“A mum who lost her iPhone in a Coventry pub was astonished to get a message from Apple saying it had turned up – in China,” Sam Dimmer reports for The Coventry Telegraph.
“Clare Kerrigan had given up hope of ever finding the missing phone after she lost it in a pub in Coundon during August,” Dimmer reports. “But on Monday she had a message from Apple saying the phone had been traced to a kindergarten in the city of Shenzhen, in the Guangdong region north of Hong Kong.”
“Bizarrely it’s not unusual for stolen phones to be shipped to China or Africa, as it’s almost impossible to reactivate a stolen handset in the UK,” Dimmer reports. “With Apple’s security software making it easier than ever to make a phone worthless some are sent abroad where they can be reactivated.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Leigh Mencarini” for the heads up.]
The posed pic of her holding up the empty charging cord and looking bereft is pretty funny.
Since the phone isn’t broken, are they going to give her a new phone?
Why should Apple give her a new phone? She was the one who lost it. It is clearly her responsibility. Are you one of those ‘entitled’ people who thinks the world owes them everything?
It was a snarky question, because they found her old one. Since it showed up in China, she did not “lose” her phone, but it was stollen, and Find My iPhone did not prevent it from being used by someone else. So it would seem the inconvenience of FMI, isn’t protecting us after all. I mean they did find it, but not in any way that anyone can do anything about it. I think if the phone is bricked, it should really be permanently bricked no matter where it goes. Then the true value of the phone is lost, and theft would be better deterred.
Theft deterrent is the goal of FMI, right?
What would a Chinese kindergartener be doing in a pub in Coventry?
Selling CDs most like.
Eating chips!
Making chips.
Obviously trying out their first Guinness…and picking up a quality phone of course…
Pubs in the UK or bars in NYC, no difference; both provide a steady stream of slightly used, sharply discounted mobile phones to China!
Wonder if it’s possible in a future iOS release when the iPhone is in Lost Mode to have the camera take pics every 30 seconds and send to the owner?
That aught to drain the battery flat in a couple of hours and guarantee it will not be found anytime soon. And getting photographs every thirty seconds of the inside of someones pocket would hardly be useful…
So have face recognition activated on the camera so it only takes a picture when a face is in the frame.
How do you un break a bricked iphone???
From the comment section:
“If Apple and other manufacturers would set the phone so they can’t be powered off without the passcode, it would make it much easier to get these stolen phones back.”
Actually a good idea.
I don’t see how powering off the phone would make it easier to get back. Explain please.
his comment didn’t say that at all.
Phone OFF…. can’t track.
Phone ON…. CAN track.
Unlock code required to shut off… Can only be shut down by the owner, Thief can be tracked.
You mean like Skynet?
😳😁
Until something goes wrong on your phone and you have to force a restart.
It is a stupid idea, tracking can be disabled by a mylar bag.
“It is a stupid idea, tracking can be disabled by a mylar bag.”
And someone who steals a phone is carrying around the means to disable tracking.
Cause criminals set out to specifically steal a phone.. and carry every item needed for every crime they could possibly commit that day. Right?
“Until something goes wrong on your phone and you have to force a restart.”
AND YOU INPUT YOUR PIN.
If your phone is stolen and something forces a restart… without the pin the phone locks with ZERO access until the correct pin in input… either via cable or screen.
Babysitting the low IQ tonight I see.
If your device is locked up or you can’t access the keyboard, how do you put the pin in genius?
Phone thieves make a living stealing devices, carrying a pocket full of Mylar bags is not a big inconvenience.
Living with your head securely placed in a rear orifice is no way to go through life. It colors your perspective, pull it out and take a deep breath and join us in the real world.
Did you really ask that?
Are you really that dense?
If you put a BIOS lock on your computer… how do you input the pin?
If you lock your iPhone with a pin code……………………………….. how in the Hell do you enter that code?
Phone theft is generally a crime of opportunity. Some dumbass leaves his phone at a bar.. criminal sees $$.
Just letting the battery run down completely equals powering down without being the owner.
and by the time it powers down… you can find out where the phone is…
… Or was.
iOS 8 has the capability to send it last location to Apple before it powers off due to battery drain. It can be enabled easily
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ios8-security-tips,review-2407-3.html
Always make sure you insure your iPhone and get accidental damage if possible.