So my iPhone was stolen today......

[WU27f1xcCs]

If you use an AW you can create a Focus that is specifically for locking the iPhone, by launching an automation that locks the screen and disables airplane mode. Then in this situation if you are super quick you can lock it before the thieves have brought it outside of bluetooth range.


No, and you shouldn't do anything else regarding this iPhone. Don't remove it from anywhere on your account, don't remove it from trusted devices, just leave it be. The FInd My functionality isn't explained all that well by Apple and in the worst case you can accidentally remove it from your account which might allow the iPhone to be reused.

Unfortunately there is no way to know if the thieves turned the entire iPhone off which would protect your personal data stored on the iPhone or if they only put it into airplane mode and kept it unlocked for a while to see if they can get personal data. But they might have shut it down immediately just to try and prevent tracking, or it might have locked when ripping it out of your hands as the power button is easily pressed.

They usually just want the hardware anyways and don't care about your data. And since you locked it so quickly that probably prevented abuse of Apple Pay.

If you used an eSIM on that iPhone the thieves can't see your phone number, if it was a regular SIM card they will eventually put it in a different phone and send you spam messages pretending to be Apple or otherwise try to get you and unlock the iPhone. If it was a regular SIM card I recommend changing your phone number to avoid that spam.


That's exactly right, I was robbed in a similar fashion as well though they were on foot and when I read some of the posts here claiming we just have to be vigilant I know they've never been in this situation. For me it happened in the street I live in during the few seconds I looked into my bag to get my house keys. It doesn't matter if you are super careful 99% of the time, they'll be there that one moment you don't expect it.

You'll keep replaying the moment for a while and that's normal and over time it goes away. You are mostly physically uninjured and thankfully had the insurance so as silly as it might sound this went as well for you as it possibly could have. The one thing I took away from my experience is that I try not to wear or show anything that would make me a target in the first place, at least in some places it's not the best idea to have Airpods sticking out your ear or the AW visible. Or I choose to walk a different path sometimes.

Is there a way to get the iPhone to lock when the phone goes out of range of the iPhone? A bit like the Windows feature that connects to your phone?

 

[Heindijs]

Sorry to hear what has happened to you!
I'm using a 13 mini and the amount of times I've heard people ask what kind of weird old looking small phone I own makes me less worried about peeople snatching it out of my hands lol.

Although I would be worried more if I lived in a big city like London too

 

[NickYanakiev]

I used my wife's phone, as luckily she was inside the building with my daughter. Just had to run and find her!
Nevertheless, you would need access to ANY phone or computer. Don't try it on your phone as obviously should this happen you will not have your phone with you! Somewhere where you can log into iCloud via a web browser. Once logged in use Find My to track the device, and you can set it to lost mode from there. This will also suspend all the cards you have in your wallet.
It's good to try it beforehand so you know the process.

Stupid me didn't realise i could have just used my Apple watch (its on cellular) to do the same thing instantly!



Can I ask which area?
Wonder if you were local and it was the same guys!
Unlikely I know, but just curious.
I hope you get your replacement issued asap. Mine happened Sunday - I started the claim on Sunday too. I did this via phone as it kept coming up with errors online, and it was accepted straight away at the same time. Just checked my tracking and the replacement is estimated for delivery today - which would be a 2 day turnaround and is very impressive!



I had to call my cell provider - provide some security details, after which he reissued a new card (which cancels the existing at the same time). That was quite easy.
I think with some providers you can actually walk into a store with some ID and get one on the spot (I didn't know this until after I had the new one reissued).

Westfield, Stratford. Was walking from the mall to the West Ham stadium- luckily my phone was locked, I was changing the Spotify track from the lock screen. I ran to the Apple Store, where we were able to put the iPhone in Lost Mode via my Apple Watch. My cards were removed from my Apple Wallet upon activating Lost Mode.

I called EE and my SIM card was immediately blocked.
Tracking the location of the device, they got all the way to Wembley, where the phone has been since.

I actually got a text from Find My this morning, saying my phone has been located and asking me to sign in to view its location. Had I done that, the thieves would have gained access to my phone...

 

[Luis Ortega]

I had been thinking of joining the modern age and using my phone to pay for things, but then I read the following article: https://webcache.googleusercontent..../content/26be349d-4717-4815-a221-a749e29de2b2

I hope everything works out okay for you.

Edited: Updated link thanks to @koifish22

I don’t use my phone to do anything financial. I use my desktop at home and a credit card, so if somebody steals my phone or iPad, they can’t also steal my money and access my financial information.

 

[Ifti]

Westfield, Stratford. Was walking from the mall to the West Ham stadium- luckily my phone was locked, I was changing the Spotify track from the lock screen. I ran to the Apple Store, where we were able to put the iPhone in Lost Mode via my Apple Watch. My cards were removed from my Apple Wallet upon activating Lost Mode.

I called EE and my SIM card was immediately blocked.
Tracking the location of the device, they got all the way to Wembley, where the phone has been since.

I actually got a text from Find My this morning, saying my phone has been located and asking me to sign in to view its location. Had I done that, the thieves would have gained access to my phone...

Oh so only 2 or 3 tube stops away. Seems like you took similar steps to me - makes me feel better knowing I did everything I could. Terrible experience isn't it?!

I havent had any texts or contact about the stolen handset at all yet, but am expecting them. Will ignore them all!

My replacement has just been delivered - so a 2 day turnaround which is great.
Hoping the sim card has been delivered as well now!

Very much so. The guy I spoke to seemed extremely uninterested in what I was reporting.
I could hear the exact same type of call happening in the background where he was sitting. Crazy stuff..

Same. I had to go into the police station as they called me back saying they didn't have an officer available to come out to see me for details until the 9th - a whole week later!
When I asked what would happen next, the lady who gave me my reference number at the station just said "this kind of stuff is happening all the time now" and just shrugged her shoulders. She even said I would likely not hear back from them, and that was that!

 

[stocklen]

Took my daughter for her very first swimming lesson (East London, UK).
She was getting late so my wife took her inside while I looked for parking.
Parked - exited to get the reference number for the RingGo app (first time there).
Took out my phone and was in the process of paying for the parking and two electric bikes come out of nowhere - snatched my phone and made off in a flash. I tripped in the process - not sure if my thumb is just bruised or broken but it painful - hopefully it's just bruised.

This was a 15 Pro Max 512GB. Had it since release. Running latest iOS etc.
Worst bit is phone was unlocked when it was taken as I was in the process of using it.

Within a few minutes I got onto my iCloud via my wife's phone and marked the phone as lost and set it to erase.
This also suspended all the payment cards in the wallet.
Its showing as offline so unable to track it at all - but it should just erase when its connected to the Internet.

All sensitive notes etc were protected with an additional password - so that's OK.
Banking apps all need a login, whether FaceID or passcode - so should be OK there.
I can't even get onto my banking at the moment as they use 2FA and send a code to my phone - which I don't have!

Have a replacement Sim coming in the next 3 days.
Phone was luckily covered by Applecare+ so also covered for loss and theft. Claim has been approved so bar a £109 excess I should have a new phone in the next 5 days depending on stock. Apple and the Insurer were actually really good with this.
Hence it's just the inconvenience really - and just hoping they can't access anything else on the phone. I think I have everything covered. Well, I really hope I have.

Is here anything else I can do other then set it to lost and erase mode?

Police weren't bothered. Gave me a crime reference number and said "it's been happening a lot lately" and that was it!

PLEASE guys, stay safe. It happens when you least expect it.
And above all else, PLEASE do not keep your bank cards in the case along with the phone!

Did everything on my phone. Feel completely lost at the moment! Sad really!

feel for you....
on the plus side backup is so effective that when you have your new phone and restore from could it will be just like the old one with a couple of cards and passwords to remember.

One thing and general advice is ive got used to a couple of things in public.

Firstly, have a firm grip on your phone when using it in public.
Secondly, before taking it out of your pocket just glance left and right to be aware of whose around and approaching.

 

[dz5b609]

I don’t use my phone to do anything financial. I use my desktop at home and a credit card, so if somebody steals my phone or iPad, they can’t also steal my money and access my financial information.

The changes of you being scammed while using your browser/mail from your desktop for your banking are much much higher than using the banking apps on your phone which are by design much safer when set up right.

 

[laptech]

.......

Same. I had to go into the police station as they called me back saying they didn't have an officer available to come out to see me for details until the 9th - a whole week later!
When I asked what would happen next, the lady who gave me my reference number at the station just said "this kind of stuff is happening all the time now" and just shrugged her shoulders. She even said I would likely not hear back from them, and that was that!

Whilst it does not feel you with a lot of confidence about the police at least they were honest to you in their approach about not much being done and that they are not likely to hear back from them. It is certainly a lot better than being told someone will come out to see you and that they will follow up your theft with further calls to you and they never do.

 

[Ifti]

feel for you....
on the plus side backup is so effective that when you have your new phone and restore from could it will be just like the old one with a couple of cards and passwords to remember.

One thing and general advice is ive got used to a couple of things in public.

Firstly, have a firm grip on your phone when using it in public.
Secondly, before taking it out of your pocket just glance left and right to be aware of whose around and approaching.

Thanks will deffo be doing that in future!

Yes luckily I had a backup that had run early the same morning. I'll just need to restore, then go through all my banking apps to set them all up on the new device, as well as other apps that need passwords again.
Cheers

 

[Ifti]

Whilst it does not feel you with a lot of confidence about the police at least they were honest to you in their approach about not much being done and that they are not likely to hear back from them. It is certainly a lot better than being told someone will come out to see you and that they will follow up your theft with further calls to you and they never do.

I was saying to my brother yesterday, we used to have a much higher police presence years ago, with community police officers walking around etc.
Now you don't see any walking around at all! It's like they've just given up!!
I hope they get more funding after the next election as the level of general crime in London has sky rocketed since the thieves know they get away with it.

 

[lostPod]

What can be done with a stolen Apple phone ? Sold for parts ? Isn’t it impossible to remove the previous iCloud account and thus use it as a phone again ? Serious questions

 

[RSB96]

They tried to steal my iPhone a few weeks ago in the center of Madrid. (Spain), two guys on a motocycle.

In Europe, mainly in the capitals, there is an increase in crime and an increase in insecurity and nobody is doing anything, but the problem is more than obvious (I will not mention it, since it is not in the right place for it).

We are in for some difficult times on the european continent.

 

[Thomas Davie]

Have never had my phone stolen, but when I was in a hospital for dialaysis, I incorrectly connected to the wrong hospital hotspot MTS-####a i stead of MTS-#### and subsequently logged on to Amazon and made a purchase. My login credentials to Amazon were captured and then my gmail was compromised.

I caught it b/c 5 minutes after I made an Amazon purchase, another purchase was made to which I was notified by my banking security app. Changed the password and etc. Another fraudulent purchase. Traced the trouble back to some settings on gmail (all email was set to forward a copy to some hotmail addy). I changed my gmail settings and had already cancelled Visa, Amex, Mastercard and contacted my bank and Amazon.

The ‘scammers started with small priced items and kept increasing the value of what they were purchasing. I still use Amazon as a means of existence (dialysis patient living by myself with 4 cats and rely on Amazon for delivery of cat food/litter (which I am incapable of carrying) so 2FA, biometrics turned on and more paranoia

Tom

edit: Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays is when I go into town for dialysis (and shop once per month). Those are the ‘theft’ says for me.

 

[decafjava]

Well sorry OP this happened to me in January with a moment of inattention running to catch the train and leaving my jacket pocket un zipped. Fortunately no lasting consequences as I had my sim locked, iPhone Face ID set to erase etc. My insurance paid for a new phone but I will be super careful now.

Edit: careful with the politics folks - there are useful tips here to avoid theft.

 

[Luis Ortega]

The changes of you being scammed while using your browser/mail from your desktop for your banking are much much higher than using the banking apps on your phone which are by design much safer when set up right.

That might be, but it's not a device that someone can steal from me on the street.

 

[Ifti]

New phone received and all setup from iCloud.
Have been entering all my app passwords etc and adding my cards back into the wallet. Been a bit nervous in adding all the banking stuff again thinking it might re-activate it on the stolen phone somehow! Silly I know, as its a completely separate device - but still!

Saying that, checked Find My and noticed the stolen phone has moved location. From south to north London. Last updated 12 hours ago. However I didn't get any alert to say it had been located. Its still also set to erase in Find My. Not sure if I get any notification if/once erased?

 

[producer26]

In the Nokia era, i was on the balcony drinking coffee as i heard noise and someone yelling, begging etc. What happened? A couple of streets from my house, there was a gym and the guys (owner and friends) were all gathered there. Two girls were passing in front of the gym and one girl was texting. As she was texting , a thief grabbed her phone and run away. The girls screamed and the guys started chasing the thief. They caught him below my balcony and started beating him. He was begging them to stop. At some point they did and police arrived to arrest the thief. I remember the cop saying to the girl that she shouldn't bother taking any legal actions as the guy would either way be released the day after. I don't think there was a more justified beating.

 

[Ifti]

Question:

I have the iCloud backup of the stolen phone on my iCloud.
I have restore the backup to my replacement phone and then once set up I created a new fresh backup using the new phone.
I now have 2 backups under my iCloud devices - one for each handset.

Can I safely delete the stolen device backup?
I have the option to 'Turn off and delete from iCloud'.

This won't remove it from its locked state in Find My will it?
From what I understand that's separate?

 

[Timo_Existencia]

What can be done with a stolen Apple phone ? Sold for parts ? Isn’t it impossible to remove the previous iCloud account and thus use it as a phone again ? Serious questions

This is what I want Apple to secure more and more. This is why I am not a fan of the "right to repair" movement and criticisms of serialized and matched used parts. I want theft of my iPhone to be completely useless. I want a stolen iPhone to track its thiefs and report locations to a database. I want all the parts to be useless outside of the iPhone they were intended to be used in.

Tech can essentially make these thefts pointless.

 

[daryl1965]

I've always carried AppleCare+, but not the Theft & Loss portion. I figure if a phone gets stolen, well.... that's an unbudgeted expense. But not one I look forward to.

I'm glad you had the coverage, and that you were able to "Lock it up" so quickly.

It's unclear to me WHY people steal phones that they can't actually use... I guess just for the parts? I've read that Activation Lock is being extended to even cover the PARTS on a phone, so hopefully that'll cut down on it.

I live in Canada Apple care is available and I do have it , however here in Canada lost / theft protection is NOT available to purchase with Apple Care . Bloody disgusting if you ask me

 

[jessebkr87]

Question:

I have the iCloud backup of the stolen phone on my iCloud.
I have restore the backup to my replacement phone and then once set up I created a new fresh backup using the new phone.
I now have 2 backups under my iCloud devices - one for each handset.

Can I safely delete the stolen device backup?
I have the option to 'Turn off and delete from iCloud'.

This won't remove it from its locked state in Find My will it?
From what I understand that's separate?

Sorry this happened to you, OP. I’ve been reading the whole thread seeing if there was something I could answer, but gosh, this forum is filled with such helpful people. Alas, I can answer this one.

The option you’re referring to for turning off and deleting will indeed only affect the backup and the setting for the original phone to backup. It won’t delete the device from Find My.

 

[Ifti]

Sorry this happened to you, OP. I’ve been reading the whole thread seeing if there was something I could answer, but gosh, this forum is filled with such helpful people. Alas, I can answer this one.

The option you’re referring to for turning off and deleting will indeed only affect the backup and the setting for the original phone to backup. It won’t delete the device from Find My.

Perfect thank you!

 

[NickYanakiev]

My replacement phone is getting delivered tomorrow so a 2 day turnaround. Very impressive service..

 

[Ifti]

My stolen phone seems to be moving location - usually overnight.
Each day I check Find My it shows the phone has moved to a new location (still within London).
The only options I have for the handset in Find My at the moment are 'Cancel Erase' and 'Remove from Find My'.
Bear in mind the sim has already been blocked and replaced.

How do I know if it has been erased or not?

I noticed when setting up my new replacement yesterday, upon entering my Apple ID I had to go through an unlock phase for extra security. I did this on the phone and all has been fine so far.

Today I logged into iCloud on my computer, and the account was again locked and I had to go through an unlocking procedure and gained access again.

I have changed the password etc already. Could they be trying something or is it normal procedure after marking an item as lost/remote erase?

 

[Ifti]

My replacement phone is getting delivered tomorrow so a 2 day turnaround. Very impressive service..

Hopefully should have got yours by now?

I've not yet had any contact trying to ask me to reset the device or remove it from my account etc yet though.....
I do have an address that Find My reports the phone was at last night - not sure whether to bother updating the police as I doubt they will even do anything.