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Original poster

Bought iPhone - private seller - phone still passcoded

39 replies

bluecampbell · 23/09/2020 10:32

Hi there, hoping someone can help. In November last year I bought an iPhone 8 via Facebook Marketplace from a private seller. We kept it as a spare and a few weeks ago put my sim into it to start using it. However we then discovered that the passcode is still on from the previous owner (the seller's son), so the phone has not been erased.

After researching I think that there are two solutions:

She gives me the passcode so I can enter the phone and erase all the content
She logs onto iCloud and erases the phone from there

I have contacted her and initially had no response, when I followed up I got a message saying "looking into it" but nothing since then despite politely following up again.

I have screenshots of the advert on FB Marketplace, and of our messenger conversation about the sale.

She lives a mile down the road, so I am tempted to say I will bring the phone to her for her to sort out then and there, although of course there is the Covid issue.

I don't want to take it further as it seems to be such a simple fix but I am not sure why she is being so evasive and unhelpful.

Does anyone have any advice on next steps? It cost £250 which I am not happy to lose!

Many thanks.

OP posts:

Maybelle345 · 23/09/2020 10:41

She can easily wipe it in moments from iCloud. I would just politely message again asking her to do this ASAP or you’ll be requiring a refund

Original poster

bluecampbell · 23/09/2020 11:36

Thanks Maybelle, I have asked her to do this, and even sent through instructions from Apple on how to do it, but there is no reply. I messaged again this morning following up.

It is so frustrating as it's so simple to fix!

I am not sure where I stand legally on this, or should I take the phone to the police? Some advice online said that if the seller cannot or refuses to unlock the phone it means it may be stolen but she said it was her son's phone.

OP posts:

titchy · 23/09/2020 11:44

Can you just do a factory reset?

negomi90 · 23/09/2020 11:51

I think if you've had it and not used for nearly a year, she may have forgotten the passwords/moved. It was on you to check it worked at the time.
It would be lovely if she could and did do something, but 10months later she doesn't have to.
You can get a cheap emergency phone for £20.

TinySleepThief · 23/09/2020 11:56

Honestly I can aee why she is reluctant tobdo anything at all given how long you've had the phone. Its perfectly possible shes totally forgotten the passcode or cloud login details since last November, sven more likely if she says it was her sons.

I would look at getting a cheap phone as a spare and writing this one off as a poor decision, I certainly wouldn't be going round to her home even during normal timea, let alone a pandemic to insist she sorts it out.

AWaspOnAWindowReturns · 23/09/2020 11:57

I'd be concerned she'd sold you a stolen phone and she didn't know the passcode. Perhaps phone Apple and ask if they can do anything?

combatbarbie · 23/09/2020 12:01

Why didn't check it was working when you bought it?

emptyshelvesagain · 23/09/2020 12:01

It's been 10 months. I don't have a clue what my passcode was back then. They would she know?

Does anyone have any advice on next steps? It cost £250 which I am not happy to lose!

You literally bought a phone and did nothing with it for months, didn't even check it. That money is long gone.

user1471518104 · 23/09/2020 12:05

You can reset it. From a pc with I tunes on it, Assuming no I cloud lock, If it's locked with iCloud it's a useful as a brick now

chatwoo · 23/09/2020 12:15

@user1471518104

You can reset it. From a pc with I tunes on it, Assuming no I cloud lock, If it's locked with iCloud it's a useful as a brick now

No you can't. If you open iTunes on your PC and plug the phone into PC, you can't do anything via the iTunes interface unless the phone is unlocked with the PIN.

I know this because I was trying to hack an old phone the other day!

Lambtales · 23/09/2020 12:19

I had to factory reset an ipad which my DC had changed the code on but couldn't remember what to.

Apple talked me through it. But it involved using a PC with iTunes and holding down the buttons in a particular order.

This totally wiped it so it could be reset.

prh47bridge · 23/09/2020 12:20

Take a look at support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204306. That tells you how to get into an iPhone without the passcode. It will, of course, be wiped in the process.

willitbetonight · 23/09/2020 12:28

I regularly have to wipe my kids phones when they forget their passwords. I know their iCloud log ins though. Go into Apple - if it can be done they will do it for you. I suspect it's nicked.....

StanfordPines · 23/09/2020 12:29

If she’s genuine but has forgotten the code she could still reply and say that. The fact she’s not replying makes me think it’s stolen.

Saladd0dger · 23/09/2020 12:32

I think stolen to. I had my phone stolen in 2018. The cheeky git used the number on the lost mode screen to ask for the passcode.

Dawnlassie · 23/09/2020 12:34

Youtube search for factory reset. Must be a video.

user1471518104 · 23/09/2020 12:36

Yes you can. You just need to enter DFU or recovery mode There is a button combination for all apple technology

emptyshelvesagain · 23/09/2020 13:03

@Saladd0dger

I think stolen to. I had my phone stolen in 2018. The cheeky git used the number on the lost mode screen to ask for the passcode.

Why do you think it's stolen? Because the seller left a passcode? This is really really common.

TingTastic · 23/09/2020 17:30

@Saladd0dger

I think stolen to. I had my phone stolen in 2018. The cheeky git used the number on the lost mode screen to ask for the passcode.

I had exactly this. My phone was pick-pocketed so we put it in “lost phone” mode with my husbands number displayed on the screen. Some cheeky girl who had bought it off the thief texted my husband asking for the passcode!

Original poster

bluecampbell · 23/09/2020 22:58

Shit! Am I handling stolen goods? What do I do? Genuinely a little nervous now.

I bought it in good faith, she said it was her son's phone as he had a new one and her FB profile pic has a picture of her and him.

Should I take it to the police? I will keep trying to contact her.

OP posts:

Snozzlemaid · 23/09/2020 23:22

I would be thinking stolen too, I'm afraid.

Burnthurst187 · 23/09/2020 23:26

Did you see the phone switched on and working before you bought it?

bruffin · 23/09/2020 23:30

I think you can search online using the imei number to see if its stolen or blacklisted.

Thisisnotnormal69 · 23/09/2020 23:32

Surely you checked it was working before giving the money etc? Turned it on?

emptyshelvesagain · 23/09/2020 23:39

Shit! Am I handling stolen goods? What do I do?

Put it back in the drawer and stop being so dramatic.

Should I take it to the police?

What on earth for?

I will keep trying to contact her.

At the very least give her a chance to get back to you, but there is no way I would be able to remember the passcode I used 10 months ago

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