craaaaaapp. lost my mobile phone - FOUND but being ransomed.

[Oyeve]

im betting this guy doesnt end up getting his phone back

Me too. It sucks tho. Not so much the phone but the info.

 

[vshah]

have you tried installing a recovery program remotely?

 

[corkyg]

Thread title now says FOUND. How about a confirming note so we can put this sucker to bed.

 

[Oyeve]

Thread title now says FOUND. How about a confirming note so we can put this sucker to bed.

Well, SOMEONE found it, just not him.

 

[robphelan]

Well, SOMEONE found it, just not him.

exactly... i updated with FOUND before she pulled the invisible man act. i'm updating with found but withheld or something.

 

[robphelan]

have you tried installing a recovery program remotely?

today, i tried installing Plan B like thescreensaver said.. but I had already changed my gmail password last night. so if that's how it's supposed to report home, it won't be able to log in.

i've tried changing it back to the password from yesterday, but gmail won't let me re-use the PW.

 

[Kelvrick]

If I loss my phone, I'd gladly pay $50 to get it back with the info intact. I don't expect everyone to be a good Samaritan and would gladly keep the cycle going of people getting a reward instead of just selling off the phone.

 

[Nebor]

today, i tried installing Plan B like thescreensaver said.. but I had already changed my gmail password last night. so if that's how it's supposed to report home, it won't be able to log in.

i've tried changing it back to the password from yesterday, but gmail won't let me re-use the PW.

Kinda owned yourself there.

 

[Bacstar]

Call the police and tell em it's a lost iPhone 5.

 

[theeedude]

Yep. Why don't you pull an Apple, dress up in a suit to look like a detective, then get the local PD to escort you to the woman's house?

 

[robphelan]

Kinda owned yourself there.

yep, sure did.

 

[Bacstar]

Honestly... I would call the police and at least file a lost phone report. I did this when I needed to file a claim with my phone insurance to get a replacement. You did already call your cell phone provider to report your phone lost?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

If I loss my phone, I'd gladly pay $50 to get it back with the info intact. I don't expect everyone to be a good Samaritan and would gladly keep the cycle going of people getting a reward instead of just selling off the phone.

im sort of thinking this as well. at this point if i were him id offer any amount to get it back and then do whatever (call police, give phony check, forcibly seize phone etc...) he wants when he picks it up

 

[robphelan]

i now have the police involved - a girl on my daughter's soccer team has a dad who's a policeman. said they do have technology to track the phone. he wanted me to make a police report & give him the case number & he would work the case.

i called the non-emergency police line & the lady who answered was great - she couldn't believe what was going on. she said that I could call anytime to have a policeman meet me at the pick up site to make sure everything went well.

Basically, when she left the restaurant with my phone, it became theft. On top of that, to request a reward/ransom made things worse for her.

 

[alienb]

i now have the police involved - a girl on my daughter's soccer team has a dad who's a policeman. said they do have technology to track the phone. he wanted me to make a police report & give him the case number & he would work the case.

i called the non-emergency police line & the lady who answered was great - she couldn't believe what was going on. she said that I could call anytime to have a policeman meet me at the pick up site to make sure everything went well.

Basically, when she left the restaurant with my phone, it became theft. On top of that, to request a reward/ransom made things worse for her.

I'm glad you ignored my advice, and then decided on your own it was a good idea and went that route anyway

Hope you get it back, but I think you're out of your window now, you should have gotten her information ASAP when this degenerate called, before it had time to think about it. Ah well, good luck.

 

[robphelan]

I'm glad you ignored my advice, and then decided on your own it was a good idea and went that route anyway

Hope you get it back, but I think you're out of your window now, you should have gotten her information ASAP when this degenerate called, before it had time to think about it. Ah well, good luck.

ha... good point.

thanks.. i hope it works out too.. the lady wouldn't give me any info at all and she called from my own cell phone so I couldn't even get her number.

now, i'm getting a little run around b/c i live outside the city yet the theft occurred inside the city - 2 different police departments.

 

[2therock]

This is one we have seen often. Our clients are usually ones who have current expensive phones stolen. Yes your phone was stolen with the intent on holding you up for it. If they get spooked they will just run up your bill until it stops working and toss it. Call your provider ASAP.
It is always best to act super grateful and willing to pay.
We setup a mall location and go in place of the client under the pretext we are the client and promise to pay a reward.
With the cash visible and a pleasant grateful disposition without handing it over until we confirm it is the correct phone we take possession and just walk away and return it to its owner.
We then suggest to the client they get insurance in the future to save retainer fees or from experiencing the problem again.

We suggest you do not perform this procedure unless you are capable or trained in self defense and with a witness near by to corroborate the event. We have yet to see one of these slugs operation alone.
I failed to mention it is best to get an app that will wipe the phone. Sometimes they are savvy and disable it.

Good Luck

 

[robphelan]

great info.. very interesting, too.

i tried not to spook her - i stutterred a bit when she asked for a reward, but i think that was natural..

the thing that sucks is that I won't be at work tomorrow so I won't be near a phone in case she calls.

thanks.

 

[robphelan]

so, do you hand over the money? what happens to these losers?

 

[akugami]

Oh geeze. I feel for you man. That's why people should back up the important stuff like the contacts. Also, with today's smartphone it's a good idea to get an app that can remotely wipe the data. Worst case scenario should be you lose the phone but keep your data safe. It should not be, lose your data and watch all your personal info get stolen.

 

[2therock]

so, do you hand over the money? what happens to these losers?

No we do not hand over the money. I usually back away and leave the vicinity with no more than a "Hey WTF are you doing?".
I want to call them a slug and tell them to GTF out of here but as a retained professional I remain expressionless and if need be explain they stole the phone and I am the owner and tell them to call 911 if they care to dispute it.

I am armed but do not display it so....... if you as an untrained individual were to attempt the detail you should size up the perp and situation and abort if it looks to tough for you.

If you call the law they will only tell the police they were returning it for a reward. They usually look for victims that seem very excited about getting their phone back and express gratitude and seem glad to pay.
Its when the victim acts pissed off when they back off. They have nothing to lose and are close to home.

So....... be careful. Most of our clients have lost high end phones with no insurance. What they pay us is less than buying another.

Its an old scam my friend.

 

[robphelan]

well, i definitely sounded eager to get my phone back. the thing that sucks is i won't be in the office - that's the number she called me on. she had called my wife first, hopefully she'll call her when I can't be reached.

 

[spaceman]

i cant believe how lame this persons being

 

[Krynj]

Why not get a $20 prepaid phone and forward your office number to that? If you meet them in person, I wouldn't go there without law enforcement.

Hope you get it back though. Sucks that there are shitty people like that.

One time I found an iPod that somebody had left in a book/record store I was working at. Fortunately they had Facebook installed on it, so to make sure it got back to its owner, I went in and posted a status update: "This person has left their iPod in <store name>. We have it waiting for you at the front desk. Come in and pick it up with photo ID."

Best of luck to you OP.

 

[dlock13]

Why not get a $20 prepaid phone and forward your office number to that? If you meet them in person, I wouldn't go there without law enforcement.

Hope you get it back though. Sucks that there are shitty people like that.

One time I found an iPod that somebody had left in a book/record store I was working at. Fortunately they had Facebook installed on it, so to make sure it got back to its owner, I went in and posted a status update: "This person has left their iPod in <store name>. We have it waiting for you at the front desk. Come in and pick it up with photo ID."

Best of luck to you OP.

That's cool of you, sir.

Also, OP did you have latitude enabled on it? If so, can't you go to Google's website and track the phone to it's previous location?