back to article Apple tool: Buying an iPhone in a carpark? Find out if it's STOLEN

Apple has rolled out a new service allowing buyers to check if the iPhone they're about to purchase is actually stolen. All you need to do is place the phone's IMEI or serial number into this website to be politely informed as to whether or not that dodgy bloke down the market (who generally avoids direct eye contact) has …

  1. Mike Bell

    Try opening that website on an iPhone and you'll be out of luck.

    Oops.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      If you're using the iPhone, that suggests you bought it and it's too late.

      1. Mike Bell

        No it doesn't. It suggest that you might want to use that website check the status of a specific iPhone using another iPhone. Not necessarily using the one you've just bought.

        Except that you won't be able to. Because that site doesn't work on iPhone's Safari browser.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I can see what you're trying to do here El Reg.

    But you've burnt your bridges with Apple, so no amount of brown-nosing is going to rebuild them.

    Nice try though.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I can see what you're trying to do here El Reg.

      The Reg burnt their bridges or the baby took all their toys and left?

      The Reg can still write Apple articles and get a load of commentards....

      1. messele

        Re: I can see what you're trying to do here El Reg.

        Who's the more tool-ish; the tool or the tool who follows them (or the tool who follows them)?

  3. Lionel Baden

    hmmm

    New revolutionary Tool released by Apple !!!!

    Never *before has this been available to you and Apple is proud to be a leading Innovator in your security.

    *all other sites previous to the apple site didnt actually exist your imagining it.

    really not sure why this is news worthy, its been possible for a while

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: hmmm

      Who do you think has the most complete, accurate and up to date list of stolen iPhones? Apple, or some random site you found on the net?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: hmmm

        Cashconverters.co.uk?

      2. Lionel Baden

        Re: hmmm

        Probably the police, or the phone companies.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: hmmm

          Bzzzt, wrong.

          The site isn't even a database of stolen phones. The Reg as usual has named the article poorly. It tells you if Activation Lock is enabled on the phone with the IMEI you enter. If it is, you can tell the seller "hey, can you deactivate that for a moment so I can tell you're the owner", and if not, you know they aren't.

          I suppose if it is stolen and Activation Lock hadn't been enabled you wouldn't know, but as it is enabled by default hopefully the number of people who disable it for whatever reason will be pretty small so it would be a pretty good way to tell.

          The police or phone company could tell you but only within limited circumstances. If I steal a phone in the US, are the UK police going to be able to tell you it is stolen? Will you know where it was stolen from if I ship it off to the UK and have someone fence it there? Ditto the phone companies, is a carrier in Germany going to know if a phone was stolen off Telstra's network?

  4. D@v3

    if your worried the iphone you're buying might be stolen,

    then it probably is

    1. JeffyPoooh
      Pint

      Re: if your worried...

      If my worried? What's my worried?

  5. graeme leggett Silver badge

    £2 to do the same for lesser phones

    Or in fact any phone (including iPhones) in the UK

    http://www.nmpcu.police.uk/buying/ (advice and a link to CheckMend)

    1. Ben S

      Re: £2 to do the same for lesser phones

      Knowing public body IT systems in the UK... I bet that's a worthless data set.

  6. Colin Miller

    Remote IMEI check

    How do you check the IMEI of a phone that's being flogged on fleaBay* ? You're chances of successfully getting your money back if it is dodgy is 1:infinity.

    * Other online-bazaars for hawking tat are available.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Remote IMEI check

      Ask the seller to show a screenshot of the IMEI and serial number from the phone? Its not foolproof, as they could send you a different phone, but more likely if they knew why you were asking they'd just fail to respond and you'd have your answer right there.

      If they do send you a different phone from the one they said they would, it will be pretty easy to get your money refunded by eBay. Not saying I'd recommend buying an iPhone from eBay though, you aren't likely to get much better prices there than you could get elsewhere and if you do, you have to ask yourself why that would be...

      If you think the odds of getting your money back are tiny, I guess you've never had to get eBay to refund your money when you were sold an item that doesn't work or wasn't what was described. I have, and I've had no problem getting my money back. I did lose out a bit once because i had to ship the (DOA) item back at my expense, probably because the seller thought I was trying to scam HIM. The other two times the seller clammed up after the sale and wouldn't respond, and eBay refunded my money and it didn't cost me anything other than a few minutes filling out an online form.

    2. User McUser

      Re: Remote IMEI check

      Ask them to dial *#06# and email you a picture of the resultant screen.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Remote IMEI check

        No need for *#06#, it is found in Settings -> General -> About.

    3. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Remote IMEI check

      If you paid using PayPal you'd surely get your money back pronto as they side with the buyer.

    4. JeffyPoooh
      Pint

      Re: Remote IMEI check

      I've gotten PayPal-enforced refunds of products not as described bought through eBay.

      I'm out the cost of return shipping, but the refund otherwise was 100% including the original delivery shipping fee.

  7. Mike Flex

    Duh

    "Buying an iPhone in a carpark? Find out if it's STOLEN

    Check IMEI number? Bloke said not to open box until he leaves"

    Yup, it's stolen. No need to faff around with a website.

    Cash only, no credit cards? Well, strike me down with a feather.

  8. Anonymous John

    "Bloke said not to open box until he leaves"

    Which means you don't know if someone has bent it.

    1. Lionel Baden

      Re: "Bloke said not to open box until he leaves"

      or more likely to be a potato

      1. cosymart

        Re: "Bloke said not to open box until he leaves"

        Chips, yummy.

        1. i like crisps
          Facepalm

          Re: "Bloke said not to open box until he leaves"

          More likely to be a Boxing Glove on the end of a Big spring.

    2. Craig 2
      Joke

      Re: "Bloke said not to open box until he leaves"

      The article is about bent phones, not phones that may have been bent.

  9. G R Goslin

    It's not going to work.

    Buyers are like busses. There's always another one coming along, later. Next time you see the seller, it'll be a different 'phone.

  10. Dan 55 Silver badge
    FAIL

    Fandroids converting to the iChurch in the pub carpark need not apply

    The entire iCloud website is so keen to tell you to go away if you've got an Android browser thanks to browser sniffing (even though Safari, Android Browser, and Chrome are all webkit based so the differences should be minimal) that if you check http://www.icloud.com/activationlock/ from an Android browser you get the same error message.

    Hello Apple! Think of the use cases!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fandroids converting to the iChurch in the pub carpark need not apply

      On an Android device just click menu and request desktop site. The icloud site including this part then works fine. Probably a similar option on the iPhone.

      They just don't have a mobile version of the site.

  11. Mephistro
    Devil

    Interesting...

    In a near future, we can expect to see some disgruntled IT worker obtaining most of the IMEIs of his employer's company's phones and reporting them as stolen.

    In a near future? Whom I'm kidding? It probably has happened already!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Interesting...

      This has been an option for years.

      However to do this you would have to call the network and the network would only speak to the authorised person named on the account so unlikely a disgruntled employee could do it unless they were that authorised person.

      1. Mephistro

        Re: Interesting...

        When dealing with a telco's enterprise customer support, a little bit of social engineering can do miracles. As an example, I've seen very often the CSRs bypassing the proper identification process to speed up things, especially when put under pressure from the (purported) customer.

      2. Steve I

        Re: Interesting...

        "This has been an option for years... unlikely a disgruntled employee could do it"

        So it hasn't been an option?

      3. J__M__M

        Re: Interesting...

        Well if that were even possible, which it probably isn't, it would be a trick that goes back to the beginning of time... or at least back to the invention of the serial number, whenever that was.

        Sir, are you aware this Model T you're driving has been reported stolen?

  12. Spencer Tomlinson
    Thumb Down

    Great Idea - Not Fool proof

    It's a great idea but you still have some very horrible people who will report the phone stolen within about 10 minutes of the purchase and claim on insurance etc. Either that or simply stop paying the monthly contract. A better app would be to see if the phone is still attached to a monthly contract and if that contract still has time to run.? The Apple activation lock is a one hammer to smash all phones approach, It hurts the legitimate sales as well as the illegitimate ones too.

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