If your iPhone is stolen, don’t fall for this thieves’ deception

Thanks to the Activation Lock functionality, your devices are locked so that they can only be used with your Apple ID. This forces thieves to resorting to ever more ingenious ways to make the device usable (and salable) again.

As it is well known, it is not enough to reset an iPhone to use it freely, since the activation lock persists. To activate the device after resetting it, you need to enter the password of the linked Apple ID.

Now the rightful owner can break the device lock by visiting www.iCloud.com/find and clicking on “Delete from account”. This makes it possible for the device to be activated again, using a different Apple ID.

A device that is not locked has much more value than one that is, so, If the thief can convince the rightful owner to remove Activation Lock, they win.

Thieves trick you into unlocking your iPhone

Locating the rightful owner of a lost or stolen iPhone isn’t difficult if the device has been put into Lost Mode. This allows the owner to leave a phone number or other contact method, so that anyone who finds the phone can return it to its rightful owner.

Thieves can send text messages like this to homeowners of lost or stolen devices:

Hello, we buy phones from different people and operator outlets. I have bought your old lost iPhone 13 Pro, it still has your emails, photos, messages and personal information. It was not deleted.

I’ve tried resetting it to erase your data, but it’s still there, so you’ll have to remove it from your device list. Open the Find My app, go to Devices, tap on the old iPhone and tap on Delete this device.

The message claiming that the iPhone has been found along with all the personal data that was on it. The goal is to convince owners that they need to wipe the device to protect this data, and to do so, they will instruct owners to remove the device from “Find My” on iCloud.com.

Tips to be prepared if your iPhone is stolen

In reality, if the device has a passcode that isn’t easy to guess, the chances of the data being available to anyone with the phone are slim. All the thieves want is for you to remove the device from your Apple account so they can use it themselves.

Although losing an iPhone is painful, Apple’s security measures are quite robust. Get in the habit of using a six-digit (or more) access code so that, in the worst case, thieves can’t use it except for spare parts.

Above all, don’t be fooled by those who try to convince you to disable Activation Lock by removing the device from your Apple ID remotely.