Adventure of the Stolen iPhone

Adventure of the Stolen iPhone

Last night something terrible happened. On my way home from work, I left my iPhone on the BART train. After the train doors closed when I got off at my destination, I realized it was missing as soon as I reached into my pocket to check the time. Panic ensued and I scoured my backpack. No luck. I cursed and some people on the platform looked at me like dead fish. I just glared back at them. My internal dialog:

They don’t understand the magnitude of my loss!

First world problems, much?

No! Whoever stole my phone is acting like a rabid monkey, not a civilized member of the first world!!! I hate them, I hate them!!!

Chill, you don’t know for sure that it’s been stolen. Just go contact the BART station agent and tell him you left your phone on the latest Fremont-bound train.

Okay.

So I went to the station agent, and after some prodding, he did about all he could do without exceeding his job description of sitting in a box. He called the driver of the Fremont-bound train to report the lost phone. The guy in the box told me that, if I wanted, I could wait around for 20 minutes for the train to reach the end of the track where it can be searched. Somehow, I sensed a lack of confidence in his words. I also got the sense he didn’t really care and that I was just a bother since it took him some convincing to act on what I said. At first he merely said, “Yup, that train is headed to Fremont,” (no shit, Sherlock) and left it at that. After that uninspiring example of customer service, I paced the floor slowly and anxiously, wondering whether to stay or go.

The window of opportunity to retrieve my precious iPhone was drawing to a close!

Not wanting to waste another minute, I left the BART station and ran to my car. Then I drove straight to Turtle’s house to tell him the bad news. When I arrived we quickly logged into my iCloud account on his laptop and located my missing phone using the Find My iPhone feature. To my dismay, the phone was not on a BART train, but winding it’s way through some shady-ass neighborhood. I feared the worst: that it had been kidnapped! The locator radius shrank to about 20 feet and settled on one address. From the locator, we could see that the phone was at 18% battery life. We tried calling the phone. Then we tried texting it the number to contact if found. Unfortunately, we were getting no responses, so we knew that whoever had it was not intending to give it back. Through the Find My iPhone service, I was able to set my phone in Lost Mode, meaning that no one could turn it off without the correct pass code. Additionally, a phone in Lost Mode will emit a plaintive beaconing sound until found. Next step, I called the police and told them that I had located my stolen phone via Find My iPhone. The asked me for the address and they agreed to meet me by the suspect’s house to try to retrieve the phone. Unfortunately, they said, they would not be able to to search the place without a warrant, so I knew my chances of getting the phone back were very slim. Because I love my phone so much to the point of thinking of it as my little friend/assistant, and because I wanted to see justice, I decided there was nothing to lose in trying to get my precious back! So Turtle and I hopped in the car and used his iPhone to navigate to the thief’s apartment.

Two tall, intimidating-looking cops met us at the apartment complex. I gave them a brief explanation of the situation and how I had used the Find My iPhone to locate my missing phone at that exact address. Turtle and I waited by the police cars while the cops walked over to the end of the apartment complex where the phone was apparently located.

While we waited, we saw shady-looking people stumble around. One guy appeared to be a gang member, casting off a dark hoodie to reveal his bright red t-shirt as he sped off in his beater of a car. Most of the people sauntering around looked like druggies on a mission. Turtle and I looked comically out of place with our nerdy glasses, fitted clothes, and nervous expressions.

When the cops returned, I wasn’t confident that they were able to return the phone. To my surprise, one of the cops handed it back to me, saying that this was the first successful cell phone retrieval he had witnessed in the past fifteen years. This was due greatly in part to the efficacy of the Find My iPhone service. Wary of the seedy locale, the cops advised us to depart as soon as possible. We thanked them for their help and left. I was giddy with relief to have my beloved little device back in my hands.

My phone was basically intact, but the SIM chip had been removed. From what I understand, an iPhone in Lost Mode will not turn off without a pass code, and it will whine continuously until it’s either found or runs out of battery life. I can imagine the thief’s frustration as they tried to disable it. That’s why the SIM card was removed: to take the phone off the 3G network so that it would shut up and stop telling me where it was taken to. Fortunately, we outsmarted the thief! The police were able to retrieve the SIM card as well as the phone. Whoever removed the SIM card did a terrible job at it since my iPhone was bent and the glass screen was precariously sitting on top of the warped frame, ready to pop off any day. In a happy coincidence, my iPhone’s warranty happens to expire in a mere two days. I plan to get it replaced for free this weekend.

Looking back on this adventure, I can’t express how enamored I am with the level of ingenuity that goes into Apple products. The Find My iPhone feature is more than just an added extra, but a real revolution (and evolution) in the human-computer experience.

In addition to thanking the geniuses at Apple, I also want to thank the police officers that went out of their way to retrieve my iPhone, all the while putting themselves in potential danger. Last but not least, I want to thank my best friend, Turtle, for accompanying me on this adventure and helping me plan and execute the logistics of our quest. Turtle, you are the best co-pilot I could ever ask for.

***

Karlina Beringer, aka Pumpkin Programmer, creates interesting blogs

*Pumpkin Programmer (a.k.a. Karlina Beringer) is an aspiring software developer and creator of neat things. She is currently studying computer science at CSU East Bay and working as an intern at Lawrence Berkeley Lab. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, playing on the computer, playing the drums, and generally “nerding out.”  More of Beringer’s writing can be found HERE