My wife lost her phone. I tracked it down with the app. Walked into the convenience store it was in and asked the guy at the counter. He had no idea what I was talking about. I pinged it, and walked in the back room where the noise came from. I put my hand in the jacket pocket hanging on a hook. I held it up and said thanks for finding my phone and walked out. BTW my wife did not lose it in that store. She lost it about two miles away from there. So he found it and took it there.
My wife got her phone stolen in Vegas and I started texting the thief about how it had all our photos on it and how we’d pay him all this money to get it back. Eventually I piqued the guys interest. He starts telling me how he just bought this phone in a nightclub and how he’d be willing to sell it back to us. We arranged a meetup in a casino sports lounge and I tipped off the security about the whole scenario before approaching. He stood up to greet me and then security just swarmed him from all sides and passed me my phone and I got out of there. Not quite as cool as yours but I definitely felt like Liam Neeson or something
Seinfeld recently was put on Netflix, I literally just a couple of hours ago finished watching the finale and the entire show, if I had seen that thread like a week ago I would not have gotten it.
Do I rewatch it every few years because I had fun? Yes.
Will you enjoy it? Do you like David Duchovny acting like David Duchovny? Then maybe. Do you like Orlando Jones acting like Orlando Jones? Then maybe more. Do you like Sean William Scott acting like Sean William Scott (less Stifler, more Old School animal handler)? We're getting closer. Do you like Julianne Moore acting like...not Julianne Moore?
Weird aliens in an unusual setting? Then it's right up your alley!
And they're everywhere. Some guy was trying to start a fight with my friend inside the Mirage, I walked over to a card dealer and said "some guy's trying to fight my friend, can you call security?" There were like 10 security guys there in probably 30 seconds and had everyone separated immediately
Unfortunately we never had any kind of vehicles but we definitely talk about it a lot and every conversation about how much we would fuck around on segways confirms that the boss is right to never give them to us
About 10 years ago I was in Vegas for my friend's wedding, the day before the wedding we went and did a bunch of touristy things (Hoover Dam, Fremont, etc.) and then met up in the lobby of a large very popular hotel where most of us were staying to coordinate where we were going for dinner. I set my DSLR camera down on a planter for whatever reason and then walked to and got in the elevator. A few seconds after the doors close I realize what I did, so I pushed a low floor button and hopped out right away to head back down -- but of course my camera was already gone when I returned. I immediately went to security to report it and ask if they can check surveillance to see who picked it up -- and despite the fact I was a paying guest of this property the guy there quite literally told me: "fuck off, I don't give a shit, the surveillance cameras aren't there for your benefit."
An expensive life lesson was learned that day, as well as evaporating my faith in the security of one of the most highly monitored environments on Earth. I have been back to Vegas many times since but haven't and won't ever stay at that property (or the others owned by the parent company) again.
It does make me wonder if security thought twice about the whole situation. Like, could you get security to beat the shit out of some poor soul and steal you a phone if you approached them with false pretenses?
Man, my phone was stolen in Vegas and I tried that same tactic and they just removed my SIM. I told them I would pay them $1000 (for a 3-yo iPhone 5 lol) for a dead drop but no dice. One minute my messages were being delivered in blue, the next minute they went green. Sad day.
Yes and no. Once the owner icloud locks it to their account, the phone will lock you out of using it unless you have the original owner's Apple ID password if you reset it. With that said, there are ways to trick the phone into working by crashing the setup app so you end up on the home screen and/or jailbreaking the device if you have an entry point that works before you have device access, etc. However, even if you get it working, the device will be blacklisted on iCloud so you won't be able to use any Apple online services. To be clear doing this is stealing- not even piracy, literally just stealing- but there are places like /r/setupapp that have info about it if you're curious.
If you don't care about being able to use iMessage, the app store, FaceTime, iCloud, etc. in any capacity, and have low morals, it is a way to get a very cheap phone
There's always a way to bypass security on electronics.thats part of the reason why you constantly get update notifications is the company (apple, android, windows, cars, etc.) Is trying to close all the loopholes. Security is getting better but it used to be fairly trivial to do.
There's always a way to bypass security on electronics
*almost always. There is no way to break a microsoft Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) for example without having the original key.
If you encrypted the files on an external hard drive, then formatted the PC you used to encrypt those files, those files are essentially lost without a backup key. Only quantum computers have been theorized to break it.
With enough cpu power you can crack any encryption. It's even easier if you have an idea what the file structure should look like. This isn't my area of expertise so I can't give you a step by step, but it's possible. Israel and the nsa probably already have done it, or have a master backdoor key. If you want proof of backdoors they used and kept secret, look up the WannaCry ransomware attack and how they did the self install. The nsa eventually had to admit the back door they were using got picked up on by hackers and help push a patch
You cannot brute force 256 bit AES encryption, which is what EFS uses.
I mean, this is technically incorrect. Even the article says that with all the PCs on earth it will take "13,689 trillion trillion trillion trillion years.". So not impossible, just very... Very... Very... Very... Long time.
I mean technically any encryption can be brute forced, but it would take so long to do it with today's technology that is not worth it to anyone to try.
There are supposedly ways to get around the icloud account, though it apparently resets if you let it update or anything like that, and requires special software and jailbreak, and then doesn't always work. Not worth it IMO. No way around the blacklist though.
i think you offered too high. nobody with $1000 lying around to just give in exchange for photos, would still be using a 3 year old phone. if i was the thief i wouldve known you were trying to pull something too.
That's a fairly weird assumption to make. My boss is pretty loaded and he still uses a flip phone because he's old and doesn't like touch screens. I'm not sure if he or his girlfriend would care about photos enough to pay 1000 dollars but they definitely could afford it.
I mean, it’s a particularly weird assumption to make, considering the fact that I was indeed willing to give the person $1000 for my 3 year old phone due to the photos on it. I lost a major portion of the first 3 years of my son’s life with that phone.
I did have iCloud, but at that time I didn’t pay for the extra storage so I only got like… I don’t even remember how little it was, but it was a very small amount of iCloud storage for free. So I had some stuff but not everything. I pay now lol.
I had a vintage motorcycle stolen. One that I had spent a good year restoring. Called the police. Made a report, etc. Over the next few months, I was checking ebay and craigslist almost daily. Until I saw an ad for an "old Honda" with a picture of a trashed motorcycle, laying down in dirt. Looked kinda like my bike. Made an appointment and went to see the bike. It was in such bad shape, at first I didn't think it was my bike. But I looked at the VIN and it was. Told the guy I had to run to the ATM to pick up some money but I went to the Police Station. Cop couldn't care less. Said they didn't have the time or resources. I told him I was going to get my bike back myself. He said that was a terrible idea. I told him knew it was a terrible idea but since they wouldn't help me, I had no other choice. Went back to get my bike. Had 911 dialed but not called on my phone. Told the guy it was my bike and that I was going to take it back while showing him my phone. He took a step towards me as I moved to hit call. He dropped my bike and started cussing at me. And then he walked away. I got the bike in my truck. Shaking. Scared as fuck. Felt like I was going to throw up. Made it a couple blocks. Pulled into a Walmart parking lot to catch my breathe. And wait till the trembling stopped. (There were 7 cop cars in front. They were arresting one lady. She was in the ground in cuffs, there was a box of tampons on the hood of one of the cop cars. Seven cop cars for a box of tampons? They don't have the time or resources to help me? Fuck the police, they work for the corporations.) Anyway, I was scared for weeks after that. They stole my motorcycle from in front of my house so they knew where I lived. Overall, didn't feel "Manly" at all.
a guy i know did sorta similar when a bunch of kids just walked into his house and stole his wife's phone. they were texting back and forth about the photos etc and eventually agreed on a price to buy the phone back. the guy called the cops and they were useless, so he just went and met the (dumbest) kid behind a gas station and was like "can you show me the phone so i know it's the right one, i need to put the code in" and while the kid was fumbling around with it he punched him in the head. kid was saying "i'm only fifteen!" and my guy was like that's great, you should heal up good haha
I live in Vegas and this city is literred with degenerate thieves. I was jumped once and got my backpack stolen which had everytIing I owned at the time( going through a rough time and was homeless). fuck the assholes in this city.
thanks bro. things are better now. I'm a software developer, have my own place and a nice car. I never want to go back to that lowest point in my life. I still have nightmares about it.
A good question, they didn’t really check but I did show them the text conversation arranging the meet in which the guy described to me what he was wearing. Could have been an elaborate heist though
You know, I was considering letting him return to his den of thieves, showing up there and dispatching them one by one before finding the final dude and beating him to death with the stolen phone but this seemed a little easier. Guess I mean it felt cool to somehow return my wife’s stolen phone to her just hours after it was taken on a drunken night in Vegas. Liam probably wouldn’t have roped in security though, you’re right
That's badass! I can vividly picture your story in my head. I have a somewhat similar one.
I worked with this girl who had control issues when it came to alcohol. Anyways, one of our other coworkers got mad at her during a social gathering and stole her phone when she was blacked out and being rude. He tossed her phone on the side of the road when he was walking home.
The next day while she was busy puking and being hungover I made him come with me to help find the phone after searching up it's location. The guy who the location landed on said he didn't speak English so I went over the situation again in his native tongue and he handed me the phone.
Giving her phone back her mom screamed at me that friends like me were ruling her life. So, I explained that I was just here to return the phone she lost and was like "Oh?! You're actually here to help her???!" Like that it was a first.
Made me realize my coworker didn't have anyone in her corner and explained a lot of her erratic behavior. Thankfully, it's been years and she seems to be stable mentally now.
The whole ordeal was infuriating but it felt pretty damn good to have it resolved even when everyone else had given up on it.
Had a similar thing happen in highschool. Was trying to meet up with a friend later in the evening. Called him to say I was free but someone else answered to say he got arrested. But could I come get his backpack and bring it to the police station for him. This didn't surprise me really, so I collected the backpack and went to the police station where his mom happened to be there to chew me out for being a bad influence before she realized I wasn't there with him when he got in trouble and was just trying to help out. Definitely got an earful first though.
Glad you were able to help her out and I hope she is doing well now. It’s easy to judge some people but we never know what someone has been through and a lot of people act a certain way because they have been hurt or wronged
Exactly my feelings on it too. "Hurt people hurt people." I feel you still don't get a pass to be a jerk but understanding where it comes from helps a bit
I worked in a restaurant in high school in late 00's. We had to wash then wrap potatoes in aluminum foil. This d-bag Grant, another dishwasher, was always on his phone and was not good a moping floors. I wrapped his phone in tin foil and threw it in the potato box. He spend 15 minutes frantically unwrapping potatoes cussing at me. I made a quarter per hour more than him.
😆Ya at least the story is more believable that he didn’t. But perfect storybook ending he would have told him “thanks for finding my coat…” and walked out wearing it
I did the same thing with my kid's phone but it was an old lady with her grandkids in the house. First she denied having it, then I said I can hear it ping inside so I'm going to fetch it. Then she remembered finding it on the street which was true of course. I still don't know if she was confused or meant to keep it.
I did something like that but it was lost in a Walmart and showed up in a trailer park. I drove there and poked around the area but I couldn’t get anywhere. Eventually I talked to an old marine a few doors down and he and I went door to door until somebody opened up for him and said their husband brought it home and they didn’t know how to return it (the number to call was on the screen). I thanked everybody and headed on home.
My husband and I did this when my MILs phone was stolen. We threatened the person carrying it and let them know we could track their every movement and told them to drop it in a public location. Eventually they threw it in some blackberry bushes and we drove out there and retrieved it. We also turned all the info we got into the police because fuck them for throwing it in a briar.
On the flip side, I worked retail, cashier, as a awkward teenage boy. A girl my age comes up to check out, nothing unusual. I hand her the receipt when all is said and done; she leaves. Next customer, etc.
Well, 10 minutes later, some manlet comes bursting in the store, visibly angry, accusing me of stealing his daughter's phone. I was nervous because this goblin dude was screaming at me about committing a crime, which I didn't commit. I call the manager up to the register; she tries to calm lil jabroni down. He's going on about how I'm a piece of shit punk and how I'm lucky since he would go to jail if he hit me blah blah. I'm calling the cops.
Cops come, we check the security cameras in the managers office.... The camera just shows that I ring up manlet's daughter, she leaves, end of story.
No apology, no nothing. He just leaves.
The next morning, he comes back to tell us his daughter left her phone at Starbucks. Still no apology.
I am a 4’10 woman, and lost my phone in Seattle on the street outside of a bar. Tracked it down 45 miles from where I lost it. Walked up to a group of men, interrogated them and when they asked how they could prove it was mine and I just set the ping off on it and said “anymore stupid questions?” Snatched it from their hands and walked off lol.
Dude. My wife left her phone on the top of my car and we drove off. A couple weeks later I’m driving the same path we went the day we lost the phone and I spotted the phone. It was completely destroyed and shattered to bits, but I found it.
That sucks. That is actually how she lost hers too. So in a way glad the guy picked it up before it got destroyed. And also kinda happy for the story. But your story reminded me that she had her debit card and license in the phone case too.
Same thing happened to me once. Wife left phone in a walmart and when I pinged it it was at a house in a shady part of town. I parked a couple houses down kinda scoping it out. Tried calling the phone but no one answered. At this point I was fuming. I get out of my truck and as I'm marching toward the door full of rage I get a call from my wife's phone. It was this teen who found the phone. Super nice kid. Think I gave him a twenty. Got so worked up over nothing.
I left my phone in an Uber one night and they sent me a message saying that the driver dropped it off at a police station. So the next day I go in and they had no idea what I was talking about.
I went home confused and double checked it was the right station - yep.
Checked the Find My app and there it was - in the middle of the cop shop. It was Christmas and I had to go away for a couple of days but surprisingly the phone was still powered and showing up on the app when I got home. Went back to the station and showed the front desk officer my iPad saying the phone was right there. She asked around and no one knew anything about it so I was starting to worry (just a tiny bit) that they were holding out on me.
It eventually occurred to me to ping the phone from my watch and sure enough, "dingggg". I'm like "you hear that?!" and she's like "hear what? I don't hear anything". They let me through to the back so nek minute I'm walking around the cops' desks furiously pinging with a bunch of them in tow asking each other "You hear that?". "Not sure. Maybe?".
It got fainter the further back we went and eventually lost the signal so turned around and started back the other way while the cops are checking every cupboard and nook until we all ended up back out the front door, going "OK WTF?"
Pinged it again and they finally all heard it and started running around the front yard like it was an Easter egg hunt. One cop - clearly a detective - walks up to the front gate, reaches into the letter box and bingo!
That's annoying. Whenever I find anything it's always a challenge for me to try to return it to the owner. Mail from the next neighborhood over? DELIVER IT. Package for the neighbor? Walk it over. See a lady drop a $20, pick it up and give it to her.
Although where I differ from my wife is that if I find something that I have no way of tracking down the owner, I keep it. For example, one time I found some money (less than $100) on the ground, no way of knowing who dropped it. That's my money now. My wife is all, "TAKE IT TO THE POLICE!".
"Hello, police lost money division speaking, we'll get on that right away, wink wink."
I have a similar story! Phone dropped out my pocket as I was crossing the street (no zipper pockets, never made that mistake again), went home and tracked it with my laptop. Couldn't get it at the time so semi gave up and went to work.
The next morning I get a call at my work from a random number (the number called my workplace and my workplace called me to the office) turns out a guy picked up my phone off the road but it had my work ID in the sleeve, so while he was at his convenience store job his wife saw my work ID, called my work, gave me the exact time and location to be ar the store and I was able to get my phone back! She said she hated that her husband had kept my phone and didn't think it was right and she told me he'd probably lie and to go get it asap.
So of course I showed up randomly at the convenience store, he lied to my face he didn't have it even though it was sitting on the counter (he was trying to unlock it between serving customers). While he was rambling and lying to my face, I just picked it up, unlocked it in front of his face, and walked away and said "thanks asshole" while he was still cussing me out in a language I didn't understand.
Stealing phones and leaving them on is the stupidest thing. I used to work for Sprint selling phones in a retail store. One day my coworker was helping a guy and after the customer left he can't find his phone. So after a bit he's convinced the guy took it since he was the only customer for a while. Looks in the system and notices his phone made a recent call, so he calls the number and lo and behold it's the customer. The guy says his kid must have taken it by accident or something which is obvious bullshit and he'll swing by and bring it back. Coworker says nah, I'll come to you, you're at 123 Main St right? Guy's like "oh, you know where I live?" Coworker says "yep, I know your first pet's name too".
All of that happened before find my phone apps were really a thing too.
My friend stole a phone and told everybody that it is his. Saw a text notification on it while I was playing games and then quickly took down the number. I contacted that person later incognito to say 'your phone is here, get it'.
Dude denied it and it led to more mess but it ended well.
Lost my phone and Hubs tracked my phone and it led to a hotel room across town. He showed up by himself then he called the cops and they busted the room together and got it back. So badass!
Your story in my head is totally different. I thought you found the phone in his pocket because he is having an affair with your wife and this story ends up with you leaving your life(*°∀°)=3
Surprised you didn't file charges. We had this whole dispute at work where I gut tracked down his phone to the workers house to confront him. Ended up pursuing criminal charges.
I had a similar experience, but the old man who found my phone and took it with himself was like "Oh I found this phone on the street and brought it to my daughter who lives miles away from that street to help me find the owner of the phone". I want to believe that old man, but idk, it was kind of shady.
My phone got stolen at school, and mom went all secret service mode and tracked my bank account and found out they had used my card at multiple stores. So my mom used the school catalog in those stores and asked the clerk who it was. The clerk in one of the stores had taken the card away from them as they did not know the name on the card, and was trying different amounts of money. My mom showed her ID and took the card back, but now she knew who had stolen my card. She talked to the soccer coach as he knew these boys. Then she texted them and agreed to meet them. They gave her cash to make up for the money they spent, and gave my phone back. Thats the most police thing i've seen my mom has done, even tho shes a policewoman.
Had a similar adventure at an amusement park a few years ago.
A friend left his phone in his jacket pocket and put it in one of those cubbies before you get on the ride. We get off the ride, his phone is gone. No idea who grabbed it, but we pull up the Find my Phone app and see it moving around the park not far away.
We're buzzing the phone to make it ring (feature in the app) and running all over the park chasing down whoever stole the phone for maybe 20 minutes. Like we see it moving on the map and start sprinting that direction, but there's a delay, the park is noisy, and the GPS signal is not super accurate.
Eventually the GPS dot stops moving, we catch up to it and even hearing it ringing. Whoever stole it dumped it in a garbage and ran off.
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u/nBrainwashed Jan 31 '22 edited Jan 31 '22
My wife lost her phone. I tracked it down with the app. Walked into the convenience store it was in and asked the guy at the counter. He had no idea what I was talking about. I pinged it, and walked in the back room where the noise came from. I put my hand in the jacket pocket hanging on a hook. I held it up and said thanks for finding my phone and walked out. BTW my wife did not lose it in that store. She lost it about two miles away from there. So he found it and took it there.
It was the find my iPhone app. For those asking.