My buddy bought a Iphone that turned out to be stolen.

[fracekm]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas


So my buddy bought this iPhone 5 from some guys locally after his phone stopped working. He didn't know what he was doing I guess because he didn't check the IMEI number or anything before hand. So he goes to activate it and I guess a messaged popped up saying "this phone has been reported stolen, please call ###-###-####"

He tried texting the dude back that sold it to him but the guy wouldn't text him back. He also tried Facebook messaging him but couldn't get a reply either but it showed "seen" under the message so he knows the guy seen it. Then the guy blocks my friend on Facebook.

My friends of could still look at this guys Facebook since she's not blocked however. So her and my friend go in and take screen shots of the Facebook post where he was trying to sell his iPhone 5 on his timeline. They also took screenshots of his Facebook post in a group page that he posted it on. And took pictures of his profile details and what not.

So now as proof he has:

-the Facebook messages where my friend first contacted the guy and they talked about the phone a little bit and then where the guy gave my friend his number.

- their whole texting conversation with his number (the one my friend got from their Facebook conversation) and car make and color Included in the conversation

-the guys name and Facebook profile

-proof that he blocked my friend after being confronted

-screenshots of the guy trying to sell this iPhone 5 on his Facebook timeline and in other facebook groups

My friend is trying to figure out if this will be enough evidence to prove that the guy sold him a stolen phone and allow him to get his money back while attempting to return the phone to its owner. I'm posting all this since he is now without a phone now and doesn't have access to the internet nor this forum.

What are you guys thoughts?

 

[Proserpina]

I believe my grandson (who isn't quite double figures yet) could set up a Facebook account and lovely screen-shots with all of the information he'd need to make it look like he was genuinely innocent of whatever it was he was accused of doing.


If you get my point.

 

[justalayman]

What are you guys thoughts?

does your buddy still have the phone?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas


So my buddy bought this iPhone 5 from some guys locally after his phone stopped working. He didn't know what he was doing I guess because he didn't check the IMEI number or anything before hand. So he goes to activate it and I guess a messaged popped up saying "this phone has been reported stolen, please call ###-###-####"

He tried texting the dude back that sold it to him but the guy wouldn't text him back. He also tried Facebook messaging him but couldn't get a reply either but it showed "seen" under the message so he knows the guy seen it. Then the guy blocks my friend on Facebook.

My friends of could still look at this guys Facebook since she's not blocked however. So her and my friend go in and take screen shots of the Facebook post where he was trying to sell his iPhone 5 on his timeline. They also took screenshots of his Facebook post in a group page that he posted it on. And took pictures of his profile details and what not.

So now as proof he has:

-the Facebook messages where my friend first contacted the guy and they talked about the phone a little bit and then where the guy gave my friend his number.

- their whole texting conversation with his number (the one my friend got from their Facebook conversation) and car make and color Included in the conversation

-the guys name and Facebook profile

-proof that he blocked my friend after being confronted

-screenshots of the guy trying to sell this iPhone 5 on his Facebook timeline and in other facebook groups

My friend is trying to figure out if this will be enough evidence to prove that the guy sold him a stolen phone and allow him to get his money back while attempting to return the phone to its owner. I'm posting all this since he is now without a phone now and doesn't have access to the internet nor this forum.

What are you guys thoughts?

My thoughts are that your friend should turn the stolen phone over to the police and let the police know who sold him the phone.

The odds of your friend recovering his money from the thief who sold him the stolen phone are probably slim. Your friend can take a copy of the police report, though, and any other evidence linking the thief to the sale, and use it to support a lawsuit, should your friend decide to take the thief to court.

 

[fracekm]

Yes but it would be hard for your grandson to duplicate all the post and messages including their times. Also the fact that he gave his personal phone number through the messages and then texted us off of it. I think that it would be hard to make a fake profile with all those coherent details like his actual phone number wouldn't it?

 

[fracekm]

Last time I heard he still had it but that was a few days ago, I was supposed to post this for him Saturday but have been pretty busy up until now.

 

[Proserpina]

Yes but it would be hard for your grandson to duplicate all the post and messages including their times. Also the fact that he gave his personal phone number through the messages and then texted us off of it. I think that it would be hard to make a fake profile with all those coherent details like his actual phone number wouldn't it?

Oh dear Lord.

1. Do what quincy said
2. Destroy this message
3. Refer to #1.

(and yes - doing what you're saying is much, much easier than you seem to think)

 

[fracekm]

I'm pretty sure the guy paid over $300 for this phone and he's just a broke college student like any other kid his age. Kind of hard to swallow the fact that he might not see the money again.. Especially will all the information he has. I forgot to mention that he even has the place that this guy works (off his Facebook profile). Not to mention we don't live in a very large town.

 

[quincy]

Last time I heard he still had it but that was a few days ago, I was supposed to post this for him Saturday but have been pretty busy up until now.

The longer your friend holds onto the phone, the worse it can be for him. He does not want to be caught in possession of stolen goods.

You should tell your friend to turn the phone over to the police and then he should file a report against the thief who sold him the phone. If he later wants to take the thief to court to recover the money paid for the phone, he could also do that.

 

[fracekm]

Do you think he has enough evidence to win in court if he took it there? And with all that evidence wouldn't the police be able to quite easily catch this guy? Or am I missing something?

 

[justalayman]

I'm pretty sure the guy paid over $300 for this phone and he's just a broke college student like any other kid his age. Kind of hard to swallow the fact that he might not see the money again.. Especially will all the information he has. I forgot to mention that he even has the place that this guy works (off his Facebook profile). Not to mention we don't live in a very large town.

I have to presume you do not know what "find my iphone" is.

I suspect you also do not understand Apple and they being super control freaks and how simple it is for them to find a phone, and since you cannot remove the battery without opening the phone, you cannot prevent them from finding the phone without dissassembling the phone?

Either your friend does the right thing or he looks really guilty when the cops show up to pick up the phone.

 

[fracekm]

Yes he's aware of what find my iPhone is. The phone however is completely dead since he doesn't have a charger. Gps signal stops when the phone is off. So I don't think he's too worried about it right this second until he figures out his options here.

 

[justalayman]

Gps signal stops when the phone is off

. want to put money on it?
did you know Apple was in discussions with the federal government to allow software to allow the gov to remotely activate a phone, even if it was turned off?

Of course they claim they didn't put it in there somewhere.

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden says the U.S. government has the capability to remotely turn on a targeted cellphone and then secretly activate the device’s camera and microphone

 

[justalayman]

regardless of anything else, he does not have the right to retain the phone. Keeping it does nothing other than show he had no intention of returning it to the rightful owner. That makes him a crook himself. he can deal with anything else after he turns the phone in.

 

[quincy]

Do you think he has enough evidence to win in court if he took it there? And with all that evidence wouldn't the police be able to quite easily catch this guy? Or am I missing something?

I don't know if your friend has enough evidence or not for the police to locate the thief and/or charge him with theft. It's possible. They will, at least, investigate the matter if your friend files a report.

If the police charge the seller with theft, it could make any civil action your friend decides to take against him easier. Even so, your friend should not count on ever seeing his $300 again.

But, as justalayman said, your friend may find himself charged with theft if he does not turn the phone into the police pronto.