stolen phones

[plinger12345]

hey i just got my phone stolen and everyone keeps telling me the only way to track it down is if the sim card is in it, is this true and can you track the thief when he connects to a wifi spot with the iphone??

[dejawoo]

If u know its imei number whatever theft is using it with ur simcard( gsm call,using edge or 3g&also wifi),its possible to find it.All phones use a kind of cell signal,so it gives the location of phone.Also if u installed any theft or stolen prog. on ur iphone,it will be easy to track it down.

[alek]

go to apple and/or at&t, they will disable your phone remotely so the thief is left with an iBrick. Then they can probably track him down using gps/edge or him conecting to wifi or him syncing.

[plinger12345]

are you sure they can trace him by connecting to wifi?

[jtesnani]

um no. if you live in the states, you're out of luck. the providers here will not do anything to disable or blacklist your phone. and no, they can't track/trace him by him connecting to wifi

[TheAppShare]

Your SOL unless you had some sort of Anti-Theft software on it.

AT&T can only suspend your phone line, not the phone. In essense, they can do anything they like with the phone, and if it is a 1st or 2nd generation iPhone, they can unlock and use it as the feel.

Reporting it to the COPS are AT&T will most likely get you no where. AT&T will do no more than flag the phones IMEI and thats it. The ironic thing is that when the phone is used again (New sim/number), the account is flagged and AT&T is notified that the phone is being used by another person. They don't waste their time.

Without anti-theft software, your only bet is somehow getting the raw IP of the user if he/she connected to WiFi. This is nearly impossible without software. Getting the IP of the iphone via Cellular tower will possible give you a 30 mile radius of where it could possibly be.

My suggestion: Get a new phone or iPhone and get iLocalis or Cylay immediately.

I am sorry for your loss, and good luck!

[gQstatus05]

In the words of the great T Pain, You've officially been chopped and screwed.

Sorry dude, hope you are able to get another one.

[plinger12345]

ok well is there anyway that the person who stole the phone can get passed the imei block??? is that what the smart sims are???

[MikeYuse0406]

A piece of advise from a criminal justice perspective, you are screwed. All you can do is report the phone stolen. However, the thief will not be tracked down for a simple stolen phone. There are more serious crimes going on taking the valuable time of law enforcement and investigators.

Your best bet is file an stolen report with your local police dept. Then, contact apple and AT&T and report the device stolen to them. They will likely ask you for the police report. If the presumed thief attempts to activate the phone legally, records will show that the phone is reported stolen and will be taken from the possession of the individual.

As far as arresting the individual depend mainly on discretion. However, I would have to investigate first to determine whether the individual did indeed steal your phone, or if you failed to take proper care, left it somewhere, and someone grabbed it, which is not in fact termed stealing.

Good Luck!

[reeko]

the old ziphone programme had the option of changing your imei number, which bypassed the carriers lock on your handset. this is however extremely illegal.

AT&T do have the power to block just the handset through the IMEI and stop the thief from using the phone or selling it on. That's what happens instantly here in the UK.

i use findmyi from cydia. seems ok, but wont see its true colours until / if my phone gets stolen. if i stole an iphone, i would switch it off, and the first thing i would do is restore which would wipe any anti-theft software.

[plinger12345]

well does smart sim block the imei? and what is yellow snow i just wanna make sure the *** cant use it.

well does smart sim block the imei? and what is yellow snow i just wanna make sure the *** cant use it.

[reeko]

IF the carrier does indeed block the phone, then no software unlock except a change of IMEI number will work.

ziphone stopped supporting after 1.1.4 firmware, so if you are later than that he would really have to know his stuff to downgrade and change the IMEI number.

[cjgonzales1900]

a software unlock would work if you are using the phone with another company maybe and trust me att doesnt care it just means more money for them because you now have to go and buy a new phone. and even if the phone would be used with another account att wont do anything i have a friend who is using a stlen phone and has been for sometime about 6 months now he didnt know it was stolen intel after he bought it and the guy wouldnt give his money back the cops wouldnt even mess with it. Att is basically looking out for the thiefs because they could shut down the imei but they choose not to. Att sucks, first MMS, now this, what next sell the iphone at walmart... oh wait thats already going to happen, SH*T lol

[mobsta]

In the words of the great T Pain, You've officially been chopped and screwed.

Sorry dude, hope you are able to get another one.

tpain>>>>>>