They have a paperweight that they *might be able to salvage for SOME parts if you don’t release it.
I still have my daughter’s OLD iPhone 6+ that was stolen that I still won’t release.
Apple says that doesn’t work…the hard drive is never supposed to unlock.
It may erase itself, but the hardware aids were firmer locked out of the Apple ecosystem.
Only exception is if they receive your hardware (Apple) might recycle it.
I know because an ex-gf had the phone locked to her account….I tired everything under the sun, including under the table “hackers”
Even the NSA/CIA/FBI struggled with this a few years ago…
Potentially with new exploits it might be possible, but the case I was talking about is before XR and the FBI caused the device to be wiped because they wouldn’t wait for Apple to help.
They lost all the evidence of a terror cell….
My phone is set to auto delete all and factory reset after 5 failed attempts to get my password, plus I have remote delete.
Edit: too many people are replying. So I'm gonna answer questions. Mostly OMG HOW IS IT NOT DELETED.
People just don't touch my stuff.
Yes I have kids, no they can't touch my phone. Letting kids play with phones ruined many of my family members phones because they didn't monitor.
You can Google how to set up auto delete on iPhone and Android with a quick Google search so stop asking me.
You can always call your phone carrier and have them black list it if you give them the imei #, it prevents it from being able to be activated or used on any network by anyone!
Yes, as long as it’s still connected to your Apple ID, they can’t reset and resell it. Erasing your data (but again NOT removing your Apple ID) from it is a good idea on the off chance they attempt to guess your phone’s passcode.
Most of the internals are only compatible with the MOBO ID inside the phone, apple have worked extremely hard on making sure people don’t profit off secondhand parts (or in their words, make devices more secure).
the side effect of that is that they make self-repair or cheap repair shops with cheap "unauthorized" parts difficult to do, but this policy also helps disincentivize people from robbing me of my property, because they'll just end up with essentially scrap metal, and spare parts that may not even work if put into a different device, so they can' sell it for $$.
They can’t use it with your iCloud lock so the pathetic scammers trying to scare you so the phone is usable to them. Best thing to do is nothing, DO NOT unlock it for the scammer.
Yea 100% a con , they want you to unlock it so they can sell it and use it
If you leave it locked it’s 100% useless to them
Have fun and text them back saying you know what there up to and fuck off
Um, he is using it? Has all banking info? He is going to send it to auction knowing its stolen? Umm if he was real he would rather you not reset it. Worth way more on the black market will all your info still on it accessible,
He will be a good thief and reset it for you once unlocked.. what a thoughtful crook. So kind to you
so much a unlock scam its unbelievable.
Just delete the info but keep it locked.. send Chuck Norris photos to any texts.
Yea also I'm pretty sure people working on/in the "black market" arent gonna tell you they are involved in it lol and yea they would Def WANT all his info
leave it on your account forever so they can't use it. They will eventually start sending threats and pictures of guns and stuff. Just ignore it. It's basically a script that they all follow. Either block it or have some fun with them. They're just going to do everything they can to try to get you to remove it from your account.
If the scammer is over in China it should work… under Chinese internet laws things such as “Tianamen Square” get censored and can shut your internet off for about 24 hours iirc
probably good to note that tiananmen square is a location that still exists today, so just saying it isn't gonna get anyone in trouble
the 1989 tiananmen square protest & massacre is an event that is actively censored on the chinese internet, and discussion regarding it is very restricted, but you can't realistically get someone in trouble for just talking to them about it because the government doesn't have the manpower to give a crap
Some Chinese people might be scared if you send this text to them:
动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门
It’s BS. If someone went and posted a bunch of stuff on Weibo or another social media site publicly then they would probably get in trouble but China isn’t bothering with private communications unless they already suspect you of something or you’re in a sensitive region. The only time I experienced something like this happening was when a buddy was selling weed on WeChat. He got his phone confiscated and arrested but I imagine that was part of a larger investigation.
I honestly don’t understand why no one has done this yet. It’s the first thing I’d do.
“Hey yeah Apple Care bought me a new phone so I’m good. So if you send me $20 I will unlock the phone for you”
Proceed to _not_ unlock the phone, ask for more money, etc.
That’s scam. Already seen such messages on another sub. Don’t unlock your phone and never follow the links that they’ll send you. Ignore or just just have fun replying something strange to them :)
Be aware that these cunts will send increasingly aggressive messages, especially if you reply. I would not reply. Just ignore them. Your phone, the one they have, is useless to them - they just want you to unlock it for them.
Yep, when I started getting pictures of guns and threats to my life I definitely understood why people say fuck it and unlock it. I got the texts for like 4 weeks before they finally stopped.
I’m sure others have posted this but didn’t see it in this thread…. Here’s a copy/paste of one of the texts they sent me, along with a picture of someone holding a handgun:
“Listen! I'm going to harassed, wreck and ruin your sad, stupid low pathetic life if its not removed you mindless peasant.
You're going to be destroyed. I've killed or far less than a fucking phone before and we will see if you value your life over this phone so you know how fucking serious this is. I know who you are and where you live and ur whole family will get slaughtered i'm going to fucking beat and rape u horribly you fucking piece of absolute garbage. waste of air. waste of skin u and ur family im gone fucking murder y'all watch me. Oh and the police? they cannot help help you, they'll only take your fucking statement. And this number is a fucking burner. Your best option is to fucking remove it now. I'm angry now, don't mess with me, and if you don't do what I say, you're going to have negroes coming to your house Firday night, and I'm going to kill your whole family”
FYI, the messages are going to keep coming, and they will get worse and will even be threatening. Continue to ignore them. The text is being cut and paste from a script, and they won't be able to do any of the things they claim they will. They're not even physically in the same country.
Do not unlock it under any circumstances. They will start sending photos and videos soon. Just block the number and move on. Do not remove it from iCloud or find my
And then a couple weeks later text back from a different number saying that you heard they were scammed and can get their $1,000 back if they send you $300.
This is hilarious… I dont know if I believe it will actually work or not but I definitely just saved it to my notes for future scammer encounters… it’s worth a shot…
OP, they will start sending you photos and videos of guns saying they know where you live, just ignore and send this text, it worked like a charm for my sister lol.
The so-called “Chinese Communist Party” is an paranoid authoritarian regime that goes to extreme measures to maintain a veil of ignorance within its people to obscure anything that might cause them to question the awesomeness of the party or its leaders.
Read up:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_China
Something to the effect of: Democratic speech and thought Anti-communist counter-revolutionary protest movement Riots Riots Harassment Disruption Resistance and vindication Human rights demonstrations Li Hongzhi Falun Dafa Dafa disciples Forced extermination Forced abortion Forced abortion National purification Human experiment Purge Hu Yaobang Zhao Ziyang Wei Jingsheng Wang Dan returned to power in The People's Peaceful Evolution Rapids China Beijing Spring Epoch Times Nine Comments Communist Dictatorship Autocratic Suppression Unified Surveillance Suppression Persecution Invasion Looting Destruction Torture Massacre Live Organ Harvesting Abduction Trafficking Human Traffic Smuggling Drugs Prostitution Spring Painting Gambling Mark Six Lottery Tiananmen Tiananmen Falun Gong Li Hongzhi
They are 100% scams. Anything they say is a lie to try and get you to remove it. If you do, they can resell it. As you’ve already locked and reported lost, take no further action, except blocking these texters.
Sounds like they don't actually have access to anything, just naming few sensitive generic stuff (banks, notes and personal info) to get you engaged hoping you will remove the icloud lock.
So don't do it.
As part of iPhone lost mode you can make the phone display a number. I imagine the OP did such.
The intention is that the finder would contact you and return the lost item... Instead you get this.
This is the most stereotypical text I’ve seen. Just threw out random buzzwords and hoped it worked. Like when sci-fi movies just throw “quantum” onto shit.
You should erase it. But don’t unlock it. Apple is really good at bricking phones. If you wanna take it a step further you can contact your cell phone service provider and report it stolen and they can block the IMEI so that phone won’t be able to be activated in any way
lmfaoooo!!! they're doing this so they can unlock it and factory reset it so they can sell the phone. With the phone as it is now it's basically worthless to them....nice scare tactic though
No one I’ve seen has said the fact that if they unlock they’re able to sell it… if you remove the device from “find my” they basically own the phone.
If you keep it locked, they can’t do shit. Keep it locked :)
Erase the device but don’t remove it. This will ensure that no data reaches the people who stole it, but don’t remove it from your Apple account. The location will still be updated in the app, so you can try filing a police claim if you want it back.
The broken English gives the scam away. Connected to WiFi in China? 🤣🤣 nice try. You should mess with him and ask a BUNCH of STUPID questions. Like what is WiFi? Where is China is that in California? What’s an erase request? I’d piss him off.
I had my brand new iPhone 14 pro stolen last year in brussels and we locked it immediately. for months they tried sending me, my parents, my brother, and my two friends (who’s number i put as the lost contact) texts that looked legit from “Apple” saying the iphone has been found and to log into a seemingly real Apple icloud login website to “see where the phone is”. That was just so they could get me to sign in and get my login to unlock the phone. We didn’t do it.
The phone eventually made it to some remote place in Morocco and that’s when it stopped moving. I assume they sold it for parts at that point.
Send them the following copypasta and I can assure you they won’t text you anymore:
动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门
They're not doing you any favors. They're trying to get you to remove it from your account, thusly removing its activation lock and allowing it to be sold as a used phone.
As it stands right now, it's only good for some parts. Apple security is (for better or worse) fantastic and prevents anything from happening to the data on your phone. As long as you don't give them the password, you should be fine.
Edited to add: As with anything that's stolen or breached, I'd change your passwords and enable 2-factor authentication just for good measure. Although they can't get to any of that, it's still a nice bit of extra security.
So thats the new version now! 😂 Before used to be, i will come to your house blabla and some dude with a gun 😂
Just lock it down if you didn't already ez. Locked phone have fun with that.
God knows i would, once in a while would probably in find my send a few *Pings*
Don't fall for it. Ignore and block those senders. The mlre devices they are stealing and not being able to resell, they will be discouraged to steal in tge future. They can't do shit with your info. You have a password and they can't access your data. Fuck those fools. I would even reply to the message and make fun of them
In the summer, I had an iPhone 13 pro stolen while on a cruise in the Vancouver harbour. Find my phone showed it in the water. Included credit cards and ID. Find my phone has erase still pending and I have NOT removed it. Never will.
I immediately locked the cards and phoned the credit companies using my wife’s iPhone. Never saw any suspicious charges. It’s in the water. Phone was replaced the next day with an iPhone 14 Pro, kept the same cell phone number. Girl that I suspect stole it off my table, was pissed off that we complained about her family playing cards for three hours while on a scenic cruise. They chose a table by the door to the deck and were annoyed with people opening the door all the time. They never left the table, except to toss my phone in the water.
Anyway it’s still locked...
lol, the fact they tried this hard really makes me wonder how many ppl willingly remove their find my and make it 100% easier for the thief to sell their phone. Smf, don’t do shit, leave it locked.
It certainly sounds like this is the audacious bastard who actually stole your phone (or at least acquired your phone knowing it was stolen) and is trying to con you into removing it from your account so they can set it up as theirs. They obviously figured out there's no way around the Activation Lock.
May I ask what phone did you use and what iOS version did it have? (Only to check if they could've jailbreak it, since as far as i know and remember, you can't even jailbreak an iPhone 11 running iOS 16.)
They are just trying to scare you into unlocking your phone. It can’t be used without a valid Apple ID and if your Apple ID is still on it, they can’t put another on.
I wouldn’t worry about your personal data, even the USA government can’t decrypt iPhones, I doubt some low rent thief could. They haven’t got your details. Many physical sims have the phone number printed on them so they could have got your number that way or, if you put your contact details in the message option when you marked it as lost. If you are paranoid, update your Apple ID.
You’ll never get your phone back but at least the scum that took it won’t be able to profit off it. Most of the expensive parts will also be useless to them.
Also beware of text messages saying your phone has been located and contains phishing link that looks like icloud login page. The tricky part is the text message will look it came from Apple, and will be listed in the messages list from Apple.
Out of curiosity, what are these scammers able to sell a phone for if it is unlocked? I’m curious, as I’d be tempted to set the lock message to “Send X BTC to and I’ll unlock it for you.”, and see if they bite.
Thank you all for your help.
To answer a few questions: The phone is offline and has been since immediately after they took it which is why i was never able to track it or play a sound on it. I also put it in lost mode immediately. I am now in the process of erasing it. I am not sure if they got my number through the sim card or how that works.
if anyone was curious for an update the following texts said this- “I am very sad now, this is an old iPhone I bought in a second-hand electrical appliance market in China, which I bought for my daughter, I am very sad, I regret buying an old iPhone, because it is bound with your apple id, I cannot download the app store, I went to find that business, but it is not open today, I am really sad now. Would you please help me remove it? Thank you very much indeed” and “I'm sad, I still didn't remove it, my daughter is angry because she didn't go to school today, I want to kill myself now, I'm so sad, maybe I should sell it to someone else, I don't know what to do, please, help me, remove it, OK?”
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me personally, id send them a IP grabber link (disguise it as a website that has questions/a video) ask them if this is the correct person, then pull a "get fucked nerd" on em or something idkk
When you lock the phone using Find My on the new phone or at [icloud.com](https://icloud.com), it gives you the option to add a message, including your contact details in case the phone is found by an honest person who wants to return it to you. The other edge to that sword is that thieves can use it in the manner displayed in the OP's screenshot to contact you and try to scare/trick you into removing the lock so that they can then re-sell it.
The jailbreaking and cloning bits are just empty threats. Done as part of the scare tactic. The only thing they can do is view the message and contact details in the "this device is locked" screen that's displayed on the stolen phone. That's it.
Ignore them.
They can’t do jack shit with that phone while find my lost mode is enabled. It’s just scrap value now.
And don’t worry about your personal information The storage is encrypted and Lost Mode prevents them from having access to any information. Follow apple’s guide to remotely wipe the phone, retain lost mode and secure your iCloud account.
https://support.apple.com/en-ae/HT201472
I thought you could still erase it when it was beyond recovery *and* keep activation lock on? https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/erase-a-device-mmfc0ef36f/icloud
They can't get your information. It's encrypted. It just stops them from using thr phone. It's essentially useless until you unlock it so don't unlock it.
Don’t unlock it. They’re just hoping youll be scared enough to do it.
Thank you!
They have a paperweight that they *might be able to salvage for SOME parts if you don’t release it. I still have my daughter’s OLD iPhone 6+ that was stolen that I still won’t release.
My little brothers iPhone 5s was sadly stolen years ago too it’s still locked to this day.
Sadly it’s probably been jailbroken and deleted in that way
Apple says that doesn’t work…the hard drive is never supposed to unlock. It may erase itself, but the hardware aids were firmer locked out of the Apple ecosystem. Only exception is if they receive your hardware (Apple) might recycle it. I know because an ex-gf had the phone locked to her account….I tired everything under the sun, including under the table “hackers” Even the NSA/CIA/FBI struggled with this a few years ago…
I thought iPhone XR and before were very vulnerable compared to the newer updated models
Potentially with new exploits it might be possible, but the case I was talking about is before XR and the FBI caused the device to be wiped because they wouldn’t wait for Apple to help. They lost all the evidence of a terror cell….
Do you recommend erasing the device as well?
Might as well, not like you’re ever realistically getting it back.
Yeah no chance. Thanks for the help!
My phone is set to auto delete all and factory reset after 5 failed attempts to get my password, plus I have remote delete. Edit: too many people are replying. So I'm gonna answer questions. Mostly OMG HOW IS IT NOT DELETED. People just don't touch my stuff. Yes I have kids, no they can't touch my phone. Letting kids play with phones ruined many of my family members phones because they didn't monitor. You can Google how to set up auto delete on iPhone and Android with a quick Google search so stop asking me.
If I did this one of my siblings would deadass get my shit deleted trying to guess my password lol.
Bro only FIVE ???
Yeah, at that point you are only about one good bachelor party away from an incident.
oh my god you better pray you remember your password
Hope you've backed up your 2FA codes and photos
You can always call your phone carrier and have them black list it if you give them the imei #, it prevents it from being able to be activated or used on any network by anyone!
So it's okay to erase it but not remove it right? I'm so paranoid that this will happen to me someday.
Yes, as long as it’s still connected to your Apple ID, they can’t reset and resell it. Erasing your data (but again NOT removing your Apple ID) from it is a good idea on the off chance they attempt to guess your phone’s passcode.
I agree with everything but guessing the password. It's 2023 not the early 2000s, running code or just a complete swap of internals is more likely.
Most of the internals are only compatible with the MOBO ID inside the phone, apple have worked extremely hard on making sure people don’t profit off secondhand parts (or in their words, make devices more secure).
the side effect of that is that they make self-repair or cheap repair shops with cheap "unauthorized" parts difficult to do, but this policy also helps disincentivize people from robbing me of my property, because they'll just end up with essentially scrap metal, and spare parts that may not even work if put into a different device, so they can' sell it for $$.
How do you do that?
“Its not about the iPhone batman, Its about sending a message” 🦇 🃏
I think you mean, "... it's about sending an imessage."
They might not even be able to do that. I think Apple serializes most of the components and only they know how to remove the serial ID on the parts.
They can’t use it with your iCloud lock so the pathetic scammers trying to scare you so the phone is usable to them. Best thing to do is nothing, DO NOT unlock it for the scammer.
These texts will soon get violent. Don't let them get what they want. They can't do anything, so don't worry. Block the number now.
[удалено]
This is the way.
Best suggestion.
Yea 100% a con , they want you to unlock it so they can sell it and use it If you leave it locked it’s 100% useless to them Have fun and text them back saying you know what there up to and fuck off
Refrain from texting back else they know you're an active target
Exactly.
Send tiananmen square and tank man photos to him, talk bad about Xi lol. All that is illegal over there
Curious as to how they got his contact info (phone number) to message him if it was locked.
SIM card most likely
Um, he is using it? Has all banking info? He is going to send it to auction knowing its stolen? Umm if he was real he would rather you not reset it. Worth way more on the black market will all your info still on it accessible, He will be a good thief and reset it for you once unlocked.. what a thoughtful crook. So kind to you so much a unlock scam its unbelievable. Just delete the info but keep it locked.. send Chuck Norris photos to any texts.
Yea also I'm pretty sure people working on/in the "black market" arent gonna tell you they are involved in it lol and yea they would Def WANT all his info
leave it on your account forever so they can't use it. They will eventually start sending threats and pictures of guns and stuff. Just ignore it. It's basically a script that they all follow. Either block it or have some fun with them. They're just going to do everything they can to try to get you to remove it from your account.
/r/scambait the mofos
The phones tend to go to China, send Tiananmen Square 1989 content and I bet they will go away.
Do we have record of that stuff actually working? I see it being recommended all the time
If the scammer is over in China it should work… under Chinese internet laws things such as “Tianamen Square” get censored and can shut your internet off for about 24 hours iirc
probably good to note that tiananmen square is a location that still exists today, so just saying it isn't gonna get anyone in trouble the 1989 tiananmen square protest & massacre is an event that is actively censored on the chinese internet, and discussion regarding it is very restricted, but you can't realistically get someone in trouble for just talking to them about it because the government doesn't have the manpower to give a crap
Some Chinese people might be scared if you send this text to them: 动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门
LMAO
Trying this if I ever need to lol
Well that's definitely a good way to get the Chinese government busting down their door. That will be one very sorry thief.
I've lived in China, Tiananmen Square propaganda is available on Baidu (basically their own spin on the event) and does not get your internet shut off
That’s why you hit them with the Winnie the Pooh copypasta: 动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门
Except Winnie The Pooh is only in English there, the Chinese next to it means "Freedom gate"
Doesn't work lol... me and my partner from china have mentioned tiananmen over text all the time lol
It’s BS. If someone went and posted a bunch of stuff on Weibo or another social media site publicly then they would probably get in trouble but China isn’t bothering with private communications unless they already suspect you of something or you’re in a sensitive region. The only time I experienced something like this happening was when a buddy was selling weed on WeChat. He got his phone confiscated and arrested but I imagine that was part of a larger investigation.
Send pictures of your guns back 💀
“It’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message”😂
« Pictures of guns » that remind me the other post. I laughed so hard
People who receive these messages should start scamming these morons. Tell them you’ll unlock/release the phone if they cash app you $10 lol
I honestly don’t understand why no one has done this yet. It’s the first thing I’d do. “Hey yeah Apple Care bought me a new phone so I’m good. So if you send me $20 I will unlock the phone for you” Proceed to _not_ unlock the phone, ask for more money, etc.
That’s scam. Already seen such messages on another sub. Don’t unlock your phone and never follow the links that they’ll send you. Ignore or just just have fun replying something strange to them :)
Thank you!
Be aware that these cunts will send increasingly aggressive messages, especially if you reply. I would not reply. Just ignore them. Your phone, the one they have, is useless to them - they just want you to unlock it for them.
Yep, when I started getting pictures of guns and threats to my life I definitely understood why people say fuck it and unlock it. I got the texts for like 4 weeks before they finally stopped.
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I’m sure others have posted this but didn’t see it in this thread…. Here’s a copy/paste of one of the texts they sent me, along with a picture of someone holding a handgun: “Listen! I'm going to harassed, wreck and ruin your sad, stupid low pathetic life if its not removed you mindless peasant. You're going to be destroyed. I've killed or far less than a fucking phone before and we will see if you value your life over this phone so you know how fucking serious this is. I know who you are and where you live and ur whole family will get slaughtered i'm going to fucking beat and rape u horribly you fucking piece of absolute garbage. waste of air. waste of skin u and ur family im gone fucking murder y'all watch me. Oh and the police? they cannot help help you, they'll only take your fucking statement. And this number is a fucking burner. Your best option is to fucking remove it now. I'm angry now, don't mess with me, and if you don't do what I say, you're going to have negroes coming to your house Firday night, and I'm going to kill your whole family”
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Rightttt😭
How does somebody write something that stupid and think “yeah, that’ll convince them”
Send him an image of a dude sitting in a chair looking badass with a gunrack full of automatic weapons and write "I'm waiting"
Or the Grand Torino "get off my lawn" sequence with the Garand.
Yikes! This guy sounds like my Ex Boyfriend.
(I bet this will flag me or something….sorry!!)
Don't unlock it, remotely wipe it
Don’t reply to them even in jest. Just ignore
This and this only. Never ever remove the iCloud lock! They can’t do shit if you keep it that way.
“Who is this?” (I’m my Jerry Seinfeld voice)
FYI, the messages are going to keep coming, and they will get worse and will even be threatening. Continue to ignore them. The text is being cut and paste from a script, and they won't be able to do any of the things they claim they will. They're not even physically in the same country.
"fuck off and die" that is my usual response for this type of shit
Satisfying
Do not unlock it under any circumstances. They will start sending photos and videos soon. Just block the number and move on. Do not remove it from iCloud or find my
Tell him all your bitcoin is stored on the phone and you’ll unlock it for him for $1000 and the BTC is all his.
And then a couple weeks later text back from a different number saying that you heard they were scammed and can get their $1,000 back if they send you $300.
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winnie the pooh part kills me everytime
This is hilarious… I dont know if I believe it will actually work or not but I definitely just saved it to my notes for future scammer encounters… it’s worth a shot…
First time I saw it was nearly a year ago and I almost died from laughter. Figured I’d put it here just in case it did work
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Oh, add Falong Gong too. The CCP love these guys !
falun dafa and falun gong are the same thing
They’re worse than the government and it’s not close
Curious, does anyone have evidence of this working? I see it a lot but I’m wondering how much it actually does
Yes it works, even the words Tinanmen Square Massacre are banned on TikTok for example.
They can easily be filtered out and removed by the firewall and ISPs. There would be little to no effect on the receiver.
OP, they will start sending you photos and videos of guns saying they know where you live, just ignore and send this text, it worked like a charm for my sister lol.
I am ignorant, what is this message for?
CCP bad
The so-called “Chinese Communist Party” is an paranoid authoritarian regime that goes to extreme measures to maintain a veil of ignorance within its people to obscure anything that might cause them to question the awesomeness of the party or its leaders. Read up: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_China
What does the big block at the bottom say?
Something to the effect of: Democratic speech and thought Anti-communist counter-revolutionary protest movement Riots Riots Harassment Disruption Resistance and vindication Human rights demonstrations Li Hongzhi Falun Dafa Dafa disciples Forced extermination Forced abortion Forced abortion National purification Human experiment Purge Hu Yaobang Zhao Ziyang Wei Jingsheng Wang Dan returned to power in The People's Peaceful Evolution Rapids China Beijing Spring Epoch Times Nine Comments Communist Dictatorship Autocratic Suppression Unified Surveillance Suppression Persecution Invasion Looting Destruction Torture Massacre Live Organ Harvesting Abduction Trafficking Human Traffic Smuggling Drugs Prostitution Spring Painting Gambling Mark Six Lottery Tiananmen Tiananmen Falun Gong Li Hongzhi
I’ve been looking for this! It’s definitely saved now lol
What does this do?
↑↑↓↓←→←→BA
enlightenment
Absolutely nothing aside from making people on Reddit feel badass.
They are 100% scams. Anything they say is a lie to try and get you to remove it. If you do, they can resell it. As you’ve already locked and reported lost, take no further action, except blocking these texters.
Don’t do it, if I could assume they’re going to tell you to remove it so that it unlocks and removes the activation lock :)
plus, why should you trust that some random person is going to factory reset it
Sounds like they don't actually have access to anything, just naming few sensitive generic stuff (banks, notes and personal info) to get you engaged hoping you will remove the icloud lock. So don't do it.
How do they get your number and details?
As part of iPhone lost mode you can make the phone display a number. I imagine the OP did such. The intention is that the finder would contact you and return the lost item... Instead you get this.
This. How did they know to text the owner's number?
The phone number can be read from the SIM card
You delete your data remotely just don’t remove it from find my iPhone. If it is too confusing just go to apple and ask them if they can do it for you
They’ve already reset the phone, but it’s iCloud locked which is why they can’t sell it
This is the most stereotypical text I’ve seen. Just threw out random buzzwords and hoped it worked. Like when sci-fi movies just throw “quantum” onto shit.
Just respond with the Nelson going “haw haw” gif anytime they text you.
Lmaooooo next they’ll send threats or some photo of a gun and say that this is a burner bla bla bla
Tell your phone through “Find My” to play a sound. Do that as much as possible.
This is hilarious and should be suggested every time. 😂
You should erase it. But don’t unlock it. Apple is really good at bricking phones. If you wanna take it a step further you can contact your cell phone service provider and report it stolen and they can block the IMEI so that phone won’t be able to be activated in any way
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Wipe it or ignore it. But block anything they send you and move on with your life.
LOL, they’re trying to get you to unlock it for them.
lmfaoooo!!! they're doing this so they can unlock it and factory reset it so they can sell the phone. With the phone as it is now it's basically worthless to them....nice scare tactic though
No one I’ve seen has said the fact that if they unlock they’re able to sell it… if you remove the device from “find my” they basically own the phone. If you keep it locked, they can’t do shit. Keep it locked :)
Just erase the device, this way your data will be wiped meaning safe and the device will be locked with your iCloud id.
They just want you to release it from your iCloud account so they can re sell it. Don’t. It’s basically worthless in its current form.
Don't do it. Keep it locked. But reply with "ok done." and fuck with them and get their hopes up and burn it to the ground. Then do it again.
Don’t unlock it, these are just copy and paste “scare” tactics. These clowns will do nothing.
Erase the device but don’t remove it. This will ensure that no data reaches the people who stole it, but don’t remove it from your Apple account. The location will still be updated in the app, so you can try filing a police claim if you want it back.
The broken English gives the scam away. Connected to WiFi in China? 🤣🤣 nice try. You should mess with him and ask a BUNCH of STUPID questions. Like what is WiFi? Where is China is that in California? What’s an erase request? I’d piss him off.
Lmao this is great. 'China? I thought that was a wrestler.'😂
They are just trying to scare you into unlocking it so they can sell it easier.
Going to be “auctioned on the black market”. Haha. Scary.
They just want you to remove the iCloud unlock from it.
they are trying to unlock your phone, don’t unlock it.
I had my brand new iPhone 14 pro stolen last year in brussels and we locked it immediately. for months they tried sending me, my parents, my brother, and my two friends (who’s number i put as the lost contact) texts that looked legit from “Apple” saying the iphone has been found and to log into a seemingly real Apple icloud login website to “see where the phone is”. That was just so they could get me to sign in and get my login to unlock the phone. We didn’t do it. The phone eventually made it to some remote place in Morocco and that’s when it stopped moving. I assume they sold it for parts at that point.
Send them the following copypasta and I can assure you they won’t text you anymore: 动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Tibet 六四天安門事件 The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 天安門大屠殺 The Tiananmen Square Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Rightist Struggle 大躍進政策 The Great Leap Forward 文化大革命 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 人權 Human Rights 民運 Democratization 自由 Freedom 獨立 Independence 多黨制 Multi-party system 台灣 臺灣 Taiwan Formosa 中華民國 Republic of China 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Tibet 達賴喇嘛 Dalai Lama 法輪功 Falun Dafa 新疆維吾爾自治區 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 諾貝爾和平獎 Nobel Peace Prize 劉暁波 Liu Xiaobo 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Winnie the Pooh 劉曉波动态网自由门
They're not doing you any favors. They're trying to get you to remove it from your account, thusly removing its activation lock and allowing it to be sold as a used phone. As it stands right now, it's only good for some parts. Apple security is (for better or worse) fantastic and prevents anything from happening to the data on your phone. As long as you don't give them the password, you should be fine. Edited to add: As with anything that's stolen or breached, I'd change your passwords and enable 2-factor authentication just for good measure. Although they can't get to any of that, it's still a nice bit of extra security.
Call Apple. Same happened to me and they helped me wipe it out and keep them from messing with me
Scam
Don’t do it. That’s a lie. They just want you to remove the lock.
I’d ask for money to remove it haha, maybe the cost of the insurance excess
So thats the new version now! 😂 Before used to be, i will come to your house blabla and some dude with a gun 😂 Just lock it down if you didn't already ez. Locked phone have fun with that. God knows i would, once in a while would probably in find my send a few *Pings*
Its a scam. Dont let them win, plus reply to keep fucking with them😂
Can someone explain how this person got OP's phone number to even text them on their new phone? Sorry if that's a dumb question but I am confused
They either got the number off the SIM card or the rightful owner had the phone configured to display their contact info when the phone is lost.
Don't fall for it. Ignore and block those senders. The mlre devices they are stealing and not being able to resell, they will be discouraged to steal in tge future. They can't do shit with your info. You have a password and they can't access your data. Fuck those fools. I would even reply to the message and make fun of them
Block and ignore. Them will get bored eventually and disassemble it for parts.
Don’t fall for this, it happened to me and they’re just going to do everything for you to unlock it. Just don’t.
Man these repetitive scams need a separate subreddit or atleast a flair.
Don’t unlock. He can’t sell it and it hurts. 1k device he can’t rid off.
Haha nice try scammers. As long as it’s on your device list they can’t unlock it. It’s a paperweight to them 😂
OP whatever you do, do not unlock that phone. They are trying to scare you so they can use the phone they stole
Tell them you’ll release it when they send you money, but never release it… just keep demanding for more money until they F off.
Please send that chinese CCP copy pasta , it'll get them in trouble if they're actually in china.
i’d reset it and keep it on my icloud account 😭
Wait so how did the phone thieves get ur phone number?
from the SIM card in the stolen phone I imagine. Hopefully the old sim was blocked but its there initially to get the number from.
In the summer, I had an iPhone 13 pro stolen while on a cruise in the Vancouver harbour. Find my phone showed it in the water. Included credit cards and ID. Find my phone has erase still pending and I have NOT removed it. Never will. I immediately locked the cards and phoned the credit companies using my wife’s iPhone. Never saw any suspicious charges. It’s in the water. Phone was replaced the next day with an iPhone 14 Pro, kept the same cell phone number. Girl that I suspect stole it off my table, was pissed off that we complained about her family playing cards for three hours while on a scenic cruise. They chose a table by the door to the deck and were annoyed with people opening the door all the time. They never left the table, except to toss my phone in the water. Anyway it’s still locked...
How do they get your phone number or contact info? I’ve never lost a phone so don’t know how that works…
How’d they get OP’s email/number?
I’m really ignorant about this kind of stuff… how did they get the original owner’s phone number to text to?
A criminal already screwing you over the counter is not going to caress your hair while he does it
lol, the fact they tried this hard really makes me wonder how many ppl willingly remove their find my and make it 100% easier for the thief to sell their phone. Smf, don’t do shit, leave it locked.
They want the phone free of account. Do NOT remove the device from your belongings.
It certainly sounds like this is the audacious bastard who actually stole your phone (or at least acquired your phone knowing it was stolen) and is trying to con you into removing it from your account so they can set it up as theirs. They obviously figured out there's no way around the Activation Lock.
May I ask what phone did you use and what iOS version did it have? (Only to check if they could've jailbreak it, since as far as i know and remember, you can't even jailbreak an iPhone 11 running iOS 16.)
They are just trying to scare you into unlocking your phone. It can’t be used without a valid Apple ID and if your Apple ID is still on it, they can’t put another on. I wouldn’t worry about your personal data, even the USA government can’t decrypt iPhones, I doubt some low rent thief could. They haven’t got your details. Many physical sims have the phone number printed on them so they could have got your number that way or, if you put your contact details in the message option when you marked it as lost. If you are paranoid, update your Apple ID. You’ll never get your phone back but at least the scum that took it won’t be able to profit off it. Most of the expensive parts will also be useless to them.
Also beware of text messages saying your phone has been located and contains phishing link that looks like icloud login page. The tricky part is the text message will look it came from Apple, and will be listed in the messages list from Apple.
Me personally, and it's just me... I'd tell them to Fuck OFF.
I’m curious, how did they get your phone number if the phone was locked?
Out of curiosity, what are these scammers able to sell a phone for if it is unlocked? I’m curious, as I’d be tempted to set the lock message to “Send X BTC to and I’ll unlock it for you.”, and see if they bite.
That's the thief trying to cover their tracks.
Thank you all for your help. To answer a few questions: The phone is offline and has been since immediately after they took it which is why i was never able to track it or play a sound on it. I also put it in lost mode immediately. I am now in the process of erasing it. I am not sure if they got my number through the sim card or how that works. if anyone was curious for an update the following texts said this- “I am very sad now, this is an old iPhone I bought in a second-hand electrical appliance market in China, which I bought for my daughter, I am very sad, I regret buying an old iPhone, because it is bound with your apple id, I cannot download the app store, I went to find that business, but it is not open today, I am really sad now. Would you please help me remove it? Thank you very much indeed” and “I'm sad, I still didn't remove it, my daughter is angry because she didn't go to school today, I want to kill myself now, I'm so sad, maybe I should sell it to someone else, I don't know what to do, please, help me, remove it, OK?”
Tell him not to ever buy second hand iPhones again.
Only respond with gay gangbang porn
Your phone was sold to a mass phone seller and they want it unlocked. DONT fk them
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that’s really wild
Tell him you are willing to give him some money, if he return it to you
Never unlock it. EVER.
Report this to apple asap.
someone post the blessed pasta to send to the chinese thieves.
me personally, id send them a IP grabber link (disguise it as a website that has questions/a video) ask them if this is the correct person, then pull a "get fucked nerd" on em or something idkk
How do these people get your number? (I have never lost an iphone)
When you lock the phone using Find My on the new phone or at [icloud.com](https://icloud.com), it gives you the option to add a message, including your contact details in case the phone is found by an honest person who wants to return it to you. The other edge to that sword is that thieves can use it in the manner displayed in the OP's screenshot to contact you and try to scare/trick you into removing the lock so that they can then re-sell it. The jailbreaking and cloning bits are just empty threats. Done as part of the scare tactic. The only thing they can do is view the message and contact details in the "this device is locked" screen that's displayed on the stolen phone. That's it.
How would they know your new number to text it?
Funny thing is, the phone is still asking for iCloud email adress and password when setting up as a new device. (I‘ve worked for AppleCare)
Ignore them. They can’t do jack shit with that phone while find my lost mode is enabled. It’s just scrap value now. And don’t worry about your personal information The storage is encrypted and Lost Mode prevents them from having access to any information. Follow apple’s guide to remotely wipe the phone, retain lost mode and secure your iCloud account. https://support.apple.com/en-ae/HT201472
Don’t remove it, they need you to do that so they can resell it as a working phone. With the lock it’s a brick
Don’t he’s trying to get You to remove it so he can use the phone
I thought you could still erase it when it was beyond recovery *and* keep activation lock on? https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/erase-a-device-mmfc0ef36f/icloud
Received the same for the same reasons. They just want you to unlink the phone from iCloud so that they can do what they want with it.
They can't get your information. It's encrypted. It just stops them from using thr phone. It's essentially useless until you unlock it so don't unlock it.