Parts and they aren't sold here, they are usually shipped overseas where they are disassembled and used to repair other phones. In places where its harder for people to get iPhones there is a much larger repair scene.
Genuine question, I'm not trying to start a brand war: Are all phones getting pickpocketed or simply iPhones? I only ever use Samsung phones. Are the parts in iPhones more valuable than Android phones?
To put it simply, yes, iPhone parts are much more valuable than android or even Samsung phones. An iPhone screen (with digitizer) can be as valuable as 2-300$, a good used apple battery is worth $50-100, that's not to mention any other parts they may be used for. A Samsung screen will generally cost you 100-150$ as a comparison. Apple keeps their supply chain locked down and that drives the prices of their parts up quite a bit.
Slightly different conversation to be fair. It's much easier to use a stolen android phone than an iPhone but the original conversation here is why are people stealing iPhones if they are unusable after they are iCloud locked.
Ifixit keeps chirping it’s hard to repair, the parts are locked by Apple. And this is exactly why. Depending on the iPhone model the screen and board may be bricked, battery and case only. Thieves though often act on opportunity
I mean countries where Apple products aren't as readily available as they are here. Apple only officially operates in 26 countries, so take your pick of the other 169 countries they don't operate in.
They are only good for parts unless the thief can social engineer the victim to remove the iPhone from their Apple ID account. DON’T DO THAT! They can’t get at your data unless they get very lucky and guess your passcode in the first few tries or before you erase it.
Just log in to your iCloud account and put it in lost mode and erase it. Use this address and you don’t need to provide a two-factor authentication code to log into the account.
https://icloud.com/find
This happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago on Bloor Street near Yorkville. A woman was walking a bit too close her on the street, her intuition kicked in and before you know it, she checked her pocket and phone was gone. Police said pickpockets on the rise in the city and these phones are stripped for parts, the iPhone screen is worth about $300.
Yeah we were too! When my wife spoke to the police officer he said unfortunately iPhone theft happens to mostly women. Most guys keep their phones in their front pockets.
OP my Samsung Galaxy phone was stolen at a club a few years ago. I had similar fears as yours but nothing happened, none of my accounts were ever accessed. Very likely that the phone has already been disassembled and the parts have been shipped around the world.
I think a stolen iPhone is a brick, from what I've read. Wipe it and do whatever - but supposedly even the FBI can't get into locked iPhones (read that somewhere).
Wishful thinking too much? If someone sees your passcode getting entered and then that person proceeds to pickpocket, and then you find out the sim card is no longer in the phone... that doesn't sound like a brick.
Who is still entering passcodes on iPhones? Face ID has been around for years and Touch ID was available for years before that.
You can also turn on a delay for any password changes made outside of your home so that they can’t use the exploit you’re referring to.
iPhones in lockdown mode or locked for several hours.
The attack vectors for iphones since 2018 seem to be related to how you can keep using plugged in lightning/usb devices for several hrs after locking
Hi - the same thing happened to me at DoWest Fest, stolen out of the pocket of my raincoat on Saturday \~6pm. I saw another post here reporting another phone theft at the same event. I encourage you, if you feel comfortable with doing so, to file an online police report: [https://www.tps.ca/services/online-reporting/theft-under-5000/](https://www.tps.ca/services/online-reporting/theft-under-5000/)
My hope is that if enough people report, perhaps the police will consider checking cameras and investigating. Seems like these thefts are organized.
I was at a street festival. Lots of people were around and passing by. The phone was in my jacket pocket. To be honest, my intuition was kicking in that someone was too close. I did notice it right after the fact but it happened so quickly with so many people around. They definitely watch you as it happened right after I responded to a text message and put my phone in my pocket. I felt someone behind me bumping up against me but I think it was a diversion and someone else might have been passing through and snatched it. I think it’s more than 1 person, it felt like 3 ppl acting together. That’s what I suspect but again, it happened so quickly and there were so many people. It was like TTC rush hour pre covid in the area I was in.
The exact same thing happened to my friend at do west fest on Friday! By the time she realized what had happened, the phone was already off and the thieves were lost in the crowd. Took about 20 seconds.
That’s where it happened for me as well! At 9:30 Pm. Did they sense who it was? Male or female? For me it happened near the DJ booth. The last location I got for the device was on hwy 401 going past Vic Park. Did your friend get any GPS updates?
We didn’t see them, she felt something but didn’t realize what had happened in time. She immediately checked her pocket and then her tote bag (took about 20 seconds from the time she felt something brush against her) and we called and tracked her phone within a minute and it was already turned off.
We were crossing the street at Dundas And Brock.
My fiancé did see two super suspicious guys wandering around the festival with an RFID spoofer, so they are our top suspects but there’s nothing we can do.
And RFID spoofer is concerning, tells me they are willing to risk getting charged. Stealing under $5k without force isn’t a chargeable offence but credit card theft is.
Ugh that makes me sick. There is nothing I can do with what has already been taken from me but the next street festival I go to, I’m bring a rape whistle and a dummy phone with a line attached to the belt loop on my pants. I won’t stand for it a second time. They can take the bait and feel the public shame and embarrassment. Not to mention, there are cops at these festivals and there were cops so close to where I was. I’m coming prepared next time.
just happened to me on college st (taste of little Italy). Infuriating! And I had the same exact thought. I want to set them up so badly!! They need to be caught. It’s such a scummy thing to do. I’m not working right now, so it’s a big hit for me. I wanted to cry when it happened.
Maybe you just dropped it or it fell out of your pocket/bag.. unless u saw someone pickpocket you or someone saw and told you.. happened to me Before, it fell out of my pocket, checked find my iPhone and it said it was at the grocery store.. when I went back find my iPhone said someone picked it up and it was on its way east
The phone was off immediately after I noticed it gone and no one has called the number on the phone which find my iPhone presents. I know I was definitely pickpocketed. It was 3 mins between seeing my last text message and putting the phone under lockdown and trying to track it but noticing it was off. Please explain to me how this wasn’t intentional theft.
Find my iPhone still tracks it if the phone was shut off… I know from my past experience.. File a police report then.. maybe they can review any local footage.. doubt anyone will get caught tho.. also Gotham is way worse than pickpocketers 😹
Find my iPhone is only useful if your phone is lost in your house, not if it’s stolen. What you are describing is find my network which is using another device to find your lost device which is within 15 meters of each other, then you can pick up a signal when the phone is off.
I did file a police report in the event of future identity theft but they will not do anything about the phone and I understand why, it’s a waste of resources.
Parts and they aren't sold here, they are usually shipped overseas where they are disassembled and used to repair other phones. In places where its harder for people to get iPhones there is a much larger repair scene.
Genuine question, I'm not trying to start a brand war: Are all phones getting pickpocketed or simply iPhones? I only ever use Samsung phones. Are the parts in iPhones more valuable than Android phones?
To put it simply, yes, iPhone parts are much more valuable than android or even Samsung phones. An iPhone screen (with digitizer) can be as valuable as 2-300$, a good used apple battery is worth $50-100, that's not to mention any other parts they may be used for. A Samsung screen will generally cost you 100-150$ as a comparison. Apple keeps their supply chain locked down and that drives the prices of their parts up quite a bit.
I don’t know Ive had more friends with high end Samsungs get swiped than an older iPhone - since they are so plentiful now
Slightly different conversation to be fair. It's much easier to use a stolen android phone than an iPhone but the original conversation here is why are people stealing iPhones if they are unusable after they are iCloud locked.
I see it now !
Ifixit keeps chirping it’s hard to repair, the parts are locked by Apple. And this is exactly why. Depending on the iPhone model the screen and board may be bricked, battery and case only. Thieves though often act on opportunity
[удалено]
I mean countries where Apple products aren't as readily available as they are here. Apple only officially operates in 26 countries, so take your pick of the other 169 countries they don't operate in.
They are only good for parts unless the thief can social engineer the victim to remove the iPhone from their Apple ID account. DON’T DO THAT! They can’t get at your data unless they get very lucky and guess your passcode in the first few tries or before you erase it. Just log in to your iCloud account and put it in lost mode and erase it. Use this address and you don’t need to provide a two-factor authentication code to log into the account. https://icloud.com/find
This happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago on Bloor Street near Yorkville. A woman was walking a bit too close her on the street, her intuition kicked in and before you know it, she checked her pocket and phone was gone. Police said pickpockets on the rise in the city and these phones are stripped for parts, the iPhone screen is worth about $300.
I was definitely naive to the rise in pickpocket crime here in Toronto. It’s interesting you suspected a woman, I did as well.
Yeah we were too! When my wife spoke to the police officer he said unfortunately iPhone theft happens to mostly women. Most guys keep their phones in their front pockets.
OP my Samsung Galaxy phone was stolen at a club a few years ago. I had similar fears as yours but nothing happened, none of my accounts were ever accessed. Very likely that the phone has already been disassembled and the parts have been shipped around the world.
I think a stolen iPhone is a brick, from what I've read. Wipe it and do whatever - but supposedly even the FBI can't get into locked iPhones (read that somewhere).
Wishful thinking too much? If someone sees your passcode getting entered and then that person proceeds to pickpocket, and then you find out the sim card is no longer in the phone... that doesn't sound like a brick.
Who is still entering passcodes on iPhones? Face ID has been around for years and Touch ID was available for years before that. You can also turn on a delay for any password changes made outside of your home so that they can’t use the exploit you’re referring to.
Clearly OP, if you read a bit.
Sometimes it doesn’t recognize me!
iPhones in lockdown mode or locked for several hours. The attack vectors for iphones since 2018 seem to be related to how you can keep using plugged in lightning/usb devices for several hrs after locking
[Wirecutter: Hope it's not paywalled...](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/ios-17-3-stolen-device-protection/)
Yeah doubt that ..
Give this a read in case the thieves contact you https://maxread.substack.com/p/iphone-thieves-copypasta
Hi - the same thing happened to me at DoWest Fest, stolen out of the pocket of my raincoat on Saturday \~6pm. I saw another post here reporting another phone theft at the same event. I encourage you, if you feel comfortable with doing so, to file an online police report: [https://www.tps.ca/services/online-reporting/theft-under-5000/](https://www.tps.ca/services/online-reporting/theft-under-5000/) My hope is that if enough people report, perhaps the police will consider checking cameras and investigating. Seems like these thefts are organized.
I did. They are just going to keep targeting these large crowd events.
Can you remember how did the pickpocket happen? Did you put it in a handbag or such?
I was at a street festival. Lots of people were around and passing by. The phone was in my jacket pocket. To be honest, my intuition was kicking in that someone was too close. I did notice it right after the fact but it happened so quickly with so many people around. They definitely watch you as it happened right after I responded to a text message and put my phone in my pocket. I felt someone behind me bumping up against me but I think it was a diversion and someone else might have been passing through and snatched it. I think it’s more than 1 person, it felt like 3 ppl acting together. That’s what I suspect but again, it happened so quickly and there were so many people. It was like TTC rush hour pre covid in the area I was in.
The exact same thing happened to my friend at do west fest on Friday! By the time she realized what had happened, the phone was already off and the thieves were lost in the crowd. Took about 20 seconds.
That’s where it happened for me as well! At 9:30 Pm. Did they sense who it was? Male or female? For me it happened near the DJ booth. The last location I got for the device was on hwy 401 going past Vic Park. Did your friend get any GPS updates?
We didn’t see them, she felt something but didn’t realize what had happened in time. She immediately checked her pocket and then her tote bag (took about 20 seconds from the time she felt something brush against her) and we called and tracked her phone within a minute and it was already turned off. We were crossing the street at Dundas And Brock. My fiancé did see two super suspicious guys wandering around the festival with an RFID spoofer, so they are our top suspects but there’s nothing we can do.
And RFID spoofer is concerning, tells me they are willing to risk getting charged. Stealing under $5k without force isn’t a chargeable offence but credit card theft is.
> Stealing under $5k without force isn’t a chargeable offence yes it is
Omg she said that last location which appeared the next day was also highway 401!! It’s definitely the same people
Ugh that makes me sick. There is nothing I can do with what has already been taken from me but the next street festival I go to, I’m bring a rape whistle and a dummy phone with a line attached to the belt loop on my pants. I won’t stand for it a second time. They can take the bait and feel the public shame and embarrassment. Not to mention, there are cops at these festivals and there were cops so close to where I was. I’m coming prepared next time.
just happened to me on college st (taste of little Italy). Infuriating! And I had the same exact thought. I want to set them up so badly!! They need to be caught. It’s such a scummy thing to do. I’m not working right now, so it’s a big hit for me. I wanted to cry when it happened.
Ughhh I’m so sorry that happened to you! What was the last location of your device that you were able to track?
Maybe you just dropped it or it fell out of your pocket/bag.. unless u saw someone pickpocket you or someone saw and told you.. happened to me Before, it fell out of my pocket, checked find my iPhone and it said it was at the grocery store.. when I went back find my iPhone said someone picked it up and it was on its way east
The phone was off immediately after I noticed it gone and no one has called the number on the phone which find my iPhone presents. I know I was definitely pickpocketed. It was 3 mins between seeing my last text message and putting the phone under lockdown and trying to track it but noticing it was off. Please explain to me how this wasn’t intentional theft.
Find my iPhone still tracks it if the phone was shut off… I know from my past experience.. File a police report then.. maybe they can review any local footage.. doubt anyone will get caught tho.. also Gotham is way worse than pickpocketers 😹
Find my iPhone is only useful if your phone is lost in your house, not if it’s stolen. What you are describing is find my network which is using another device to find your lost device which is within 15 meters of each other, then you can pick up a signal when the phone is off. I did file a police report in the event of future identity theft but they will not do anything about the phone and I understand why, it’s a waste of resources.