Stolen Ipod

Hi Mitchell,

I'm sorry to hear about that. unfortunately, Apple does not have a tracking system for stolen iPods, so the best thing you can do at this point is to file a report at your local police about your stolen iPod.

Apple explains (breifly) what to do with a lost or stolen Apple product:

How to report a lost or stolen Apple product?


-Kylene

Welcome to the club 😉 If you search the forums for "stolen ipod" you'll find it is not a very exclusive club. It was a nice gadget while you had it and it'll make a fine purchase for someone else. Don't ask Apple to do anything about it; they do not have a policy to track ipods. They have no idea what happens to them.

Preventive work some better for next time. Some credit cards will replace if the ipod was purchased in the last 90 days (which isn't the case for you, but it is something to consider for your next gadget purchase. Also for next time, there is at least one third party company that offers theft protection by tracking stolen/missing gadgets. In order to use the system, you have to have installed their system prior to it being stolen. it works similiar to a lo-jak system for your car. There are other companies who provide reward if lost stickers that adhere well. Even with that low-tech solution, they claim a 75% return rate on missing items, as opposed to the 5% rate most people have if they only report it to the local police.) Some of us know well how it feels. Sorry for your loss.

Hey Mitchell,

My iPod got stolen too, in May 20, 2007. I'm only 14 years old and I felt really sad when I woke up in the morning (May 21) and found out that my iPod was missing. All I know is that someone of my family took it because
on Sunday (May 20) we did a party for my uncle. I cried for 6 hours straight on the next day (May 21) because I had photos of my family in my iPod. I have only 6 suspects on who took my iPod, but its hard to sovle the problem because these 6 suspects are really mean and have been caught stealing something. What should I do? What did you do about your iPod? please reply back!!!

Your quite mistaken when thinking that when someone connects a stolen iPod to their computer it will contact the Apple server. It just doesn't make sense logically. Think about it this way, you have an iPod your at your cabin for the weekend, and need to charge your iPod so you hook it up to your cabin computer to charge it. Would you really want Apple calling out a world wide warning that your iPod has been stolen.

Honestly I know it ***** to have something stolen from you, but it is not the manufacters responsibility for finding/ replacing the product for you.

-Ms Daisy

Your quite mistaken when thinking that when someone
connects a stolen iPod to their computer it will
contact the Apple server. It just doesn't make sense
logically. Think about it this way, you have an iPod
your at your cabin for the weekend, and need to
charge your iPod so you hook it up to your cabin
computer to charge it. Would you really want Apple
calling out a world wide warning that your iPod has
been stolen.

Actually, what's logical and practical changes with technology. What you want to have happen is irrelevent. Do you want the Music Industry to use information to sue you for stealing pirated music? No, but technically they can. And they do.

Everyone thinks their ipod will never get stolen or go missing until it's gone. Once it is gone, they often think the ipod is set up to do more than it actually does; they are not well-versed on Apple's policy (or lack of a policy) concerning stolen Apple products.

The ipod themselves are not setup from the factory to be tracked once they are stolen; but they can be set up to be more trackable.

However, there are practical ways that third-party companies and you personally, can track devices that connect to computers that connect to the internet. In order to do that YOU MUST TAKE STEPS BEFORE YOUR DEVICE IS STOLEN OR GOES MISSING.

This is a link to information on how to set up tracking an ipod yourself:
http://www.tech-tag.com/2007/04/23/diy-tracking-your-stolen-ipod/


To avoid theft of your ipod, the main things are:
- consider password protecting it.
- consider setting it up to be trackable either through a third party or by yourself.
- consider engraving it with identificaiton information, indicating it is password protected and tracked (whether you do it or not)
- consider insuring it.
- when it's not on your body, consider making sure it is in a secure place.
- remember that all protection systems have holes. Tatics can be debated forever. The goal should be to make your ipod the one that is less likely to be stolen or go missing while at the same time still being useful to you; still fit your lifestyle.

Here's additional information I have accumulated so far.

0. It is up to you to address the problem. Limited assistance is available from different sources with differing amounts of support. The sooner and the more people know about this problem; the better our chances are we will find some of the sources of the problem and learn more about how to address the problem.

1. Report it to your local police and work with them. Be sure to provide them with the serial number of the ipod, and any other details surrounding the circumstances under which the stolen item disappeared; that will help them track it down and get it back to you.

2. If you don't have the box or can't find the serial number or you have additional questions about activity on your ipod, contact 1-800-my-apple and they can help you. They can provide you the serial number, if you registered it, but not much more.

3. If you had purchased a warranty on it, at least cancel that; you may be eligible for a prorated refund on that.

4. Apple does not have a policy for tracking ipods. There are ways to do that yourself or to contract that out at a reasonable price using a third party. BUT to do that you need to set it up BEFORE your ipod or device is gone (so this is for future use or other devices you'd like to track when/if they go missing). It does not offer 100% protection; but it offers more protection. There is also a thread started about how to prevent your ipod from being stolen. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4604372?

This is a link to a survey that is being done to determine what can be done to get information on theft protection (it may be a way to put you on a email list, but at least it appears they are trying to gather information):

pocket-lint article on the survey:
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/7718/8742/Griffin-Technology-survey s-iPod-Safety.phtml

This is a direct link to the survay:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=909603771230

I know what you are going through. My son's ipod was stolen three months after it was gifted to him; it was stolen out of a high school locker that he shared with one other person. Don't kid yourself, chances of getting it back in a usable form are slim, but it happens occasionally. Not everyone is happy about the situation, but everyone has an opinion.

I cannot discuss what Apple should do, it's not appropriate for this set of forums. I am only talking about the technical aspects of what you can do once your ipod is stolen and if you want to replace it, what types of technical things you can do with your ipod to prevent it being stolen again or at least help us track down some of the sources of the problem.

I actually LOST my girlfriend's iPod about two hours ago. I am panicked thinking about the wrath!

Can I buy a new iPod and download everything from the iTunes library stored on the home computer?

I really hope I can replace the device without having to re-purchase 438 songs. It's not a lot of songs, but it's a chunk of change all at once.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

I was just informing them thats its not Apple's responsibility to find the missing product or replace it. Its not Apple's fault that their iPod got stolen. I've had my nano for a long time, and my 5th Gen was just stolen at work from my locker a few days ago, I didn't immediatly call thinking that Apple would replace it. I'm just saying its not their responsibility nor should it be.

call 1-800-my-apple and explain the situation to them. I'm pretty sure they are more than willing to help. If you purchase a new ipod, they may consider allowing your girlfriend a one-time backup of the songs, but understand that it actually does cost Apple to provide this service, to pay royalty fees. They are unlikely to provide this help to your girlfriend more than once. It's best to keep your own backups, maybe your girlfriend already has...get her in the loop.

As far as what Apple should or should not be responsible for doing, that's opinion and is not appropriate for this forum. I certainly didn't say it was Apple's fault that ipods get stolen. It's a part of manufacturer's decision to design an honest, salable, competitive package. If Apple or a third party company decides building in theft protection is a salable competitive thing to do, it will happen.

At a minimum Apple should consider making their policy (or lack of a policy) for tracking stolen items better understood prior to the purchase. It's obvious many people are confused and thinking it is different than it is. But it is let the buyer beware. Let the seller and buyer deal with the individual consequences. Have a good one.

Can I buy a new iPod and download everything from the iTunes library stored on the home computer?
Yes, no problem.

I really hope I can replace the device without having to re-purchase 438 songs.
If they are still inb her library, you won't need to purchase anything (except a new iPod.) 😟