I just had my iPhone 8 stolen UPDATE: It's now in Moscow

[iRandomize]

So, as the title says, I've just had a brand new iPhone 8 stolen. I'm currently on a business trip in Barcelona, and while at a coffee shop, it was grabbed off my table while I wasn't paying attention. I know I'm stupid and it is entirely my own fault, so don't event bother telling me I'm an idiot - I know. 

 

The thing is, I don't really care that I lost it. It was a company phone, so I will just get a new one when I get back. What annoys me is that I don't get why they would steal it. The lengths apple go through to make sure the phone has no value, means that they will never be able to use it.

 

So my question is; why do they steal it? Will it be disassembled for parts, since apple still refuses to sell replacement parts to third parties? Or did they just steal it because they are envious of my phone? What is the market value of an iPhone 8 shaped paper weight?

 

And yes, I tried find my iPhone. But the thief was clever enough to turn off the phone. 

 

Less than 24 hours since it's been stolen, someone is trying to access it from Moscow, see my latest reply: 

 

 

[Andreas Lilja]

I see many iCloud'ed iPhones on Facebook marketplaces, so yes probably for parts.

[SlipperyPete]

i feel this. back in highschool right after the iphone 5 came out i bought one. during lacrosse practice someone stole my phone and 60$ out of my backpack. i had only had the phone for a month and i was pissed. saved up a shit load of money for that phone...

[bigjohnthescot]

there is a HUGE secondary mkt in russia believe it or not plus they are wipeable and can be used as throwaways

[bigjohnthescot]

oh and sorry for that to have happened to you even though not technically yours still sucks to have something stolen like that

[RollinLower]

Eventough Apple makes sure it has no value through their firmware, there is still a huge market for the parts, aswell as some shady ways to wipe and make it 'as new, tough I've never really seen that happen first hand.

 

That being said, the screen would be a good part to sell, as getting a replacement from Apple once you drop your phone would cost a fortune

[Sam.]

15 minutes ago, Raskolnikov said:

I see many iCloud'ed iPhones on Facebook marketplaces, so yes probably for parts.

It would be, they have no resale value once stolen, or even second hand at that.

[iRandomize]

Yeah. I guessed parts as well. Don't think my boss will be too happy to learn that my 2 week old 800 EUR phone is being sold for parts. Shitty world we live in. I feel really sorry for those who have their personal phones stolen. That must really suck. 

[bigjohnthescot]

like I said in Russia they do Have resale value

[lewdicrous]

Putting it in rice is not a viable option huh..

[iRandomize]

I see that i have been burried in the booring, inactive subforum that is "Phones and Some-device-that-was-popular-for-a-few-short-years". I thought theft related to general discussion rather than this subforum. I am sorry for my wrong choice of forum. With 0 warning points, I suppose it was borderline anyways :).

 

DO NOT FOLLOW THE LINKS POSTED IN THIS COMMENT, UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

 

The links posted below is merely kept in for educational purposes. I accessed them though a virtual machine without access to the rest of my system. There does not appear to be any vira or similar attached to the website, but be careful! I take no responsibility for the contents of the websites!

 

A little update. I just received a text message on my alternative phone number (after adding it to the Locked Phone message along with a finders reward) with the following text:

 

Quote

iPhone 8 64GB related to [my name] has been located in Barcelona 06:07 pm on December 2, 2017. View location at http://apple.com.vtf1.pw/?location=a6527 Apple Support

 

And a few minutes later (notice the exact same link...):

Quote

iPhone 8 64GB related to [my name] has been located in Barcelona 06:10 pm on December 2, 2017. View location at http://apple.com.vtf1.pw/?location=a6527 Apple Support

 

In my curiosity i had to follow the link. From looking at the url (vtf1.pw) it is obviously phishing, but my account has 2-factor authentication enabled, and Apple shows the location of 2-factor authentication attempts, so i thought i might just try to see what happened. And sure enough, instantly this popped up on my Mac:

 

And it seems that bigjohnthescot was right when he said:

7 hours ago, bigjohnthescot said:

there is a HUGE secondary mkt in russia believe it or not plus they are wipeable and can be used as throwaways

 

Someone in Moscow is already attempting to unlock my phone. Of course i did not allow him to, but i found it interesting that in less than 24 hours, it has already been sold off and someone is trying to access it. I wonder how many people falls into this trap. The website is an exact replica of the real iCloud website, and it appears to be secure and properly signed.

 

Unfortunately my phone still doesen't show up in iCloud. Impressively enough they managed to turn it off and access the internet long enough for my contact information to show up, without allowing it to get its current location. I guess they were indoor in some kind of insulated room, preventing the GPS signal from working.

[bigjohnthescot]

bet you thought I was kidding when I said russia didnt ya lol

 

[iRandomize]

17 minutes ago, bigjohnthescot said:

bet you thought I was kidding when I said russia didnt ya lol

 

 

50/50. Kind of a cliché with Russian crime - but at the same time very believable!

[bigjohnthescot]

phones are a HUGE bling factor in russia kind of like lambos and ferraris