feb 21, 2017 11:04 PM

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Answer 1

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gail from maine

Level 9

52,575 points

Feb 21, 2017 11:42 PM in response to Mythlandia1

What do you mean when you say that "Apple removed it from your list of iCloud devices immediately"?

When you click on Erase, you are warned that you will no longer be able to track it, and you have an opportunity to put in a phone number and a message, and then the Erase command is sent to the device. As soon as it it online, the erase commences, and this is what you see on Find My iPhone:

You can also see that you have the option to Remove From Account. But that is something you would do, not Apple. That is what you absolutely do NOT want to do. By keeping it on the account, you keep the Activation Lock active on the device. If you Remove it from the account, then you do de-activate the Lock, which essentially gives the person who has the device a free device that they can do anything they wish with.

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 2

Mythlandia1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 21, 2017 11:27 PM in response to gail from maine

That would have been helpful, even what I expected. But Apple removed it from my list of iCloud devices immediately.

My fear from my subsequent research is that I might also have unlocked it!

I did not want the thief access to my info, so I erased it. But it seems that I should have set it to lost, which was not true, and that might have let me track it.

At this moment I am reconciled to having it stolen, but I would really, really like to stop the thief profiting. I have serial number and IMEI but apart from reporting it to *my* carrier (who has listed it as stolen), I cannot seem to stop the thief from getting to activate and use it.

Any ideas?

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Answer 3

Feb 21, 2017 11:09 PM in response to Mythlandia1

Is it still linked to your iCloud account? You can't track it, but is it still listed there under your devices and showing as offline?

Cheers,

GB

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