Previous owner locked device with FindMyIphone

[mhussahmed]

I bought an Iphone 4s from someone off Gumtree and they gave me it without a factory reset. I did not mind because I was easily going to reset it when I got home. Did some shopping (considering the seller wanted to meet in the town centre) and when I got home I realised the seller had used FindMyIphone to lock the phone saying it should be returned with a mobile number. I gave it a call and he told me that he would give half my money back for the phone which is when I realised I got scammed. I called the police a few days later but realised the seller was using a temporary number which he no longer had considering I declined his offer of getting half my money for the phone. At the moment the law seems to be doing nothing about it but is there any way I can actually restore the phone so it is of any use?

 

[cdcastillo]

There isn't any way. The phone is stolen and it sounds as if the "seller" is the thief.

 

[rantor49]

Never buy a phone that has find my iPhone turned on. Or signed into iCloud. Nothing you can do to restore it without the password.

 

[mhussahmed]

There isn't any way. The phone is stolen and it sounds as if the "seller" is the thief.

I thought exactly that. The seller sold the phone and gave it to me and when I connected it to wifi, it locked. I decided to call the number which came up on the screen and it belonged to the seller who didn't really care that I kept the phone. He clearly wanted my a bit of my money and hence said he would only give me half. Most likely he would've done this scam again using the same phone if I did give it back to him. Also that number was no longer active within a matter of 5 days because I tried calling him back even thought I denied his deal of giving me half the money back.

I don't mind resetting this because there was nothing really on it but just wanted to know if there is any way out of the lock. Thank you though.

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes - there is a way
Step 1 - get the seller to remove the iPhone from FindMyiPhone.

Good luck on step 1.
There have been multiple threads about using (stolen) or scammed iphones. They all end up the same.

live and learn.

 

[Applejuiced]

There's no way around it.
Expensive lesson but at least you know now.
Find my iPhone activation lock has been around for years.
People should start doing their homework before getting stuck with a useless device.

 

[JoeyD74]

You should have agreed to meet him to give him the money. I'm not saying I would give him the money though.
Hopefully the next person they try this scam on beats the crap out of them and robs them

 

[bluemason]

Agree to meet him, call the police to arrest him for extortion and fraud, and meet the "seller" in a public location.

 

[DeltaMac]

OP says that the seller's contact number is now disconnected/dead/gone/
There's not much the OP can do now, except move on, and try to avoid the same mistake next time.

 

[bluemason]

..depending on how long ago it was, the phone # was assigned and can be traced back; the provider (app/cell) will have a log - that's the police's job to figure out from there...

 

[HEK]

Stop buying these stolen phones. Buy phone from Apple or carrier, or real store. Can't afford it, wait and save. Can you afford to buy an expensive brick. Too many chances of being cheated, or blocked, or issues like people stop paying their installments payment after the fact. And yes I know lots of people sell phone honestly. But how do you know unless you know the person.

 

[BeeGood]

Stop buying these stolen phones. Buy phone from Apple or carrier, or real store. Can't afford it, wait and save. Can you afford to buy an expensive brick. Too many chances of being cheated, or blocked, or issues like people stop paying their installments payment after the fact. And yes I know lots of people sell phone honestly. But how do you know unless you know the person.

Well....I don't think there is a need to blow up the entire secondary market for iPhones just because some sellers are crooks. People just need to purchase through a legit intermediary like eBay or swappa (who offer guarantees/protection) or buy from an established re-seller like gazelle or a local shop (that can be sued if they try to scam you).

This "meet-a-random-stranger-in-the-street-and-hand-over-cash" business is what's problematic, and like others have said, even that can be done reasonably safely if you take a few extra precautions.

 

[VertPin]

Hope the seller isn't a thief and trying to scam you...

The only upside I can see out of this is that it was a 4S, and not a lot of money could have been wasted. If it were a 5S/6 series/6S series...man that would suck.