For 3 years, a user has been observing how his stolen phone travels

A player loses his phone during vacation. Later, it appears at the other end of the world and regularly gets in touch with him. He shares the story of his phone that is traveling the world with the community.

This is what the user reports: The user reports on Reddit that his phone was stolen from him three years ago during his vacation in Barcelona (Spain). But the story does not end there. His phone reappears 8,500 kilometers away in China and gets in touch with him once a week. And this has been going on for three years now. He explained that he has been monitoring his phone as it travels around China.

For the person who bought the stolen iPhone, there is still a catch. The person cannot really use the device, which is due to Apple.

Apple’s “Lost” mode makes stolen iPhone unusable

Here’s what’s behind it: As long as the owner does not “liberate” the device from their Apple account, it is unusable for other people. This is due to the “Lost” mode that Apple offers on its devices. Apple states about this:

When the managed mode “Lost” is activated, the current users are logged out and the device cannot be unlocked. A message appears on the screen, which can be customized by the administrator.

For the thief or the person who later buys the stolen device, the phone remains unusable until the actual owner unlocks it.

Many users in the community warn against being pressured by thieves. A common tactic is to threaten the owner by claiming to have their private data: Even if strangers pressure you and threaten that they have your data on the phone, under no circumstances should you release your device. The possible thieves have no access to your data nor to the iPhone itself. Only when you release the device.

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Another user also had his phone stolen after he sent it for repair to an eBay dealer. The thief broke into the dealer’s mailbox and stole the device. However, the thief made a mistake: he took the iPhone to a repair shop that helped the real owner get his phone back: A user gets his stolen iPhone back because the thief took it for repair