Found iPhone.

Submitted by dahlialaurier t3_122f0ue in iphone

EDIT: Good news!!!! Thanks to the help of some of your comments, I found the owner!!!!! They actually live near and not in Tennessee (but did lose it at a hotel)!!! They will come pick it up today!!! They were very happy to hear that it's been found because they thought someone close to them stole it, so hopefully a little hope in humanity was restored and a relationship was fixed. The thing that worked was putting the SIMcard into my phone, then I went into my settings and saw their phone number. Also, I put my SIMcard into their phone and it automatically popped up a "Lost iPhone" message with a number, which it's never done before, so I guess it had to be connected to service in order to do that. Thank you so, so much to all that helped!! Also, some of your comments were so rude for no reason. You should really consider being kinder and trying to help, instead of writing mean things. Kindness and compassion are free and can be used in most situations. Also, there is never an expiration date on doing the right thing. It took me a year, but I did it with the help of some great advice from folks on here. Thank you to all that helped!

Original Post Hey all.I found an iphone a year ago and it's been sitting on my desk. It's locked with a passcode and I can't open it to check for a number to call. When I first found it, I checked that it had and AT&T simcard in it, so I went to their store and even called their customer support line, but both the store and the call centre told me that they cannot look into the account of the SIMcard holder. I told them that I don't need to know any information and if they can just look at it for themselves and contact the owner, but they said they can't do that. I then called apple support hoping that they would be able to contact the owner, but they told me just to give it to local police station. This phone was found at a a hotel in Oregon, but the original owners are probably in Tennessee as per the hotel's guess, so local police would do nothing. So I just left it at that, but recently I thought about trying to bypass the passcode, but it seems that the only options of doing that involve fully erasing the memory, but I can't do that because then all the numbers will be erased. Does anybody know what can be done? My goal is to either have AT&T or Apple call/email the customer themselves or for me to open the phone by bypassing the passcode to find a number to contact (something like "Mom" or "Dad") and let them know that I have this phone. Thank you all in advance.

EDIT: I tried connecting it to my macbook, hoping to get a name through iTunes, but the phone says that I have to first put in the passcode for it to be recognizable by the computer.

https://preview.redd.it/esr69sfqh1qa1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=cde7bff955b156294b01891fb2a41c58ae5d05a0

https://preview.redd.it/0p8bsvfqh1qa1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=538670b69b1c156d6f4c45a41b46fe8e45b17ee1

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Comments

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expertmysteryshopper t1_jdq3q9i wrote

dude . put sim card in another phone to find out phone number , type phone number search engine , i will bet a billion dollar , you can find the owner because these carriers data breaches ,

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Chains0 t1_jdqd2de wrote

Maybe you could also just call the number as the owner probably ordered a new SIM for the same number

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mredofcourse t1_jdq7dty wrote

Hold down the large button on the right side while also holding down the top button on the left side. Slide from left to right on the "Medical ID" if it pops up on the display. Hopefully that should have their name and an emergency contact if they set it up.

Also try taking the case off and see if there's any information on the inside.

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pimparoo25 t1_jdqjde6 wrote

This is the answer OP.

You can also get the medical ID up by clicking the power button 5 times.

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdrp58v wrote

Thank you for the suggestions, I just tried them, but unfortunately neither came up fruitful. Thank you though.

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Riptide360 t1_jdq0v0w wrote

A year ago? They’ve moved on. Drop it off for ewaste recycling.

https://www.oregon.gov/deq/ecycles/pages/default.aspx

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YT_SW1Z t1_jdq1mm9 wrote

Personally I disagree. The device could be used as parts for another iPhone 12 pro / pro max. Also the device could be wiped remotely and iCloud removed so OP can use it. Yeah its environmentally friendly to dispose of it but I disagree.

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdq2jym wrote

I would like to find the owner. Iphones are expensive and not everyone can just get something new whenever they want. I want to find the original owner so that if they paid a lot of money for this phone they could at least sell it and get their money back.

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Frosty_Office6298 t1_jdqimjt wrote

You missed your window of opportunity. You use the voice control to "call mom" and go from there. I've done this before. A lot less you can do now that there's no cell service.

It kinda sounds like you just found a phone and then stashed it away for no reason.

It's not your responsibility to track down the owner but just stashing it away was like the worst thing you could do...

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdrnmoy wrote

Y'all didn't pass the vibe check, nor did you read my original post. I contacted everyone I could think of when I first found it. Being nice and kind doesn't cost anything, maybe you should try it.

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Frosty_Office6298 t1_jds5l29 wrote

You mishandled this. I find it hard to believe the phone didn't receive any incoming calls, but you also could have just used Siri to "call mom."

You could have checked the screen under a bright light for smudge patterns and possibly unlock it.

You could have handed it in to the local police station. A police station is probably 300 billion times easier for the owner to track down than some random person.

You could have done any number of things that would have been better than stashing it away at your private residence.

You basically stole a phone. I think you figured out you weren't gonna be able to unlock it and use it for yourself, so nowww you're trying to "do the right thing."

Try being nice? I have nothing nice to say. You made a public post. These are my thoughts.

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expertmysteryshopper t1_jdq3t4p wrote

dude connect to internet the phone, and phone will receive the command from owner to erase data

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mozzamo t1_jdq0xgq wrote

Try invoking Siri by saying “hey siri” then something like “text mum” to send a text message via voice

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highnrgy t1_jdq1p1r wrote

Does it work when it’s locked?

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mozzamo t1_jdq20qk wrote

Yep unless the person has disabled it which is usually unlikely

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdq2w6c wrote

Thank you for the suggestion. I just tried it and this is what it showed on the screen and nothing happened. I'm an Android user, maybe I did it wrong? Do I press any buttons? Also, I just realized, it's not connected to Wifi or any service provider, it wouldn't be able to text anyone.

https://preview.redd.it/mpp2mh4p53qa1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=6b3228eac6961e7d3f08671a1de4b757c4a983b6

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mozzamo t1_jdq365m wrote

Tap that notification

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdq3icw wrote

I did, unfortunately nothing happens. And I slid it to the left and VIEW/CANCEL buttons showed up, I clicked on view and nothing happens.

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mozzamo t1_jdq8v9j wrote

Just spotted that it’s offline, you may need to pop your sim in briefly and connect to 4G/5G

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdsbacn wrote

Thank you for the advice! I found the owner! I did an edit to my original post with more details:) Thanks!

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expertmysteryshopper t1_jdq44vi wrote

dude iphone has face id so if u turn on cell phone 10 times , the phone will turn on "activation lock "because 10 wrong facial recognization attempts.

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Solgrund t1_jdrd6cv wrote

A but if a catch 22 at this point.

Right now your best option is to pull that phones SIM card and toss it in a android phone and see if you can get the number off it and call that number.

Or you can try to out your sim in it and see if Siri voice dial for call mom/dad/spouse/husband/wife will work but if they sent a erase command giving it internet connection might invoke said erase command.

Alternatively if they enabled lock with a message giving it internet might cause their message if “If lost return to …” to pop up.

Or just take it back to a ATT stir and explain again what happened. This time don’t ask them to look into it simply say you want to help get it back to the owners and are leaving it with them. Set it down and walk out.

Once it’s theirs and your gone a manager MIGHT try to look into it before they toss it.

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdroqj3 wrote

Thank you so much! These are all great ideas. I'll do the SIMcard switch with my phone a bit later today and hopefully it works! And if not, I'll give ATT another try. Thank you.

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdsbnwc wrote

It worked!!!! Thank you so much for the advice!!!!! I found the owner, they were very happy! I edited my original post with a more detailed explanation! Thank you again for taking the time to write a detailed explanation/advice, I really appreciate it!

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[deleted] t1_jdqwihy wrote

[deleted]

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dahlialaurier OP t1_jdrodps wrote

I literally said when I found it I went to AT&T and even called them and called Apple. And I didn't know the phone could do that "call mom" and Apple didn't tell me to try that. Instead of nitpicking how I tried my best to help, you could actually just not say anything. As I said to another commenter, kindness doesn't cost anything, and neither does compassion, you should try it sometime.

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Worried-Image-501 t1_jdsxxny wrote

Can’t believe that people really said to just either blank of and keep it or get rid of it.

Good thing you stuck it through and found the owner.

My iCloud is full so if this was me, I would be over the moon. I would have lost sooo many pictures and memories as that’s all the pictures I have in there lol

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HarryBalsaque t1_jdqz31i wrote

Not a helpful comment, but man that pacific blue colour was great

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rpaulmerrell t1_jdrwn19 wrote

Willing to make about the phones blacklisted. If they’ve got insurance, they’re going to require that that phone be blacklisted for the customer to get a new device.

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XxCOZxX t1_jds6eh9 wrote

Bro… it’s been a year and they’ve got a new phone.

You’ve done your best. It may be time to test its drop resistance 🫣

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Professional-Duck964 t1_jds8jni wrote

You should have left it at the front desk of the hotel. That's the obvious thing to do.

The title of this post should be "I tried to steal this phone a year ago but realized I wasn't going to be able to unlock it. What do now?"

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AlittleOnTheNose1 t1_jdqtqkk wrote

Call 911. They will call you back and then you can ask for the number and maybe trace it that way. I don’t actually recommend doing that but it’s all I can think of. Not sure what number 911 would call back if it didn’t have a valid SIM card though

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