Phone stolen - thief wants to sell it back

[Ecurb]

Hi all,

This is pretty crazy and I dont have the full story yet but I want to get started on this thread anyway. My mother today told me that she lost her phone, she thought that she left it outside her work and that someone took it. Later in the day someone called her from another phone to her home phone telling her that her sons friend found the phone and that he will sell it for $100. So the guy on the phone said that he could buy it for her and sell it to her. Of course thats BS. She said that she would have to come up with the money and to please call back later. So far no one has called back. The phone was a smart phone with no lock, so of course I guess the person is logging into her facebook account and stuff. I told her to right away to change all passwords quickly.

The current plan is if the guy calls back to agree to buy it and then when they meet up bring some friends or maybe even the police. But if they don't call back, what can be done? Of course if it's connecting to the internet then it's gps location should be known, but how would one get it? Any other ideas on how to ID the theif? Will post updates as they come.

Bruce

[Pwnd2Pwnr]

Call the police; pick a place to meet up. Chances are slim to none; and none is usually the winner. Apple can track the cell phone... but whether or not the Genius's will actually assist you with getting it back is also slim to none. You would be better off disconnecting the phone and getting a new phone...

[Ecurb]

yeah I think the police will likely sit around the parking lot while the theif drives by. But it's my mom, you know shes older and not going challenge these guys by herself of course.

[Ecurb]

update, police met up with the guy, and his family as I understand and gave the phone back. I don't know anymore details right now.

[joey-world]

The Solution is always the police (or authorities) period. Never try to "hack" the thief or things of that sense, otherwise you will become also a criminal.

I'm glad to hear that the situation got resolved though, let's drink some beers on your behalf n.n

Best Regards

[Ecurb]

As a rule I try to never talk to the police, it's just not safe. But in some situations it's almost the only choice, sadly.

I guess I can add the few extra details I have. Turns out the guy was living at the homeless shelter near by and just found the phone. I guess he thought he could make an extra $100 bucks, really I feel sorry for someone who finds themselves in a situation where they think doing something like that is a good idea. Anyway it's all resolved now. My mother will not have at least a simple password on her smart phone from now on. Thanks all for the words.

[RoofTurbo]

@Ecurb: I'm glad you were able to recover your mom's phone. I recently ran into this video from DefCon 18 where the speaker explained how he had his computer stolen and all the things he was able to do over the course of months to recover his computer.

@joey-world: Although the prudent, and legal, sollution should always be the police it's often tempting to attempt to screw around with the person that stole your property. I'm not at all familiar with the laws that may apply to SSH'ing into your own computer even though the computer is on someone else's network. The common sense argument would be that any damage caused by stolen property cannot be attributed to the owner of the stolen property. But rarely does the law coincide with common sense.

[Guest Deleted_Account]

iPhone users can use Icloud to track the phone. Android can use plan B instead. Both work well.

[sierrabrav0]

Prey Anti Theft: Track & find stolen Phones, Tablets and Laptops.

It's lightweight, open source software that gives you full and remote control, 24/7.

http://preyproject.com/

Edited July 24, 2013 by sierrabrav0