My iphone was stolen - Apple helping thieves?
My 3 week old iphone 14 pro max was stolen Saturday night.
Before theft facts: It was initially restored from the old xs max with side to side data transfer. I hadn't realized find my iphone was off, because seeing a message when it run out of battery that "find my iphone works even with the device off". That left me assured that find my iphone is activated and I never checked to see settings on my then new iphone.
After theft: Phone was snatched about 3 am. Thief managed to call last person called at 8am from my iphone (how?). I called my brother next morning 10 am to login into find my iphone and he saw it in the phone list with no location, turned on lost mode and set a message to call his mobile number. Apple support line is closed on weekends so couldnt do anything else!
Today Monday: I called apple who were completely unhelpful and wouldnt tell whether a) lost mode is activated on the device and more important b)they wouldn't block/brick the device citing personal data reasons! In my question whether the "thief" would be able to use a stolen iphone if they manage to reset it, they wouldn't say which means yes! My stolen iphone could even end up at an apple store somewhere for warranty work!
Rightnow the phone is shown with 11 months left warranty and Apple refused to mark it as lost/stolen despite me having a purchase receipt and police report.
*****
In the day when tech tracks what time we go to the toilet and what we ate for lunch, apple with these practices cant remotely help its customers and essentially aiding thieves... Generally if stolen iphones cant be used, they are parted out but each part is traceable, especially on newer iphones. If stolen iphones or their parts are useless to thieves, thieves would stop stealing them.
Gutted...
[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Serial Number]
iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 16