I am finding it next to impossible to read your posts, and you really should refrain from the all caps since it is considered the equivalent of yelling. But I can respond to a few things:
1. I did not reference the User Manual, I referenced some support articles. And, yes, your responses indicate that you might benefit from reading those articles because you seem a bit misinformed about some things. You also need to familiarize yourself with the TOU for this community so you can be a productive participant and so you know what the rules and regs are for posting here.
2. I have no idea why someone would steal your device. You would have to ask a thief that question.
3. Verizon told you wrong - if you do not erase your device or remove it from Find My iPhone, it will stay there no matter how many additional devices or computers you add to it. And any device you signed into with your iCloud account that you turned on Find My iPhone for will remain showing on your list until you delete it.
4. If you got a notification that your Lost device had been found, it was a scam phishing for your personal info. There is no notification or email that is sent by Apple regarding the status of your lost device. You get notified if you turn Find My iPhone off or on, but that's it.
5. When a device is off, it is off. It does not transmit anything at all. It is off.
6. Find My iPhone is valuable because it protects your device and your data. If the thieves do turn the device back on, then once it connects to the internet, it is tracked until it is turned off again. And it allows you to erase the device, put it into Lost Mode if you don't have a Lock Screen passcode on it, and send a message to the device. You certainly have a right to your opinion.
GB
hey GB-i thought your response was from the original poster... oops. so disgard most of those resonses!
do you have a solution for the ORIGINAL posters question because I am curious also...
I was told by my carrier and by apple that the iphones CAN be hacked by bad ppl BUT I believe MOST ppl who find or steal the iphones do NOT have any intention in hacking-I think they just wanna use a cool phone for a few days then toss when it gets turned off.. As far as the original poster not "knowing his icloud info and it being attached to their phone.." I thought you could access all your info from any other device so the original poster has me a bit confused...unless they just got that phone why would they not know their info?! If thieves are able to actually use the phone than the owner didnt have a pass code on it-correct? Also I thought ALL iphones had the "find my iphone app" already ON their phones but you just have to make sure its turned on?!?!
I really appreciate all your knowledge and thank you!!
all the best~LD
wow..I still wonder WHY someone would steal an iphone esp WHERE I was-at an amusement park-in the parking lot LOADS of families and kids and no real shady characters at this place...Besides selling to someone who doesnt know any better I wonder HOW they can wipe the phone with an icloud ID?! it just baffles me!
So you commented that they could get to the control panel and turn the wifi off EEN i thee IS a pin code to open the phone? I guess Ive nee really monkeyed around with that phone to know what it does and doesn't do while locked oh shoot-it looks like my keyboard is srcewing up again...I think its the batteries
Anyway Ive spent a little time Googling where a stolen iphone might end up...Is there a good place I can go..maybe not the Dark Dark web but a place where stolen iphones end up for sale?! Like I said I cannot imagine a family member at a theme park finding a phone and not getting hounded by their family or friends about what they arer going to do with the found phone...Ive been in that situation I took control over a group of ppl who found one and I didnt trust the others to get it back and I KNOW how to get it back to owner. I put an ad on craigslist in the city i lost,filed a Police report and filed a report at the amusement park...HOPEFULLY i will see it pop up in my icloud!
I have two more question for you-Where can I buy a newer dependable iphone 8 AND how do i transfer icloud data-mostly texts and contacts to my backup Motorola G4 phone?! I dont have Verizon cloud which would have all my texts!! :-( I pay for so many clouds I cannot believe all my crap is in a few different places..I want it all in ONE!! and ALL OF IT in one place/cloud...
thank you again for all your help-it IS appreciated GB!!
Namaste~LAD
So, for your question about where you can buy a dependable iPhone 8, my response to that would be - at your local Apple Store or from Apple online. Apple does sell refurbished models of their hardware, so if you go to their site, you may be able to find one: Certified Refurbished - Apple
As far as the transfer of your data to a Motorola device, sorry, but I have no clue. Maybe the Motorola support folks can help you with that.
Best,
GB
i feel your pain as my iphone 8 was stolen last night too!!! and I JUST GOT it a few days ago as a warranty replacement for a malfunctioning iphone 8 BUT I have my find my iphone app and icloud password BUT either my phone has a dead battery or person turned it off because in find my iphone app it is showing up "OFFLINE" So that app isnt really all that helpful UNLESS you are at home,near where you LOST it (so not stolen) So I DISLIKE how this app makes ppl FEEL LIKE THEY can find their phones once stolen or lost in a public area! I wish the ppl who stole these phones understoof that these iphones have NO USE to them...UNLESS they have an overseas connection to bad ppl ho will pay for it..O believe it DOES take a really BAD person to steal these!!!
So Im not a big help but since noone has answered you I thought maybe i could help you IF I CAN!!
So you do NOT have an icloud account? Do you have an ipad,Mac Desktop or any other pc? Did you have the "find my iphone app" om.how long have you owned that phone and who is your carrier? I wonder if we are allowed to share our information here in chat? LMK and Ill see if I can help you with what I know. I just found out the find my... app is NO good to us owners unless the person who stole it turns it on and/or connects to internet thru wifi.
I'm gpoing to start another thread on here to see of I can connect with my "Offline" iphone So you might want to look for a headline saying something like this- "LOST?STOLEN iPhone 8-Find my iphone is on BUT icloud app is saying phone is "OFFLINE"-need advice on a few things please" My carrier told me once i turn on another phone that I wpnt have anymore communication with my lost/stolen iphone BUT I charged up an OLD iphone that never belonged to me and it was NEVER turned on with service-its listed in my devices and afer it was charged and turned on I dot a notification "Your iphone has been found" so I dont know what to believe...
Amyway I hope your situation gets answers asap!
HarmoniousHealingTouch wrote:
i feel your pain as my iphone 8 was stolen last night too!!! and I JUST GOT it a few days ago as a warranty replacement for a malfunctioning iphone 8 BUT I have my find my iphone app and icloud password BUT either my phone has a dead battery or person turned it off because in find my iphone app it is showing up "OFFLINE" So that app isnt really all that helpful UNLESS you are at home,near where you LOST it (so not stolen) - not correct. Once the device is turned on and connects to the internet either via Wifi or cellular, it will show the location on Find My iPhone. The last location stays on the map for 24 hours after it is pinged to the app.
So I DISLIKE how this app makes ppl FEEL LIKE THEY can find their phones once stolen or lost in a public area! They can find them if they are online. And you also have the ability to erase the device remotely, so once it does come back online, it can be erased. The Activation Lock remains on the device so the thieves cannot use it
I wish the ppl who stole these phones understoof that these iphones have NO USE to them...UNLESS they have an overseas connection to bad ppl ho will pay for it - If you have Find My iPhone turned on on the device, unless it is broken down for parts, it cannot be used. Anywhere.
I wonder if we are allowed to share our information here in chat? - this is a user to user support forum, not a chat room.
I just found out the find my... app is NO good to us owners unless the person who stole it turns it on and/or connects to internet thru wifi. - If it is turned off, how else would you expect it to ping it's location?
See this support article to understand more about what you can do with the Find My iPhone app: iCloud: What is Find My iPhone?
You should also take a look at the Terms of Use for this forum: Apple Support Communities Use Agreement
GB
cool..Im not much of a tech person and came here to search for answers for my stolen iphone.
Did I say something that warrents me to read the user guide because you mentioned it twice?
also-I am surious about YOUR original question in this forum about your apple id...cant you log into your icloud account from another device and;change your login info and I saw from the find my iphone app you have the option to "erase all contents" Did you have Find my iphone app and have it turned on?
Also I am so curious WHY someone would steal our iphones if they cannot use them..and I bet they dont get much for parts and you would need a connection that pays for that stuff so random iphone theives are they aware of this or is someone lying to them and promising them money for iphones then not paying them?
I have a question since you seem pretty knoledgeable-Verizon told me that if i turn on another device (my back up phone) that I will lose all connection to that stolen iphone....BUT Why is it that ALL my devices are still listed under my icloud account and an OLD iphone I never setup with anybody nor was it originally mine (my boyfriends old 5 and its not 4g so i couldnt use it looks like i added it to my icloud account) I had given it to my neighbor cux he might want it since i cant use it so after he charged it I GOT a notificaion that my iphone had been found at 11am and at my address...so since that phone doesnt have service nut still is connected to my icloud i still get notifications so why would verizon tell me if I turned on my backup phone that i would lose communication with my stolen iphone 8?!?!
Oh and to reply to that one comment on how would [hpne communicate if batterry is dead or power is off..how would it ping..I have always thought just because something is turned off doesnt mean its really off and that there are things inside that connect to ??!?! So I guess find my iphone app really isnt that great of an app for lost or stolen phones...for MISPLACED phones its great! Thank ou for your knowledge!! LD
so they are able to get on your phone because you did not have a passcode? find my i[pne app has the option to erase BUT Im assuming that you cannot get into your account because you dont know your icloud info?!?! Also you stated they ARE using that phone and because they ARE using it cant you get the location thru the location services?!?!? I WISH someone would try to use my phone so I can see their location! These phones rule our worlds and cost as much as my rent...so sad! hope you can get your phone!! I think Apple CAN help you get last location and they CAN ping your phone and they can probably erase all contents! I only have emails,photos and contacts so if they took my content it wouldnt be useful to them!! Boy did they get lucky with you eh??!?! They pick pocketed a phone with no lock on it so they can use it for a few days... That ***** and shame on them!! May I ask where were you when you got pick pocketed?
all the best!
You are most welcome 🙂
I have no solution for the OP because if they don't even know their Apple ID, there is not a lot that can be done in regards to securing their Apple ID or seeing if they have Find My iPhone turned on. They could go to: If you forgot your Apple ID - Apple Support to see if they could find it, but that requires that they put in an email address that they actually set up an ID with. If they don't know their email address, then again, there isn't a lot that they can do.
If they are able to find it, then they could change their passcode to protect their account, and should turn on Two-Factor Authentication if they do not already have it on.
If someone has Find My iPhone turned on, the device is Activation Locked, and that cannot be hacked. Certainly the Lock Screen passcode might be guessed since many people use passcodes that anyone would try like 1234, and if there is no Lock Screen passcode, then yes, they would be able to see the person's information.
The Find My iPhone option is not automatically turned on. Not all people elect to sign into iCloud when they are setting up their devices. If they don't sign into iCloud, then Find My iPhone cannot be turned on.
And most people steal phones so they can sell them to unwitting buyers. We get posts daily from people who have purchased an Activation Locked device. And they might not even know it until they have to reset that device to Factory Settings.
Best,
GB
Thank you for ALL that awesome info GB!!! Just so you know my caps gets stuck now and then AND I also use it to stress a word usually in a positive way or to change/elevate the importance so thank you for not going off on that but letting me know politely:).
I do have another question if you don’t mind-I went to verizon and turned on my back up droid phone (I don’t know how to use it-lol). Anyway the agent and I logged into my find iPhone app and I showed him that there were 4 iPhones listed but I wasn’t sure which one was the 8 that was just stolen NOT the 8 I just returned for warranty and he was able to tell just by LOOKING at the pics which iPhone was an 8,6,4,S...-so he removed all except the 2 I own-stolen 8&an old 4... I’m not sure if that was smart to remove them all but my Q is how can I put them back on once removed?
thank you so much GB!!! Have a love filled day!
OK, so the first thing you should do on any device that you still have is to go to Settings>General>About>Name, and type in a unique name for each device. Be sure to make the "unique" part at the beginning of the description since only a small part of that description shows in most places.
If you mean you removed the devices from the Device list in Find My iPhone, then the only way they can get back to that list is for them to be signed into your iCloud account with Find My iPhone turned on. Even if you remove a device from that list, if it is still logged into that iCloud account and Find My iPhone is turned on on the device, it will reappear.
To check to see if the iPhone 8 that is listed is your new iPhone 8 or the stolen one, go to the Find My iPhone app and send it a sound. If you don't hear the sound on the iPhone you have in hand, then the stolen phone is still Activation Locked to your iCloud account (which is a good thing).
Best,
GB
Awesome. The only bad thing is the new/stolen iPhone was a warranty replacement so I have already shipped old iPhone 8 back to Verizon
im so shocked that that stolen iPhone has not yet been turned on since LAST Friday which leads me to be a bit confused thinking maybe it's just sitting somewhere on side of road OR it's been shipped off for parts:(
It is not unusual for the stolen phone to remain offline. If the SIM card is removed, and Wifi is turned off (which is can be from the Control Panel), then it wouldn't connect to the internet. Many, many posters report that after weeks their device still isn't online.
And the only way you will be able to see if it is online at any point is for that device to remain on your Device list in Find My iPhone.
Best,
GB
You should have your carrier blacklist the stolen iPhone.
HELP STOLEN IPHONE
