GF son found an iphone 5s. What to do?

[luv2liv]

no sim because it's on Verizon/sprint right? afaik, cdma phones never have a sim. i dont have an iphone from verizon/sprint to confirm this

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

no sim because it's on Verizon/sprint right? afaik, cdma phones never have a sim. i dont have an iphone from verizon/sprint to confirm this

VZW iPhones come with a VZW SIM. It's needed for LTE.

 

[GoSharks]

No SIM isn't that odd - when traveling internationally I take my SIM out so I don't have to operate in airplane mode. There is no GPS when you are in airplane mode.

 

[cheezy321]

I would bring it to the apple store. if its registered they can mail it back to the owner IIRC

 

[ImDonly1]

Also try this:
http://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/1lm5to/lpt_if_you_find_a_lost_and_locked_iphone_4s_or/

Hold down home button to get siri

using Siri and saying "Call mom". She was then able to arrange for me to return the phone. You could also try other family members, spouses, or things like 'boy/girlfriend' or 'my boss'. I haven't used those, but I'm sure they'd work for some people.

or

Just for fun, I locked my phone and asked Siri "Who's phone is this" and it pulled up my contact with my phone #'s and e-mail address. So that may work too.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I hardly think a NYC cab will do the right thing. I'll give apple a buzz.

Meh. I fell asleep on my ride to JFK with my phone and wallet on my lap. In my groggy stupor I got out of the cab and left my phone and wallet there. The guy ran into the terminal to find me and give me my phone and wallet back. French African dude. Nice guy.

 

[styrafoam]

If apple winds up being a dead end you might try calling the lost and found at the airport and see if anyone came looking for it.

 

[nOOky]

Call 911 with it from outside a coffee shop. When the operator answers tell them a dirty joke and curse their mother. When they demand to know who you are retort back "why don't you tell me smarty" and then if they don't, they'll at least be able to find you. Threaten to stab a random person in the liver, and hang up.

Then, if you can, take a picture of your rear end, set it as the wallpaper, and leave the phone sitting there in a potted plant and walk away.

 

[5150Joker]

There's no sim and no way to determine who owns it so just keep it.

 

[foghorn67]

Half this thread is reading comprehension fail. Like, big time fail.

 

[pm]

One time about 5 years ago, I found a Blackberry in a melting snowbank. I cleaned it up, and the battery was shot, so I removed it and then used alligator clips and a power supply to power up the phone. It didn't have service but it wasn't locked so I looked through the contacts, and through a bit of guesswork, I found the owners desk number in there. So I called his desk, told him that I found his phone, and we met up and he took it, said thanks, stuck it in his pocket and then walked off. It was a bit of a let down after all the detective work that I did to find him but it worked out in the end.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Call 911 with it from outside a coffee shop. When the operator answers tell them a dirty joke and curse their mother. When they demand to know who you are retort back "why don't you tell me smarty" and then if they don't, they'll at least be able to find you. Threaten to stab a random person in the liver, and hang up.

Then, if you can, take a picture of your rear end, set it as the wallpaper, and leave the phone sitting there in a potted plant and walk away.

So, you're like 12, right?

 

[RampantAndroid]

My girlfriends son found an iphone 5s in a cab coming from the airport. He didnt give it to the cab driver thinking the owner will never find it. He gave it to me to see what I can do. The phone is in airplane mode and is locked with the touch ID and a password and is in another language similar to spanish. (Portuguese?) So, I dont know what carrier it is on as there is no sim. I can put in DFU and restore but the owner will lose what ever info. I tracked the IMEI # to GSM and HSDPA but doesnt tell me any carrier so I am going to assume its an international model. So, do I take it to apple and trust them to find the original owner or do I reactivate it and hope the user has find my iphone and try notifying me without having me arrested on the assumption i took his/her phone. the IMEI/ESN comes up clean for now so maybe they havent reported it yet. What to do?

Can't you use ios7's quick settings panel to turn airplane mode off? Maybe they put out the find my phone stuff with info, and it just needs a data connection?

 

[cheezy321]

Did we get syringered? OP are you going to tell us what you did and if it did or did not work?

 

[Oyeve]

Did we get syringered? OP are you going to tell us what you did and if it did or did not work?

I shipped to airports L&F. Local precinct literally told me to just keep it, I didnt bother with apple because I didnt feel like making an appointment with some "genius" and waiting around for an hour or 2.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I shipped to airports L&F. Local precinct literally told me to just keep it, I didnt bother with apple because I didnt feel like making an appointment with some "genius" and waiting around for an hour or 2.

If you just walk in and grab a sales rep and say "find the owner of this phone" they'll just do it...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Just keep it

 

[Oyeve]

If you just walk in and grab a sales rep and say "find the owner of this phone" they'll just do it...

Mayhaps, but I deplore going to the apple store. Let the airport deal with it. I invested too much of my time trying to do the right thing.

 

[Oyeve]

Just keep it

Why? I do not need it as i already have several phones and my Note 3 and job supplied iphone 5 are more than enough. And i just dont feel comfortable selling it as that will somehow bite me on the ass.

 

[Red Storm]

You had a number of options, and I'm glad you picked one of the right ones instead of just keeping it. :thumbsup:

 

[bradly1101]

My girlfriends son found an iphone 5s in a cab coming from the airport. He didnt give it to the cab driver thinking the owner will never find it. He gave it to me to see what I can do. The phone is in airplane mode and is locked with the touch ID and a password and is in another language similar to spanish. (Portuguese?) So, I dont know what carrier it is on as there is no sim. I can put in DFU and restore but the owner will lose what ever info. I tracked the IMEI # to GSM and HSDPA but doesnt tell me any carrier so I am going to assume its an international model. So, do I take it to apple and trust them to find the original owner or do I reactivate it and hope the user has find my iphone and try notifying me without having me arrested on the assumption i took his/her phone. the IMEI/ESN comes up clean for now so maybe they havent reported it yet. What to do?

I found an iPhone 5 in the street right after they first came out. It was ATT so I took it to the ATT store, they wanted my phone number. A couple of months later they called to say they found my iPhone. I told them it was me who turned it in. They didn't seem set up to provide this service.

I looked all over the web to find some sort of lost and found. They (Apple, carrier) want to make it difficult to return, so they can sell another phone.

 

[cheezy321]

Mayhaps, but I deplore going to the apple store. Let the airport deal with it. I invested too much of my time trying to do the right thing.

Of course your irrational hate of apple kept you from doing the most logical thing.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Mayhaps, but I deplore going to the apple store. Let the airport deal with it. I invested too much of my time trying to do the right thing.

Fair enough...but that's kinda irrational.

 

[nOOky]

So, you're like 12, right?

Oh my, you are so mature. I bet you're so uptight, that if we feed you a lump of coal you'll shit out a diamond.
It must suck being you, no sense of humor at all, even on a Friday. Lighten up Francis.

 

[Oyeve]

Of course your irrational hate of apple kept you from doing the most logical thing.

My irrational hate for a NYC apple store is means enough.