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bhimpele

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2008
91
0
I've been having a debate with my friend who lost his iPhone 3G. He lost it a few weeks after getting it and had it replaced by AMEX. He thinks that if he now finds it, that he can sell it. Is an iPhone that has been reported as lost/stolen able to be sold? I just can't imagine that Apple/AT&T would allow for it to be reactivated.
 
I've been having a debate with my friend who lost his iPhone 3G. He lost it a few weeks after getting it and had it replaced by AMEX. He thinks that if he now finds it, that he can sell it. Is an iPhone that has been reported as lost/stolen able to be sold? I just can't imagine that Apple/AT&T would allow for it to be reactivated.

Edit: I'm not intelligent. He would be committing theft/fraud he sold it and did not tell AMEX, as AMEX believes the item is lost/stolen. He should call AMEX or should have read the policy that I'm sure they have covered before.
 
Your friend should turn it into the police as he is (unless you live somewhere with special "finders keepers" rules) committing theft.

You need to learn how to analyze written media. He is saying that he reported HIS iPhone stolen so got it replaced by AMEX. If he was then to find HIS iPhone that got stolen then he is wondering if he could sell HIS iPhone.

*Insert Face Palm Please*

--

To the OP. If the IMEI number is on record as being stolen with AT&T then it'll most likely throw up a red flag if someone tries to activate it. Just a guess though.
 
You need to learn how to analyze written media. He is saying that he reported HIS iPhone stolen so got it replaced by AMEX. If he was then to find HIS iPhone that got stolen then he is wondering if he could sell HIS iPhone.

*Insert Face Palm Please*

--

To the OP. If the IMEI number is on record as being stolen with AT&T then it'll most likely throw up a red flag if someone tries to activate it. Just a guess though.

and when it does - he either jeopardizes the new owner with legal hassles - or he, himself with insurance fraud when the new owner shows that it was legally sold to him
 
Your friend should turn it into the police as he is (unless you live somewhere with special "finders keepers" rules) committing theft.

Why in the world would he do that? What are the police going to do with an iphone?

Im not saying he should sell it or anything, but it would be dumb to give it to the police...
 
If your friend thought it was that easy to find his lost iPhone in the first place why make the claim with AMEX?
:confused:
 
Why in the world would he do that? What are the police going to do with an iphone?

Im not saying he should sell it or anything, but it would be dumb to give it to the police...

I believe its best if he a) does nothing with it b) contacts AMEX who replaced the phone and notify them it's been found and ask what he needs to do. They might tell him to keep both phones, send one back, or whatever. AMEX is the one who paid out on the replacement - it's THEIR decision what to do - not your friends
 
Wow, I'm pretty sure he was defending you ... and that's how you thank him? BTW: Changing S's to Dollar Signs isn't censoring.

On topic: You're absolutley correct that he shouldn't sell it. thegoldenmackid is absolutely correct that it would be considered theft.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPod touch 32GB: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

If AMEX or any insurance company pays out on a lost phone which is subsequently found, it legally beli gs to them. Selling it if he found it would be classified as either insurance fraud or theft
 
It's no different then telling your insurance company that your car got stolen, collecting for it, then selling it. It LEGALLY belongs to the INSURANCE CO to do with it what they want. Amex doesn't insure the phone, there is an insurance company that does it for them.

Sounds to me like he's, I mean "his friend," is planning on conveniently "losing" it then "finding" it again and wants to see what the ramifications are before doing so.

Nahhhh, he wouldn't do that. :rolleyes:
 
Actually, on most of their cards cell phones are excluded (they have an xx days from purchase feature on their cards that covers you from loss or damage of your purchase). I'd like to know which card he has or maybe he isn't aware it may not be covered when he does his dastardly deed.
isnt AMEX American Express?? They replace iPhones?
 
no problem...

I forwarded the thread to Amex's fraud unit and they said they have the IP information and have tracked it down.

So all they have to do now is await the fraudulent request. :cool:

My cousin works there and he says people try this all the time.
 
I forwarded the thread to Amex's fraud unit and they said they have the IP information and have tracked it down.

So all they have to do now is await the fraudulent request. :cool:

My cousin works there and he says people try this all the time.

Yea right lol.
 
I've been having a debate with my friend who lost his iPhone 3G. He lost it a few weeks after getting it and had it replaced by AMEX. He thinks that if he now finds it, that he can sell it. Is an iPhone that has been reported as lost/stolen able to be sold? I just can't imagine that Apple/AT&T would allow for it to be reactivated.

Ethics just isn't a forte of this particular friend, is it? He should run for Congress. He'd fit right in.
 
You need to learn how to analyze written media. He is saying that he reported HIS iPhone stolen so got it replaced by AMEX. If he was then to find HIS iPhone that got stolen then he is wondering if he could sell HIS iPhone.

*Insert Face Palm Please*

--

To the OP. If the IMEI number is on record as being stolen with AT&T then it'll most likely throw up a red flag if someone tries to activate it. Just a guess though.

For the 100th time, no this is NOT the case and never will be the case.

They could care less about red flags and IMEI's.
 
I think that if in good faith he actually found the phone after he got reimbursed for it, he can call AmEx and let them know that he had found it. There is a likelihood that they have already written it off in which case he would be able to sell it, but if he doesn't tell AmEx that he found it, he would be committing a fraud and it might cause a problem for whoever buys it.
 
My friend found an IPhone earlier this year and was told by AT&T if no one claimed it within 30 days, he could keep it. We sold it a couple of months later and are finding out quite the contrary. It makes me wonder why AT&T transferred his number to it and why 8 months have gone by before anything is done.
 
You need to learn how to analyze written media. He is saying that he reported HIS iPhone stolen so got it replaced by AMEX. If he was then to find HIS iPhone that got stolen then he is wondering if he could sell HIS iPhone.

Once AMEX pays out on his claim, it is not his phone any more. It belongs to AMEX, and if he finds it and sells it without first reporting it to AMEX and getting permission, he is committing a crime. Period.
 
I just went through the claims process with AMEX, for my damaged iPhone. It's my understanding they don't cover lost items, only damaged or stolen. If stolen you need to send them a security or police report. If damaged they typically want you to send them the damaged item. With the iPhone, to get the $199 out of warranty replacement from Apple, I had to give the damaged phone to Apple. AMEX wanted from me something in writing that the phone had been turned over to Apple. How did your friend get AMEX to cover his lost phone?
 
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