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Things the guys who stole my phone have texted me to try to get me to unlock it - Gothamist (gothamist.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

207 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This is a very entertaining and educational article, giving insights into the methods used by thiefs to try and get access to your phone data.

I don't like Apple but it's great that their security is so good when it comes to this.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 5 months ago (18 children)

I’m confused, in the article he said it was a brick to whoever has his stolen phone. How did they get his phone number to send him text messages? Did they crack the passcode and needed the iCloud password?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The phone itself (by IMEI) is a brick. The sim and same phone number were assigned to a new phone and they texted that number

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Issue here is the iPhone 14 USA models are all e-Sim. They don't have sim cards to remove. The article says it was a iPhone 14 Pro.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Typically if you report the phone stolen to your provider they blacklist the IMEI which gets shared with other providers so the phone can no longer be used. I was unclear on this part but a new e-sim can be provided for the new phone, and the old sim banned or the old one transferred. Regardless, the old phone will still show the IMEI/sim/phone number, which is how they got that to text them

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

IMEI doesn't mean shit, you can easily change it and no one really blacklists them. The iPhone is bricked on a hardware level through iCloud.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

So they took the SIM card out and got the phone number from that? I guess I didn’t realize you could do that.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Yes, it's the SIM card that carries your number and may also carry data on your contacts if you save it there.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

They almost definitely got this info by simply having the IMEI, which is printed on the back and can definitely be accessed in whatever Apple calls their service mode though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

And has had a PIN lock from the start. Doesn't help if you leave it as 1234, though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How would you set that pin on a SIM card in an iPhone?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

On iOS:

Settings > cellular > SIM PIN

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Very welcome. Glad to help.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

True, although this option loses popularity over the years.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

And you can use that phone number to find their full name and address.

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