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Buying back a stolen iPhone

repoman0

repoman0

Diamond Member
My GF lost her iphone 6s the other day at the movies and had it stolen. Find my iphone tracked it to a town about 45 minutes away the next morning and it's been quiet since then. Today I get a call from a guy complaining that he can't get into the phone "I" sold him and he wants help or his money back ... turns out he got my number from the lost phone message we put up via find my iphone.

I called him back and told him I think it's my GF's stolen phone, so he sent a pic and I can confirm it's ours. He only paid $120 (phone is worth more than $700 and Chase insurance was only going to cover $340), so I'm thinking we just buy it back and forget about it? He has no contact info from the guy who he bought it from, and as far as I can tell the Boston police probably won't be able to help anyway.

My GF is going to call the police and see what they say but I figured I'd ask the wise sages of ATOT if there's any recourse beyond just giving the guy $120 for it 😵
 
I gotta ask - you said he can't get into the phone - who buys a phone without checking to see if it works for him first? Maybe it's the thief himself trying for a quick turnaround. I'd want more details about his transaction with the supposed seller. Tell him the cops want it. At the very least, there should be an email or phone number once the buyer shows interest. If they met in person, a physical description. A public location like a Target would have cameras.
 
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You have the information of the person who has your stolen phone. Let the police know. You will get the phone back and should have to pay nothing.

Ever heard about possession of stolen property?
 
rh71 said:
I gotta ask - who buys a phone without checking to see if it works for him first? Maybe it's the thief himself trying for a quick turnaround.
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It's a smart idea. Pretend to have purchased the phone for a relatively small amount of cash. Most people would probably pay up just because it's more hassle than it's worth to get police involved.
 
Tim said:
You have the information of the person who has your stolen phone. Let the police know. You will get the phone back and should have to pay nothing.

Ever heard about possession of stolen property?
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Bingo, call the cops. Even if he's not the thief they should be able to get the phone back and then it's his problem to give them as much info as possible to get his own money back.

While not a fun situation, that's what the police do.
 
Call the cops at some point. How do you know he's not grifting you a second time? It's illegal to be in possession of stolen property. Buying stolen property is also illegal. $120 bucks for a 700 buck hone, nah that isn't suspicious right? How do you want to handle the buyer? Give em a chance or call the cops? Call cops, sting ensues... win?


California's receiving stolen property law, Penal Code 496, makes it a crime to buy, receive, conceal, sell, or withhold from the owner, any property that they know has been stolen. A PC 496 receiving stolen property conviction can lead to either misdemeanor or felony penalties.

Receiving stolen property can be charged against anyone who buys, sells, receives or conceals stolen items.
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Damn you guys are probably right. I was suspicious of this guy at first -- he said it's an iPhone 5 at first (says iPhone S on the back) so we figured he was playing dumb trying to obtain the password to get in and erase the phone. When he was seemingly confused about it and never asked for the password, we figured he really did just buy it. He said the transaction with the thief was basically that the thief told him to go home and plug it into iTunes to get into it. I think it makes way more sense that he's just trying to get a quick turnaround.

He gave me his place of work, so we'll ask the police to accompany us there ..
 
Does that mean if I unknowingly buy stolen property (for close to actual value), I have to give it back for free?
 
Not to mention when the phone is turned on, all you can do is view the big message that says "This phone has been lost. Please call me. (my phone number)"
 
alien42 said:
lost does not equal stolen, so which is it?

she either lost it and someone else found it or it was stolen, big difference.
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It was lost and then taken, and as the post above says, the only thing you can do on it is view the big message saying it belongs to us

She left it in the bathroom and it was gone 10 minutes later.

We also filed a police report the day after as a requirement for Chase recent purchase reimbursement insurance, so it's on record as stolen.
 
Oooh a female thief. Find out if your guy has recently seen a movie with their gf. 😉
 
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rh71 said:
Does that mean if I unknowingly buy stolen property (for close to actual value), I have to give it back for free?
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Yes, that would be obvious no? If you knew it was stolen, you would be breaking the law even more so I think getting the stolen property that was illegal sold to you would be the last thing on your mind?
 
rh71 said:
Does that mean if I unknowingly buy stolen property (for close to actual value), I have to give it back for free?
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Yes, absolutely. If you bought something from somebody who was not the rightful owner and who did not have the right to sell you the thing in the first place, then you do not have rightful ownership of whatever you bought.
 
thesmokingman said:
Yes, that would be obvious no? If you knew it was stolen, you would be breaking the law even more so I think getting the stolen property that was illegal sold to you would be the last thing on your mind?
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Person A and person B are partners. Person A sells you the item. Person B comes out of the woodwork and claims their item was stolen. Profit.
 
rh71 said:
Person A and person B are partners. Person A sells you the item. Person B comes out of the woodwork and claims their item was stolen. Profit.
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Well the police should flush the culprit(s) out regardless of what your suspicions are.
 
rh71 said:
LOL. No. I'm saying what you pointed out is not 100% foolproof. That law can work in the scammer/thieves' favor.
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Lmao, you're worried about getting grifted after receiving stolen property? Usually when ppl are confronted with original owners claiming you have their prop, they most likely have the police with them for obvious reasons. This is bad for you since you are in possession of stolen property, which brings me back to my original point, that you have better things to be worrying about.
 
^ so you're not denying that basically scammers would win if they tried it. If I paid $1k for something, you bet I'm worried about losing my money. There's nothing protecting the buyer in any case.
 
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