how to tell if an ipod is stolen?

[wasssup]

I'm thinking of buying a used Ipod (generally much cheaper than a new one), but how can I tell if it's stolen or not? Is there a database on the Apple site that will let you check?

I found one on craigslist for a decent price ($100 for a 30gb Ipod Video), supposedly works fine. I'm not sure what the going rate on these is, it's a few years old after all..

 

[KeithTalent]

This may help: http://www.stolenipod.com/

KT

 

[nervegrind3r]

the engraved name on the back does not match the seller's name. For example, the back of the ipod says john smith, but you gave your money to gustavo rodriquez.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Don't iPods say who they are registered to in the software when you first plug it in? You enter that info and it goes into the ipod doesn't it? Sorry, I haven't had my ipod since Oct 06 so I don't really remember how they are...

 

[BrokenVisage]

Throw it against a brick wall. If it breaks then the iPod was not stolen, if it's remains intact then it's made of steal and is in fact stolen. Either way you can't go wrong!

 

[jpeyton]

Don't ask, don't tell.

 

[jonks]

<racist joke deleted>

 

[wasssup]

lol so other than that website, there's really no way to tell? I guess I'll go take a look at it later, and if it works I'll pick it up........

I'm still pissed some a**holes stole one of my cars, the one without theft insurance, so the last thing I want to do is contribute to shit like that.

 

[Chronoshock]

This would involve a good amount of interaction with the seller, but if the ipod still has music on it, you could grill him about the specifics of songs, have him hum a few bars of an obscure song on the list, ask him about the bands/singers, etc. If it doesn't, you could use one of those file recovery tools to inspect the drive and, provided they did not do a full multi-pass wipe with rewrites and all that, you should be able to see if there's any old music.
I'm not sure how you'd tell if it's a brand new stolen ipod though, since there would be no traces of ownership

 

[jdini76]

$100 is a little low. I would be more concerned as to if anything is wrong with it not whether it is stolen.

 

[Chiropteran]

Consult the oracle.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Do you have to hotwire it to turn it on? If so, it might be stolen.

 

[TallBill]

I got a new Nano much cheaper then that and it wasn't stolen.

 

[Vehemence]

Does the dude also have an AT account with a black dude avatar and "free iPods"?

 

[0roo0roo]

a few years old? $100 is reasonable. its capacity is low by todays standards, they have 160gb versions now. battery is probably rather aged at a few years, you'll soon need to replace. such batteries have a shelf life as well as charge wear. you can probably replace that yourself rather easily, they sell kits. you can get a new zune or such for under ~100 30gb these days..
age should cut price on harddrive units quite a bit because they die from wear and tear/age. theres nothing shady about it.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

That's a normal price considering it is last generation and only 30 gigs. Unless the guy says it fell off the back of a truck I wouldn't worry about it being stolen.

 

[Casawi]

Originally posted by: nervegrind3r
the engraved name on the back does not match the seller's name. For example, the back of the ipod says john smith, but you gave your money to gustavo rodriquez.

Mine has someone else's name on it. I bought it from a friend, it might of been stolen, I don't know. I paid for it tho... was I supposed to check its history??

 

[0roo0roo]

i prefer flash units myself. yea the capacity sucks but they are so small and light that they are pretty damn hard to break. if a regular harddrive player slips from your hands, it hits the ground. with the lighter flash units? it just dangles on the cord

 

[wasssup]

So I picked it up, it seemed legit (it was a kid that posted it, her parents bought her an itouch). It's in surprisingly good condition (no deep scratches), works fine, BUT...when I tried syncing with Itunes the Ipod sometimes rebooted. Not sure if this is because my old Ipod's profile is conflicting with the new one? It seems to work fine when I'm playing music (hence the reason I didn't see any problems when I picked it up)...

So maybe I got a POS, or maybe it's just my computer acting up. Here's hoping it's just the latter...

 

[0roo0roo]

totally reset it?
bestskinsever or the others are a good way to protect the screen. if you want to be really cheap they even sell a uncut sheet. all you need is a square to protect the screen, the rest is better off in a silicon skin. after that its pretty much unscratchable by keys or whatevers scraping it in ur pocket.

 

[zeruty]

Well generally... if you can't find your ipod... and none of your friends borrowed it... you either lost it, or it was stolen.

 

[Spineshank]

Does it really matter if it was stolen?