Stolen Phone Offline

Not at all easy. The FBI couldn't do it. If you try too many times you end up disabling the phone which then has to be erased and even then if you have activation lock it could brick it for anybody who isn't the owner of the Apple ID used to lock it.

They could sell it over the Internet to somebody who wouldn't know they were getting something totally useless to them. Plenty of posts like that daily on this forum. I just finished answering one like that 5 minutes ago. 😟

Or is the phone simply not been turned on or connected to the internet.

That one.

Did you have a passcode set on the phone? If not you basically left the house with the door unlocked. Some things may require a second level of log-in with your Apple ID or other app password.

Unless you have an extremely simple 6-digit passcode, the number of different variations is so large, the person will take quite a long time to try all of the options. I doubt that they have entered your device, it is more than likely turned off, not connected to the internet, or the SIM has been removed. The device needs to be powered on and an active connection to the internet to be tracked, otherwise it will display "offline".

eleanor10 wrote:

I have a 6 digit passcode but the person who stole my phone could be able to get it unlocked in some way if this is what they do regularly is what I'm worried about.

They would have to try over 46,000 combinations and, the phone would disable itself long before that.

While a phone can have limited functionality with a SIM removed, it will only connect to wi-fi, and if not around a known wi-fi network that it has connected to in the past, it wouldn't automatically connect. Without a SIM, it could not connect to the cellular network, or cellular data. Therefore, it would still show offline.

No, the SIM facilitates the ability to connect to the cellular network, hence, cellular data. A data connection is necessary to track, so it has to be wi-fi or cellular data to connect to the internet.

While the thief might be able to wipe the device, which would eliminate and protet all of your data, with Activation Lock, once they were able to wipe it, they would not be able to activate it, since the don't know the iCloud username and password. The phone would become useless to them.

ChrisJ4203 wrote:

It is actually larger than that. It is 10^6, which is much more than 49,000, it is 1 million.

Oops, I must have left out a six or two while doing the math. I really need to get a better calculator app, one with a "tape".

eleanor10 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I have changed the passwords for all my socials, paypal & emails etc and made sure they're logged out of. As for my icloud I have no idea how to change the password as I don't remember my 'trusted number'. Is they're anyway I can wipe my phone without having to use find my iPhone. I more bothered about my personal info, I have pictures of my ID on the phone etc. Really worried as I'm not very sure the steps to take in this situation.

Please be aware that bobbyfromjeffersonville is spreading a very scary but not always very correct information. If your phone has a passcode on it, your data is safe. However, if you don't know what your Apple ID passcode is, that's another issue entirely and one you should deal with.

Start here:

https://iforgot.apple.com

It will walk you through what you need to do.

But, most importantly, in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, "Don't panic.".

Best of luck.

ChrisJ4203 wrote:

Or more fingers! 😁 Not a problem there, just trying to help relieve the OP's concern about someone coming up with their passcode.

I thought it looked a little low. My brother the math teacher would be soooo disappointed in me. Please don't tell him.

The only way to remotely wipe your phone is with Find My iPhone, and the command would only execute once the phone has been connected to the internet. However, wiping it will remove your ability to track it, should it get connected to the internet. Just leave it, and you should be just fine. Leave it and Activation Lock will prevent the thief from being able to activate the device if they do try to restore it and activate it.

The information about cloning your account and other information is pure rubbish. No one is going to waste the time to try and clone your phone or account. Besides that, the end to end security and encryption that Apple uses is going to block their ability to do anything with your data. Ask the FBI about how that worked for them.