Help re: Stolen iphone 4s...

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 5:24am #1

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone here has maybe had a similar experience and could possibly give me some advice?

My iphone 4s was pick-pocketed from me on Saturday night/morning (no, of course I didn't have insurance on it....). I was outside The Globe on George's St in Dublin. I was outside ahead of my friends, rang them to ask where they were, put my phone in my coat pocket, by the time they came outside I was already freaking that I couldn't find my phone.

I have no recollection of anybody standing particularly close to me and nobody "bumped" into me. While my friends and I were trying to logic our way to a solution my friend felt someone's hand in her bag - chased after the *ahem* so and so who had taken her wallet and got it back, I wasn't thinking straight otherwise I would have confronted them (a guy and a girl) about my phone too.

I downloaded the "Find my iphone" app - unfortunately I have no other "devices" to plug into it to get started with finding it. I'm going to get my sister to look into that as she has an iphone.

I went to the guards, just on the off chance they knew of some other way of tracking it, they don't. The lovely guard also told me that the "find my iphone" app isn't accurate, it only gives you a 50 metre radius. She said to give them the details of where it appears when I get it, but that they can't barge into random houses for just a phone - which I 100% understand!

I have since got a new sim and am using an old phone of mine (begrudgingly) but I'm hoping there's still a chance I can find where it is??

The battery on the phone was almost dead when I last had it, it went straight to voicemail when my friends rang it, I also have the screen passcode and obviously pin, I've called Meteor and they've blocked the sim and done the IMEI code so somebody else won't be able to use it. It also means I can't send a message to the phone to say "I'll give you a reward etc etc" as is advised on a few websites I've already looked at.

I'm just wondering has anybody here had a similar experience? Do you have any advice or tips for me? Are any of you super techie and have any other suggestions as to what I can do?

I know it's probably a lost cause but I want to be sure I've tried everything within my power to get this phone back.

Cheers everyone - sorry for the long post!!

The Big Gig · 15-01-2012 8:56am

Go to iCloud.com . You can tell find my iPhone to email you when it's located and also to display a reward message.

Jumpy · 15-01-2012 9:03am

Bull**** on the 50m radius. Thats only with the triangulation used by the mobile towers. With GPS it can be 5-10m.

Also it can set off a very loud alarm that you can hear from the front door if the police were to knock.

She may be "lovely" as you put it, but clueless.

James T Kirk · 15-01-2012 9:10am

Did you phone the iPolice?

Joe10000 · 15-01-2012 9:24am

I had a phone stolen one night and in the morning I rang into my Vmail to check messages and there was a message from a girl to some bloke asking him what the **** he wanted at this hour.

So... I rang O2 and asked for the last 5 dialed numbers from my phone, got the girls number and phoned her.

She said she got a call from her ex from a number she didn't recognise (mine) and called it back. I asked her for the guys name and address and she gave it to me.

Off I went to the Garda station with the details of my phone, my little story and the details of the "suspect".

I was told I did not have enough evidence and they can't be barging into people's homes. It was an adjoining parish and they said they would swing by and have a chat with him but there was not enough for a search warrant.

So OP I don't think "find my iPhone" will be much use to you unless you are going to take the law into your own hands.

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 9:40am

Thanks for the replies - but if I have the sim and IMEI cancelled doesn't that mean no messages can come up because they won't be able to use it?

I don't think they made any calls with it, as I said, the battery was almost gone and it was pin and passcode locked.

I'll give the find my phone thing a go and keep my fingers crossed (I'll also say a prayer to St Anthony and St Jude - not that I'm religious in the first place..) but if the phone is completely locked off surely the alarm thing and message won't work?

James T Kirk · 15-01-2012 9:53am

Oh, i don't know about that...

The Big Gig · 15-01-2012 10:05am

Snoopster wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - but if I have the sim and IMEI cancelled doesn't that mean no messages can come up because they won't be able to use it?

I don't think they made any calls with it, as I said, the battery was almost gone and it was pin and passcode locked.

I'll give the find my phone thing a go and keep my fingers crossed (I'll also say a prayer to St Anthony and St Jude - not that I'm religious in the first place..) but if the phone is completely locked off surely the alarm thing and message won't work?

Will still work once powered on, until phone is restored.

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 10:05am

=/

Still not giving up!!

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 10:06am

Oh great! Thanks you Big Gig - There is hope!

naasrd · 15-01-2012 10:22am

Find my phone is very, very accurate. If you locate the house, send a remote message to your phone. If it was me I'd write something along these lines, "the windows on *address will cost a lot more to replace than this phone"

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 10:36am

Haha nice one naaasrd, but will it still be able to send a message if I've cancelled the sim?

Although as a very weak young lady I'm not sure I'd have the balls to send a text like that...

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 10:37am

Also - http://www.myfoundcast.com/ - in my online searching I came across this website. Seems like a great idea - it's too late for me, but those of you with iphones may want to check it out?

guil · 15-01-2012 12:09pm

find my phone won't work if the sim has being cancelled because it won't have a network connection

CathalDublin · 15-01-2012 1:18pm

Like guil said above, find my iPhone is no use to you if you have the sim canceled and the phone blacklisted.
Anyone looking to use findmyiphone should hold off blocking the phone/sim until they have located the phone

kaizersoze · 15-01-2012 1:51pm

CathalDublin wrote: »

Like guil said above, find my iPhone is no use to you if you have the sim canceled and the phone blacklisted.
Anyone looking to use findmyiphone should hold off blocking the phone/sim until they have located the phone

You sure? How does it work on a non 3G iPad that can't connect to a mobile network at all?

CathalDublin · 15-01-2012 1:55pm

kaizersoze wrote: »

You sure? How does it work on a non 3G iPad that can't connect to a mobile network at all?

Won't it need wifi to work with no 3G?

crossy · 15-01-2012 1:56pm

One of my mates one went missing a few weeks ago in town. icloud brought us right to the house it was in and the garda got it back for him

CathalDublin · 15-01-2012 2:04pm

apple website wrote:

"Find My iPod touch enables you to locate your iPod touch only when it is on and connected to a registered Wi-Fi network."

Therefore findmyiphone needs an active data connection to work
So having a passcode will not allow the thief to join a wifi network.
In the case of having a passcode on the phone your best off not to cancel the phone(blacklist&cancel sim)

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/features/find-my-ipodtouch.html

Blikes · 15-01-2012 2:07pm

A little late now but some good advice if you get another iphone maybe.

If you Jailbreak your iphone, you can download an app from cydia called 'iCaughtU', you can then set it to take a picture of the thief with the front camera and use the gps to find where it is aong with times and stuff everytime someone enters your unlock screen code wrong, the details will be sent to an email you pick.

The thief can't shut it off as it gets backed right into the springboard of the phone.

James T Kirk · 15-01-2012 2:36pm

I lost my iPhone about six months ago.

The bloody thing found me.

ironclaw · 15-01-2012 2:56pm

Joe10000 wrote: »

I had a phone stolen one night and in the morning I rang into my Vmail to check messages and there was a message from a girl to some bloke asking him what the **** he wanted at this hour.

So... I rang O2 and asked for the last 5 dialed numbers from my phone, got the girls number and phoned her.

She said she got a call from her ex from a number she didn't recognise (mine) and called it back. I asked her for the guys name and address and she gave it to me.

Off I went to the Garda station with the details of my phone, my little story and the details of the "suspect".

I was told I did not have enough evidence and they can't be barging into people's homes. It was an adjoining parish and they said they would swing by and have a chat with him but there was not enough for a search warrant.

So OP I don't think "find my iPhone" will be much use to you unless you are going to take the law into your own hands.

Just goes to show how useless the Gardai are. Thats not lack of evidence, thats laziness.

A stolen phone, a record of the numbers dialed and from the point of the potential thief, how could they possibly explain how they dialed that number on your phone, at that time? Provided you could get swore testimony from the ex girlfriend, I'd be confident you could secure a conviction.

MORE than enough evidence to execute a warrant.

I'm normally level headed, but if I had that address, I'd be at the door with 10 mates, a few balaclava's and 5 litres of petrol. This type of nonsense has to stop. The reason all this thievery and sc*mbag-ness goes on is simply because the Gardai fail to act.

barryd09 · 15-01-2012 6:12pm

If i try findmyiphone when im at home (i live in an apartment block) the location given is always the other block of apartments,this isnt exactly any use to me really,is it?
Ive tried it in several locations and all are quite a bit off in terms of an accurate location.

Snoopster · 15-01-2012 10:28pm

Grr! Why did I not know this information before I did all that.
Gah, c'est la vie I suppose.... An expensive lesson well learned.

edit: only saw the next responses after I posted that. The guard I spoke to said they used the find my phone app with their phones and it kept putting them in a location far away from them, and they went to a house where someone's phone was telling them it was and they searched the house and found nothing, so it's not on the back of nothing that she said it was inaccurate.

I've a few friends on the case, it's times like these I wish Veronica Mars was real... Anyone know a good hacker? =P

tallus · 16-01-2012 9:58am

Blikes wrote: »

If you Jailbreak your iphone, you can download an app from cydia called 'iCaughtU', you can then set it to take a picture of the thief with the front camera and use the gps to find where it is aong with times and stuff everytime someone enters your unlock screen code wrong, the details will be sent to an email you pick.

The thief can't shut it off as it gets backed right into the springboard of the phone.

Cheers for that, I downloaded that this morning. Way handy.

Deep Thought · 16-01-2012 12:03pm

Defo try iCloud

Was testing it a few mins ago and it found my phone in my office very accurately

Battleflag · 16-01-2012 12:53pm

Tried iCloud myself while connected to 3G there but it was a good 100m off....

when connected to wi-fi it seems to be bang on though

ironclaw · 16-01-2012 5:31pm

Battleflag wrote: »

Tried iCloud myself while connected to 3G there but it was a good 100m off....

when connected to wi-fi it seems to be bang on though

Apple keeps a record of what wireless systems your attached to or near, and logs the GPS location. Eventually iPhone users will map the world with wifi. Its most obvious if you have a Wifi iPad (Which has no GPS), it knows exactly bang on my house where it is when connected to Wifi.

I still can't believe though that Apple haven't password protected the iCloud section of settings, even the Find My iPhone section. Boggles the mind.

Leiva · 16-01-2012 6:13pm

http://preyproject.com/

http://vimeo.com/18728980

FREE

try this for iphone , laptops , desktops etc .

Really cool and fun to test .

Takes :
photo
opened programs
gps location

prompts:
alarm alert to thief .
photo of thief
gps location to thief
possible ways to return

Darksaga87 · 16-01-2012 9:22pm

Blikes wrote: »

A little late now but some good advice if you get another iphone maybe.

If you Jailbreak your iphone, you can download an app from cydia called 'iCaughtU', you can then set it to take a picture of the thief with the front camera and use the gps to find where it is aong with times and stuff everytime someone enters your unlock screen code wrong, the details will be sent to an email you pick.

The thief can't shut it off as it gets backed right into the springboard of the phone.

Does the free version do all this? I just downloaded it, its displaying the alert but the photo doesnt get sent to my email.

Compo82 · 16-01-2012 11:14pm

Left my iphone in a taxi on Sat night / sun morning. I tried ringing it just after I got out of the taxi and he had it turned off. Unfortunately, I didn't have track my iphone or the other apps mentioned here downloaded. Is there anything I can do? Or is it a lost cause? Still have 9 months left in my contract. :mad:

Mellor · 16-01-2012 11:45pm

ironclaw wrote: »

Just goes to show how useless the Gardai are. Thats not lack of evidence, thats laziness.

A stolen phone, a record of the numbers dialed and from the point of the potential thief, how could they possibly explain how they dialed that number on your phone, at that time? Provided you could get swore testimony from the ex girlfriend, I'd be confident you could secure a conviction.

MORE than enough evidence to execute a warrant.
.

What legal background do you have to make a statement like that?
A warrant isn't easy to get issued. What if the guy just borrowed a fone for a quick call, for example.

Blikes · 17-01-2012 12:42am

Darksaga87 wrote: »

Does the free version do all this? I just downloaded it, its displaying the alert but the photo doesnt get sent to my email.

When you search it on cydia, three versions appear: Lite (free) Full (paid) and another that is in a different colour (cracked)

I'll leave the moral dilemma to yourself.

guil · 17-01-2012 5:02am

Blikes wrote: »

When you search it on cydia, three versions appear: Lite (free) Full (paid) and another that is in a different colour (cracked)

I'll leave the moral dilemma to yourself.

the last one won't appear unless certain repo's have being manually added to cydia

naasrd · 17-01-2012 9:37am

Compo82 wrote: »

Left my iphone in a taxi on Sat night / sun morning. I tried ringing it just after I got out of the taxi and he had it turned off. Unfortunately, I didn't have track my iphone or the other apps mentioned here downloaded. Is there anything I can do? Or is it a lost cause? Still have 9 months left in my contract. :mad:

I'm afraid there's nothing much you can do. You may be able to get the cab's number from a CCTV if you can remember the route etc.

Compo82 · 17-01-2012 9:57am

naasrd wrote: »

I'm afraid there's nothing much you can do. You may be able to get the cab's number from a CCTV if you can remember the route etc.

I got the taxi from outside the Bank of Ireland in Maynooth. There's probably CCTV there but I doubt the bank or the guards would be bothered getting the video. What does anyone think? I can remember the colour of the taxi but not the make. I didn't take any notice of it at the time.

Darksaga87 · 17-01-2012 1:32pm

guil wrote: »

the last one won't appear unless certain repo's have being manually added to cydia

Which are?

ironclaw · 17-01-2012 2:34pm

Mellor wrote: »

What legal background do you have to make a statement like that?
A warrant isn't easy to get issued. What if the guy just borrowed a fone for a quick call, for example.

I don't have a legal background, the opinion is my own. I work on a hobby level in computer forensics.

But if you look at the chain:

1) Phone stolen and reported by user. Assuming its legit because a false statement would be a greater offense.
2) Numerous calls made on the account after the time of theft, and not by the owner and not to numbers known by the owner.
3) Location found and the identity of the caller through the testimony of another party. Assuming this could be sworn, you have yourself good ground for a case.

Either way its possession of stolen property if found at the location which although mightn't secure a conviction for theft, at least the phone might be returned and these thugs realise that tracking is possible. And even on the most basic level it shows the Gardai are willing to act.

If you can't secure a warrant for a search on the premise above then this country is utterly FUBAR'd.

Its like someone stealing your car, parking it in their drive under a big cover, and then some neighbor there tell you where it is. The Gardai are basically saying "Sorry, we can't lift the cover to check" Obviously financially there is a difference between a phone and a car, but either way the Gardai don't get a reward for finding a car VS a phone. In fact either way its basic detective work. They just obviously can't fob off a car owner as it costs more than a phone, but in the eyes of the law, its equally theft. The same offense.

Its pure and utter laziness on behalf of the Gardai.

Blikes · 17-01-2012 4:32pm

guil wrote: »

the last one won't appear unless certain repo's have being manually added to cydia

Ah, my bad! got the phone off my brother and cydia was on it already

vinnycoyne · 17-01-2012 9:06pm

No discussion of app pirating please.

Mellor · 18-01-2012 5:03am

ironclaw wrote: »

I don't have a legal background, the opinion is my own. I work on a hobby level in computer forensics.

But if you look at the chain:

1) Phone stolen and reported by user. Assuming its legit because a false statement would be a greater offense.
2) Numerous calls made on the account after the time of theft, and not by the owner and not to numbers known by the owner.
3) Location found and the identity of the caller through the testimony of another party. Assuming this could be sworn, you have yourself good ground for a case.

Either way its possession of stolen property if found at the location which although mightn't secure a conviction for theft, at least the phone might be returned and these thugs realise that tracking is possible. And even on the most basic level it shows the Gardai are willing to act.

If you can't secure a warrant for a search on the premise above then this country is utterly FUBAR'd.

Its pure and utter laziness on behalf of the Gardai.

I don't disagee that the guy most likely stole the phone and rang the ex. But I'm talking purely about a warrant.
It's not easy to get premission from a Judge to search somebodys home. The word of a random person and the guys ex isn't exactly concrete (they weren't swore statements either). But more importantly, i'm not even sure if a phone is enough to secure a warrant.
Like I said, I don't disagree that the guy has it, I'm just sayign that judges don't hand out warrants that easily.

The stolen car comment is ridiculous so i'll ignore it.

baby and crumble · 18-01-2012 12:33pm

My iPhone was stolen a few months ago and the fact of the matter is I'd bet my new one that within an hour of it being taken of had passed through about 5 people for either gear or money, turning the trail cold. They aren't going to keep something like that on them for long.

naasrd · 19-01-2012 6:48pm

baby and crumble wrote: »

My iPhone was stolen a few months ago and the fact of the matter is I'd bet my new one that within an hour of it being taken of had passed through about 5 people for either gear or money, turning the trail cold. They aren't going to keep something like that on them for long.

You can bet all you want, it doesn't mean it's true.

argosy2006 · 25-01-2012 5:59pm

my samsung android phone was stolen jus last weekend in Dublin, im from Kilkenny. Any ideas for me on how to get my phone back?

skimpydoo · 26-01-2012 12:44am

I had a couple of iphone's stolen last year. About 2 minutes after they were stolen both phones had rang a certain number which was rung a further 8 0r 9 times within 5 minutes. Somehow they had diverted my voice mail to this number.

It was fairly obvious the same gang was involved but the Guards said to me that to trace the number it had to be done by their phone and computer taskforce but they doubt anything would happen.

I even did some snooping myself and found out that the number they had rang was a skype number. I even told this to the guards and they were surprised as nobody had bothered tracing this number.

Sadly as we are mere nobodies nothing will ever be done to even look for our phones. From what happened to me it was fairly obvious that if they had bothered tracing this skype number they would have caught a gang stealing many iphones.

freeze4real · 26-01-2012 1:00am

point simply is the guards are a disgrace fcuking disgrace so useless so lazy in fact Ireland will be better off without them.

I got scammed on adverts when i wanted to buy an iPhone about 8 - 9 months ago. I reported this and till today not a bloody update from the guards.

They dont care, and will not do ****. a waste of tax payers money that's what they are. one of most corrupt association here IMO.
If you loose your ipone, I'm sorry its gone 99.4% is you won't get it back only if a honest person finds it, if stolen its 110% not a chance, dont even dream about it as you're given yourself false hope.

To those of you that have iPhone's never show it off especially in town, there has been an increase in dirt smelly nakkers grabbing and running off with iPhone's and selling them for cash.

They already have a buyer before its stolen so its sol;d within 30min of it being stolen.

town is the lurking place for these low life ***** you've been warned.

jsd1004 · 26-01-2012 1:13am

freeze4real wrote: »

point simply is the guards are a disgrace fcuking disgrace so useless so lazy in fact Ireland will be better off without them.

I got scammed on adverts when i wanted to buy an iPhone about 8 - 9 months ago. I reported this and till today not a bloody update from the guards.

They dont care, and will not do ****. a waste of tax payers money that's what they are. one of most corrupt association here IMO.
If you loose your ipone, I'm sorry its gone 99.4% is you won't get it back only if a honest person finds it, if stolen its 110% not a chance, dont even dream about it as you're given yourself false hope.

To those of you that have iPhone's never show it off especially in town, there has been an increase in dirt smelly nakkers grabbing and running off with iPhone's and selling them for cash.

They already have a buyer before its stolen so its sol;d within 30min of it being stolen.

town is the lurking place for these low life ***** you've been warned.

Man you have to get outside this country (and learn how to spell) if you think the gardai here are corrupt. I have lived in Brazil Spain Venezuela and many other countries. The guards here are far from perfect but at least they do not charge you for the paper to make a statement on (Brazil). Believe it or not theft of an iphone would be not near top on the list of priorities for any police force.

freeze4real · 26-01-2012 1:18am

Noob. it's more of typing error not grammatical error. Why don't you fix my post.

baby and crumble · 26-01-2012 1:47am

Well I reported my stolen phone with minutes, got a call recently to say that the CCTV footage was found and the guy identified and arrested. Everything was followed up on as much as they can, so I was pretty pleased. I don't expect to get my phone back but I am pleased that the Garda I was dealing with did a fantastic job, kept me informed of updates and let me know stuff as soon as she did. Don't tar all Gardai with the same brush.

hoodwinked · 26-01-2012 9:23am

im not sure if it will work with the blocked imei BUT i just logged into icloud there now and found my iphones location, it gave my exact location,right down to our own house. so you will at least get the address of the thief (if icloud works).

Mr. Loverman · 26-01-2012 3:48pm

Snoopster wrote: »

if I have the sim and IMEI cancelled doesn't that mean no messages can come up because they won't be able to use it?

It means they cannot use it in the Republic of Ireland, right? So they probably sell it to someone who can use it in Northern Ireland?

Help re: Stolen iphone 4s...

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