What if the previous owner could not be found when the activation lock is on?

There is nothing you can do. If a second-hand iOS device has been 'Activation locked' then only the previous owner can unlock it, either by providing you with the account ID and password, or by removing it from his list of devices (as he should have done before selling it).

If you are unable to contact him to do this then I'm afraid you will not be able to use the device - there is no other way of unlocking it at all. Apple cannot unlock it for you, nor find the previous owner for you, and neither can the websites that offer to unlock it for a fee: these are scams.

You should if possible return it to wherever you bought it and ask for a refund as in this event the device is completely useless (unless they told you it was Activation Locked when you bought it in which event you have no case for a refund).

I've never been advised by the Carrier where I purchased those phones

that deactivating that function was necessary if I chose to give the

phone to someone when I upgraded.

Then your Carrier doesn't know what they are talking about. A used phone which is Activation Locked, and where the person who set the lock cannot be contacted or can't or won't unlock it, cannot be unlocked - not by anyone, not by Apple, not by websites claiming to do so.

As to Verizon, I don't know - but possibly they have an arrangement with Apple to get them unlocked since obviously they wouldn't be trading in stolen phones (they would know for certain where a traded-in phone had come from).

We've gone round and round in circles on this subject in this and other threads. If you buy an iPhone or iPad from some bloke you don't know, in a bar or in the street, and who you won't be able to contact, you are on your own. If it turns out to be locked, you bought a brick. There's also a fair probability that it's stolen.

The problem really is that the previous owner, who probably had an iCloud email address, never turned off activation lock before disposing of the phone. If you can’t find that person you now have a useless phone. There is no way around activation lock for a second hand phone.

Nothing. As has been stated over and over again in this thread.

There is NO WAY to bypass the activation lock.

ONLY the owner of the account used to lock it can remove the lock.

“Just said”? You replied to a post made 11 months ago.

The facts: Apple WILL not remove Activation Lock, except for an original owner or the estate of an original owner. “Original” means the person who bought the phone NEW and can prove that they did. They will not do it for a holder in due course or the current owner. Why? Because the phone is owned by the person who enabled Activation Lock. Only they can authorize removing Activation Lock. To do so for anyone else would mean that Apple would be taking away the property rights of that owner. they will not do it. Secondarily, because it would lose its value as a theft deterrent if any hacker could call Apple and social engineer an Apple rep into removing it. Which is easier than you think, with all of the personal information on virtually everyone that is available on the dark web (Thank you Equifax).

Nobody said they created a phony business...

You will have to provide Apple with the ORIGINAL receipt from an authorized retailer.

Take your case to the police and give them all the information you have on the person you purchased it from. This isn't Apple's problem. They did not rob you. The person you bought it from did.

The only (and I mean ONLY) way to do that is to enter the Apple ID and password that were used to enable Activation Lock. If they aren't your Apple ID and password you will have to contact the person whose the are. If you can't contact them you will never be able to use the device.

If you bought it new, and the ID it's asking for is yours but you've forgotten it, go to https://iforgot.apple.com to retrieve the ID and reset the password. See also If you forgot your Apple ID - Apple Support

Failing that, take the device, the original purchase documents, and some ID to an actual Apple Store (make an appointment) and ask if they can unlock it. They won't do this without the documents.

If you did in fact buy it second-hand there is nothing you can do.

Don't blame Apple for this. Return it to the store where you bought it. If they refuse to give you a refund, turn it over to the police and let the deal with it. It's very possible it's stolen.

There is no way to unlock an activation-locked phone without the cooperation of the person who locked it. NONE.

main112 wrote:

Lets say I created an account and after few months I am not using that account let’s say 10 years or 15 years. Do you keep my account forever? Like other email accounts you gets warnings if you not login to you account we will close your account. You don’t do that?

Not true. Bank accounts don’t expire just because you don’t use them for some period. Nor do many other online services accounts. Google’s policy is that they don’t delete accounts any longer for inactivity but they may suspend the email part only (your google documents live forever). Other free services providers also have no policy of deleting inactive accounts (MS store accounts don’t expire, nor do Sony PS accounts). And even for those that do expire, the account issuer doesn’t just give away the rights of that account holder to someone else. Even if Apple did or does lock accounts for non-use after some extended time that doesn’t mean they release activation lock so anyone else can use that persons physical private property as their own. To my knowledge, Apple does not delete accounts never have. An AppleID can only be deleted by the owner upon request to Apple to do so. Otherwise, AppleIDs are forever.

And the issue here has nothing to do with the account itself. It has to do with the release of physical private property for use by another person. That is something no company has any right to do.

Apple deliberately created a system where owners have complete control over activation lock. They choose to use it, or not. If they chose to use it, they enabled it. And when they wish to give away, sell, gift or will a device to someone, then they have the responsibility to disable activation lock.

aries117 wrote:

I just wish Apple would make a new system or new law for many victims like me, Sir...because I’m not thief, I bought it in a sealed box at a big phone store. I got everthing inside is new. I used it 2 years without any problem, until Activation Lock on. Poor me.

Apple does not make nor enforce laws. They are neither a government nor a law enforcement agency.

Apple does not take reports of lost or stolen devices and has no knowledge of what devices are lost or stolen. And there is no local, regional, national nor international database of lost or stolen consumer electronic devices. Nobody collects that information to make it available.

Apple is bound by consumer privacy laws and will not give out people’s personal information to anyone other than law enforcement with a court order.

You bought a used personal item. The entirety of the responsibility for that sale is on you and the seller. Apple has nothing to do with it and will not get involved, at all, with the private sale, gifting or exchanging of private personal property. If the owner did not prepare it properly for sale, that is 100% on them. If the buyer did not check that it was suitable for their use, that is 100% on the buyer.

As explained above, the device can only be opened using the ID and password used to log it, and there is no way round that. If you've locked it yourself and forgotten the ID go to

https://iforgot.apple.com

If you bought it used, then only the previous owner can unlock it.

How, exactly, does one go about obtaining original receipt from a deceased Individual. I think it's LUDICROUS that there is no resort for activation unlock. How irresponsible to Mother Earth the number of Iphones going to the land fill as per business plan. I too purchased an iPhone second hand at my daughter's school multi family yard sale, and I watched as he unkinked the phone and factory reset it. I was not however going to set up and be on the phone at this family function, but rather wait till I got home. Once I got home and tried to set up, I found that he also had registered it with the Find My Phone function and had forgotten to delete the device as well as unlink. Upon arriving at the school on Monday morning, I was informed that the family had moved cross country and thus had sold the last of their things they weren't taking with them. The school baby very well give out private information as to their where about do and now I'm such with a perfectly fine phone I must throw in the trash. I call ********. If the phone isn't reported lost or stolen then Apple should be able to remotely unlock it, or even replace some sort of hard/software for a fee. RIDICULOUS waste of money and prime example of how disgusting our society is in our consumerism. ****** does not begin to explain how I feel regarding the virus we call Apple.

Bottom line is that the device is not Apple’s property. They have no legal right to release it for someone else to use. Only the owner has that right. No company can just step in and arbitrarily open or release someone else’s personal property for someone else to use.