found iphone 4s... and?

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lexloci

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so i found an iphone 4s yesterday, it's user locked and i poked around the internet and the phone to find out it is missing its sim card/tray (empty slot on right side). before anyone suggests that i take it to apple so they can possibly find the owner, i've already read this: What to do if you find a lost iPhone | Macworld
which says that they won't be able to help. (unless someone from apple can refute that). no sim, no carrier... also, i live in a major metro - our cops have better things to do - in fact, our state law has provisions for lost goods that involve the courts, not law enforcement.

I have placed a posting on my local craigslist. while i'm awaiting response from possible owners, i'd like to know if there are other ways to reunite owner and phone? can owner still leave message/locate on phone when there's no sim? or does the phone have to be kept on? (I have been turning it on only periodically as battery is low). Siri did not work.

is there a way for me to unlock the phone without wiping all the info, so i could reach them somehow?

i'm not an iphone user, and already spent a better part of my weekend researching this device because i have lost a smartphone. still, I don't know how much more time i want to spend on this task.

other recommendations on what i should do? I have no desire to keep the phone and would prefer to locate its owner.

thanks and in advance for sincere suggestions - and if you could please use terminologies easily understood by a non-iphone/apple user, I would appreciate it.

in response to questions posed:
- I see on the back of the phone, a model number (how i figured out it's a 4s), an EMC number, a FCC number, and an IC number. any of those the serial number?
- i have a very old version of itunes (from the 1st gen vid ipod) on a very old laptop; will connection find "meid"? (whatever it is?)
 
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ModeratorOMD

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I thought you could contact Apple and if the phone is registered, you could tell thm the device number and they would be able to shoot them an email.

Have you tried talking to Siri?
 

Peligro911

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Is sim slot there but no tray in it ? If it's a 4s it will have a sim slot on right hand side in the middle .. If not this it's a iPhone 4 Verizon or sprint model

You could restore the phone in iTunes To get into the info like meid
That means you could call Verizon or sprint give then the meid and they can tell who the owner is ..

Only downfall is the personal info will be gone
Most people have backups thou

If it was my phone I would rather have it back with no data vs not have it at all


Sent Into Orbit from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk
 

Shooter03

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it's beyond me why anyone would carry a iphone with no sim in it. looks like you just scored a iphone buddy, I mean is there anyway the owner can track it with no sim??
 
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Ultra50#WP

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It can be a 4s on Verizon or Sprint PCS. Look in settings general-about-imei# Take it to a Verizon or sprint store and they should be able to track it by the imei#
 

mscreations

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Do yourself a favor. Turn it in to the local police. If the owner has lost it, most times owners will contact the police. A lot of times, they will hold the property for 30 days and then turn it back over to you as the finder. At that point it's now yours.
 
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GingerSnapsBack

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it's beyond me why anyone would carry a iphone with no sim in it. looks like you just scored a iphone buddy, I mean is there anyway the owner can track it with no sim??

Could be a CDMA phone. SIM is used for international travel.

The responsible thing to do would be to place an ad in the local paper and say you found a phone, call to ID. Must be able to unlock it or something that would show ownership of the phone.
 

lexloci

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following up, i called verizon and att - both suggested taking it to the police. i.e. they don't care either. so far no one has come fwd with matching response on craigslist. did find a friend who has another friend who works for apple. maybe this little bit of "in" will get some sort of results. otherwise, i guess it'll be part of the annual police auction.

i understand why one would keep one's phone password locked, but leave an email or something so ppl can at least send an alert when found...
 

Peligro911

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following up, i called verizon and att - both suggested taking it to the police. i.e. they don't care either. so far no one has come fwd with matching response on craigslist. did find a friend who has another friend who works for apple. maybe this little bit of "in" will get some sort of results. otherwise, i guess it'll be part of the annual police auction.

i understand why one would keep one's phone password locked, but leave an email or something so ppl can at least send an alert when found...

Honestly call me what you will if you have made every effort to get the device back to the owner there is no good turning it to the cops where it will sit
If I was you wait a month if no one comes for it .. Keep it plain and simple. If you don't need it donate it too a cause or sell it and donate the money to a cause .. I mean there is only so much you can do if I was the person who lost it I would probably already have another phone and forgot about that one ..
 

lexloci

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Honestly call me what you will if you have made every effort to get the device back to the owner there is no good turning it to the cops where it will sit
If I was you wait a month if no one comes for it .. Keep it plain and simple. If you don't need it donate it too a cause or sell it and donate the money to a cause .. I mean there is only so much you can do if I was the person who lost it I would probably already have another phone and forgot about that one ..

To get suggestions on what all I can/could do was the original intent of the post and I thank you for your input. While I'm still waiting to hear back from Apple guy and craigslist loss and found ad runs through the week, does seem like I have done all I can at this point... Oh well.
My gut agrees w you re donating the phone - my office has a cell collection bin for DV victims - that would be the simplest too for me. it may still go to the police. We'll see. :)
 

jclif

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To get suggestions on what all I can/could do was the original intent of the post and I thank you for your input. While I'm still waiting to hear back from Apple guy and craigslist loss and found ad runs through the week, does seem like I have done all I can at this point... Oh well.
My gut agrees w you re donating the phone - my office has a cell collection bin for DV victims - that would be the simplest too for me. it may still go to the police. We'll see. :)

While I think donating is a good cause, in my experience when the phones are being processed and someone finds sucha high end phone they just end up keeping it for themselves, sucks but unfortunatley thats how some people are these days
 

jburke82

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I don't know if anyone said this (or if it was mentioned in the original post), but where did you find it? Have you tried contacting the place?

This dude I know (not by choice) took an iphone accidentally, and instead of trying to find it's owner, he wanted to sell it or smash it for fun. Luckily, I was able to get it from him and reunite it with its owner.
 

Fausty82

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following up, i called verizon and att - both suggested taking it to the police. i.e. they don't care either. so far no one has come fwd with matching response on craigslist. did find a friend who has another friend who works for apple. maybe this little bit of "in" will get some sort of results. otherwise, i guess it'll be part of the annual police auction.

i understand why one would keep one's phone password locked, but leave an email or something so ppl can at least send an alert when found...

There are a couple of apps which make it pretty easy to add contact information to your lockscreen wallpaper... I just did it manually with Photoshop Elements... added the following to the lower corner of my wallpaper:

Reward for Return
<my name>
<my landline phone number>
<my email address>

Actually would be most useful in this situation... and I do keep all my iOS devices password locked.
 

lexloci

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While I think donating is a good cause, in my experience when the phones are being processed and someone finds sucha high end phone they just end up keeping it for themselves, sucks but unfortunatley thats how some people are these days

I'm not comfortable selling the phone and donating the money, and there's no guaranty it won't be misspent? Meanwhile, I sincerely doubt whoever at my office putting out the box will be intercepting the phone; and if a volunteer at the recipient org keeps it, perhaps distributive justice is still served?
 

pkcable

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I admire your effort to find the owner and your honesty in not trying to just keep the rather valuable phone. :)


I lost my BlackBerry once and the honest fellow that found it, called the mom entry (my mom) and told her he thought he had her son's BlackBerry, and could she reach me another way. She called me that night on my home phone and I was able to go back in town to the bar where he was drinking the night away, and get my precious BB back. He had been working a bar tab, which I paid off. ;) (He wouldn't accept anything from me, but I went right to the bartender)
 
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3cit

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You could always go the "no harm, no foul" route and just put it back where you found it!!
Even cosmic karma!
 
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