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  • Find My iPhone App Leads Cops to Crooks and Stolen Goods... Yet Again
    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 11-13-2012 12:30 AM
    20 Comments Comments


    The Find My iPhone app has helped recover many lost iPhones and helped catch many criminals in the past. The app worked its magic once again recently with Hollywood police along with the owner of a stolen iPhone using the free app to track down the device. In the process of retrieving the device, the police ended up nabbing four robbers in the process.

    CBS Los Angeles reported that an LAPD helicopter helped officers locate the thieves in a parked car on Santa Monica Boulevard recently. Inside the vehicle, cops found the phone in question along with a number of other devices and stolen wallets that the crooks had stolen over the past weekend. The fact that the crooks didn’t think to turn the iPhone leads many to believe that they weren’t exactly the smartest of criminals.


    Many iOS owners have used the app to help retrieve their iOS devices, which continue to be in high demand by consumers and therefore amongst thieves as well. If you haven’t already downloaded and installed the app, it may be a smart move considering how beneficial it has turned out for many since its release.

    Source: CBS via CNET
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Find My iPhone App Leads Cops to Crooks and Stolen Goods... Yet Again started by Akshay Masand View original post
    Categories:
    1. iPhone,
    2. iOS,
    3. Apple,
    4. AppStore
    Comments 20 Comments
    1. mustangfrnk's Avatar
      mustangfrnk - 11-13-2012, 01:01 AM
      I'm glad that the app has successfully been able to reunite an I-device with its rightful owner as the news post reported, but what, and how about the not so publicized unfortunate owners with just the device being reported?
      Not by any means is this belittled, but it takes this for it to make news...
    1. cpotoso's Avatar
      cpotoso - 11-13-2012, 01:14 AM
      Stupid crooks! This is so funny.
    1. mallenass's Avatar
      mallenass - 11-13-2012, 01:50 AM
      iCaughtU pro puts any other locating app to shame by so far they spin..
    1. rkswat's Avatar
      rkswat - 11-13-2012, 05:15 AM
      Yeah I always have a hard time believing these types of stories. I find it hard to believe the LAPD would use several officers and a helicopter to track down some guy that can't keep track of his phone i. I know it sounds good and all but hard to believe.

      I guess it's different if the stolen phone belongs to a person that works for LAPD. I bet the tax payers would love to hear that man power is being used to track down cell phones of LAPD workers knowing good and damn well that Jon Q Citizen would not get the same treatment.
    1. ewokcwalk's Avatar
      ewokcwalk - 11-13-2012, 06:26 AM
      i also enjoy the "Play Sound" function. it always helps when i lose my phone around the house.
    1. justinpotter81's Avatar
      justinpotter81 - 11-13-2012, 06:54 AM
      Sounds very fictitious.
    1. The6uest's Avatar
      The6uest - 11-13-2012, 08:18 AM
      A friend of mine found his stolen iPhone with that app too. The thief turned the phone off when he stole it so my friend wasn't able to locate it at first, but he kept checking and later that evening it turned up and showed the location at someone's house. So my friend called the cops and went with them to the guys house and got his phone back! The thief was someone that worked at the same company as my friend so he also lost his job the next day!
    1. kawasabi's Avatar
      kawasabi - 11-13-2012, 08:59 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by mallenass View Post
      iCaughtU pro puts any other locating app to shame by so far they spin..
      Shamless plug for an app with such a low rating, half of one star? Please...
    1. micaiah12's Avatar
      micaiah12 - 11-13-2012, 09:12 AM
      Yeah, seems a little far fetched.
    1. Awdad724's Avatar
      Awdad724 - 11-13-2012, 02:20 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by kawasabi View Post
      Shamless plug for an app with such a low rating, half of one star? Please...
      I think you are miss understanding. The app that he speaks about is in Cydia, it allows you to do much much more then just find your phone. It keeps the crook from turning it off, takes a pictures with the front camera and sends it to your email, and allows for you to use many other text features so that when you text a certain command to your phone it will ring or take another picture. Ext ext.
    1. Dranon's Avatar
      Dranon - 11-13-2012, 03:41 PM
      Yeah a friend of mine caught his wife cheating by locating her iphone. Went over to the guys house and caught them red-handed! He never suspected a thing! He just decided to see where she was "shopping" Makes me wonder how many others this may have happened to? Does anybody "check" on their significant other by this method?
    1. twitchee3's Avatar
      twitchee3 - 11-13-2012, 10:39 PM
      i'd like to call BS on this one. my sisters iphone was stolen at a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles earlier this year, and using the app, she was able to trace it to a house. after calling the police, she was informed that they do not help people track down lost phones as it is too low on their list of priorities. i live in Hollywood, right off Santa Monica blvd. in fact, and i can tell you for damn sure that the cops around here are even busier than the department my sister called (which was in an LA suburb where the house she traced her phone to was located). so, for them to have employed multiple officers and a helicopter to track down one iphone, i have to assume there is a significant piece of the story missing here.
    1. wurldfamuz's Avatar
      wurldfamuz - 11-14-2012, 02:22 AM
      wow...I don't know who's dumber, the crooks that stole the iphone or all of you that this story all BULL and how the article is not real and that it's made up. Well, maybe if you guys actually clicked on the CBS link and read the full news article then you would find out that story is real and they actually named the robbery suspect in the article.
      here's the link
      GPS Tracking App Used To Hunt Down iPhone Stolen In Wilshire Robbery « CBS Los Angeles
    1. wurldfamuz's Avatar
      wurldfamuz - 11-14-2012, 03:05 AM
      this story is real, the actual news article they even named the robbery suspect. all you non believers who were so sure this was fabricated story and said this is BS not a chance that was true should've clicked on CBS link first before writing your comments.
    1. justinpotter81's Avatar
      justinpotter81 - 11-14-2012, 07:11 AM
      Oh yeah, cause everything from the media is perfect truth.
    1. Breezy215's Avatar
      Breezy215 - 11-14-2012, 07:16 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Dranon View Post
      Yeah a friend of mine caught his wife cheating by locating her iphone. Went over to the guys house and caught them red-handed! He never suspected a thing! He just decided to see where she was "shopping" Makes me wonder how many others this may have happened to? Does anybody "check" on their significant other by this method?
      I sure as hell do!!!

      Well here in Philadelphia, Pa the cops don't do Jack Crap about it! I'm a security manager at my job and an employee had her brand new iPhone 4s stolen out of her office last year (by another employee mind you). She called the police and after they finally showed up two hours later, they said they can't do anything about it, even after I suggested using the tracking app!! They said they would need a warrant... that's BS!!!!
    1. twitchee3's Avatar
      twitchee3 - 11-14-2012, 01:45 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by justinpotter81 View Post
      Oh yeah, cause everything from the media is perfect truth.
      sadly, many think so
    1. wurldfamuz's Avatar
      wurldfamuz - 11-14-2012, 03:24 PM
      Again, if everyone read the full news article, they would find out that this was not just a person stealing someone elses phone. The robbery suspect held a gun to the woman and took her purse. She then called to cops to report the incident and while cops were doing their interviews, she mentioned to the police her iphone was in her which has a phone tracker app so they got on the laptop and tracked it, went to the location they see man fitting the description of the suspect and while the cops are holding him, they then call the phone and guess what it, the iphone he had in his posession starts ringing...HAHAHA! the rest is history.
    1. Sherm23's Avatar
      Sherm23 - 11-15-2012, 08:41 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Breezy215 View Post
      I sure as hell do!!!

      Well here in Philadelphia, Pa the cops don't do Jack Crap about it! I'm a security manager at my job and an employee had her brand new iPhone 4s stolen out of her office last year (by another employee mind you). She called the police and after they finally showed up two hours later, they said they can't do anything about it, even after I suggested using the tracking app!! They said they would need a warrant... that's BS!!!!
      it would be nice if the owner could lock the phone from being turned off with the iOS app, like the cydia app. Most victims are not jailbroken.

      Experience... when it works, it works well. It is especially funny to corner someone into a statement and then make the phone chirp in their pocket.

      As to the warrant... television shows have made it hard for people to understand, but Police Officers can't bust into a house and dig around for a phone, or put their hands in people's pockets, or do anything Chuck Norris did without meeting requirements set forth in the Fourth Amendment or exclusion set by case law. I dont know your particular incident but I am willing to bet that the Officer did not pass up an easy arrest.


      4th Amendment for ya
    1. Donnutt's Avatar
      Donnutt - 11-18-2012, 08:45 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by rkswat View Post
      Yeah I always have a hard time believing these types of stories. I find it hard to believe the LAPD would use several officers and a helicopter to track down some guy that can't keep track of his phone i. I know it sounds good and all but hard to believe.

      I guess it's different if the stolen phone belongs to a person that works for LAPD. I bet the tax payers would love to hear that man power is being used to track down cell phones of LAPD workers knowing good and damn well that Jon Q Citizen would not get the same treatment.
      It's not that hard to believe, the cops are there to protect and serve, and an iPhone is a very expensive item! Plus, why not? I bet cops love the fact that they can pull up the exact GPS location of a criminal. It makes their job easier! And, they caught four guys, and other contraband. It probably didn't cost more than a regular patrol. These guys are out all the time, so probably no more cost to the taxpayers than usual.