Tracked a stolen iPhone 4 tonight!

[spirez]

Basically a phone and wallet got stolen last week from the gym I work at but it was only a little old s**tter so we had no way of finding it.

There was, however, someone that we suspected as being a bit suspicious.

Anyway, this week an iPhone 4 went missing at the same time/location and the same kid was looking a little bit suspicious. Unfortunately we didn't catch him in the act so couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't until after he'd left that the guy realised his phone/wallet had been stolen.

Anyway, the moron was stupid enough to leave it switched on so we loaded up find my iPhone and low and behold, we tracked the device to within 50ft of his home address!

Last I heard was that the police were going round there last night so I'm heading off to work now to see if they caught the little b*****d and found the phone. In either case, we're gonna kick the little f**ker out of the club this morning so I'm heading off now to join the fun

I'm sure everyone here does anyway, but if not. Make sure you use this feature!

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Good work MacGyver !

 

[welshname]

top feature, my friend left his in a taxi, so we phoned the taxi company to get in touch with the driver the driver was on the radio at the same time saying he couldnt see any phone in the back, so the taxi company asked him to get out and check.

we heard him get out open the rear door shuffle about and go "no nothing here"

so we logged into find my iphone, found where he was and asked him what street he was on. he confirmed the same as us. we didnt tell him at this point but instead sent a message to the phone via the app which makes a lound noise even if the phone is on silent. sure enough, we heard it crystal clear. he tried to pretend it was his phone going off, so we sent him one again and it went off again.

needless to say we got that phone back!

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Nice one mate, last thing you want when you go to gym is some little sh!thead nicking your stuff.

Hit one finger per item stolen with a dumb bell. That mite teach him a lesson. Although he will more than likely join another gym and carry on taking things that don't belong to him :dapprove:

 

[DB.]

What app is this?

 

[Kane.]

Don't they have lockers at th gym ?

 

[welshname]

What app is this?

FIND MY IPHONE. its a free service. you leave the app on your mobile and you can log in from anywhere online to track it.

 

[spirez]

Yeah it's through www.me.com

Unfortunately we don't have lockers yet. It's a new gym/martial arts centre we've recently opened. Our club has been running for 8 years or so and this was the first time anything like this had happened after this dodgy new family turned up.

Anyway, the police didn't get in touch last night so the kid unwittingly turned up at the gym this morning and we collared him.

We managed to get him to admit taking the phone after 5 minutes when we showed him the screenshots of the location map. Funnily enough he said he found it on the floor so just put it in his bag and went home. Even though the phone and wallet were in a zipped pocket.

Anyway, after an hour or so of calling his bluff saying we had CCTV proof of the wallet being taken, he owned up to both the iphone and wallet taken this week, and the phone and wallet taken last week too.

He came out with a right classic when we asked him why he took them and why he buys and sells phones...

"Erm, well i do have in interest in technology..."

It was hard to remain professional at this point, we couldn't hold back the laughter!

 

[Revels]

Stealing stuff from people who attend a martial arts centre is a pretty smart thing to do.

 

[SC03OTT]

Maybe the thief is the only black belt who goes.

 

[Knuckles]

Just installed this app, it does have to be on your phone already doesnt it? My mate lost hers a few weeks ago but I'm guessing there's nothing we can do now?

 

[Beef-Mc]

Just downloaded this the now, pretty accurate stuff.

 

[welshname]

yeah unfortunatley the app must be installed on the phone prior to it going missing.

 

[Knuckles]

Thought so, oh well, I think it's insured anyway :dapprove:

 

[spirez]

No it doesn't have to be on the phone as far as I know. I didnt put it on my phone til last night but I've always been able to track it through me.com. You just need to register there with your apple ID.

The app is just so that you can sign in to the service through another phone

 

[C.J]

Just added these settings to my iPhone and iPad.

I've not installed any app, so if a thief did get hold of it, they wouldn't suspect I could track them.

The 'Lock' and 'Wipe' feature is a nice touch.

 

[cava83]

How did you manage that? I tried doing it like this, didnt work.

I had to install the application, log in as me, then go online and activate it ... ?

No it doesn't have to be on the phone as far as I know. I didnt put it on my phone til last night but I've always been able to track it through me.com. You just need to register there with your apple ID.

The app is just so that you can sign in to the service through another phone

 

[MK3 Dan]

How did you manage that? I tried doing it like this, didnt work.

I had to install the application, log in as me, then go online and activate it ... ?

You just go into settings, mail/contacts/calendars and set up new account, click mobile me and enter your apple id

 

[cava83]

Thanks MK3 Dan, therefore you still need to make the changes before trying to track it

G.

 

[Adam.]

He takes an interest in technology....obviously not that much if he knows how easy it is to locate stolen gear like that LOL.


On another note, anyone who wants this on a BlackBerry then check out the BlackBerry Protect software.

 

[Lozza-p]

I've got this set up for my phone not got the app on the phone though. Works well as I couldn't find my phone one night thinking ahh FOOK I've lost my phone logged in and tracked it to my tool box at work.

 

[Rhino172]

You just go into settings, mail/contacts/calendars and set up new account, click mobile me and enter your apple id

ta! Just done mine and tried it out, works a treat.

God knows why but I thought you had to pay for this service?!? Will be doing the same on the other halfs phone and the ipad later...

 

[spirez]

You did have to subscrive to mobileme for this to work until recently.