Lost my iPhone at work today

[Ridewithme38]

I don't think I will get the phone back

I sent a message with alarm sound to my phone last night asking the person to return the phone to the security this morning. I lost the trace of the phone after that. I did get another location last night. But it was in an apartment building with three floors. So it is harder to figure out the occupants.

Any ways, the phone was not turned in. I call Federal Protective Service (DHS internal police) this morning and filed a report. The police came right away. He got the information and went to talk to the suspect. I talked to him later today and found that the person said she moved out in November. She still owns the house. She gave the officer the contact information of the current occupants. He is going to investigate more. I don't think he much to go on. If she plainly denies any involvement and the people living there never came to my work, what can he do? All I have is the print out from find my iPhone. I did ask the officer to find out if the person came to my building yesterday. She does not normally work here.

Went to At&T and got my old phone activated again. I asked if they block a person from using a reported stolen phone. They don't. They will simply give the thief a new SIM card. I know Apple does not care either. Amazon and BN do blacklist stolen eBook readers. Once a Kindle is marked stolen by the owner, it is pretty much a pdf reader, can't get any new books on it.

I will stay in touch with the police, but I really don't have too much hope on recovering my phone. Any suggestions?

I'm sorry to hear this story, it sounds like you may have scared them away from doing the right thing...if only you had just called and thanked them for finding your phone or atleast not turned it off right away so they could call you and tell you they found it, instead of getting the police involved...things could have turned out alot better

People want to do the right thing...We just need to find it within ourselves to have faith in our fellow man...Sometimes the evil we think others hold within is nothing more then a reflection of the fear we've been taught from media bias...people weren't better 50yrs ago(guessing at some of your childhoods) there just wasn't camera's everywhere and the news was actually news instead of 'fear factor'

 

[janej]

I forgot to mention we did call her office and cell phone this morning before calling the police. She did not pick up. My coworker also sent text message with his number when we first found the phone missing yesterday. The message I sent last night was very polite. I thanked her for picking up the phone and asked her to return it to the security in the lobby before noon. I don't know how much "encouragement" a federal employee needs to do the right thing here. My only regret is that I did not wipe out the phone remotely before it disappeared. I am concerned about the data on the phone. I locked it remotely. I hope that means the phone will have to be wiped out any way without the key to unlock.

I found out today from At&T that I last used the phone at 2pm yesterday. By 4pm, I found it already sitting in that house in Maryland. I don't think the person had any intention to do the right thing. I also had a very distinct Minnie Mouse cover for the phone my husband bought from Hong Kong. I've never seen another one like that.

 

[Patri]

I'm sorry to hear this story, it sounds like you may have scared them away from doing the right thing...if only you had just called and thanked them for finding your phone or atleast not turned it off right away so they could call you and tell you they found it, instead of getting the police involved...things could have turned out alot better

People want to do the right thing...We just need to find it within ourselves to have faith in our fellow man...Sometimes the evil we think others hold within is nothing more then a reflection of the fear we've been taught from media bias...people weren't better 50yrs ago(guessing at some of your childhoods) there just wasn't camera's everywhere and the news was actually news instead of 'fear factor'

What planet do you live on?

 

[Ridewithme38]

What planet do you live on?

Earth...a friendly place full of well evolved humans, pack animals that are very emotional and when left to their own devices, chose to do the 'right thing'

 

[dioxide45]

Once they discovered that the phone was locked and no use to them, they probably just dumped it somewhere. In a ditch, in a river, who knows. It is likely kaput and the reason you can no longer see it.

 

[MichaelColey]

I probably wouldn't have locked it or done anything that would have given away that I was able to track where it was. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback, though.

I have FindMyiPhone installed on all of our iPhones. Great feature.

 

[janej]

I probably wouldn't have locked it or done anything that would have given away that I was able to track where it was. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback, though.

I have FindMyiPhone installed on all of our iPhones. Great feature.

Problem is that i have multiple email accounts including work email setup on my phone. It would be a security nightmare if the thief goes into my email. I am so glad I could remote lock it.

I am pretty sure the phone can be wiped out without the pass code. Just because it shows offline in my iCloud account does not mean anything. I just got my old iPhone back from my son. I checked his icloud online. It shows no device once I associated my apple id with the phone. Find my iPhone is a great app got the peace of mind. I would have wasted hours looking for my phone in every corner of the office without it.

 

[ampaholic]

Now I have more appreciation for my $9.95 Tracfone - if it develops legs I am out at most about $30 and I can still call any phone I want to.

 

[Ken555]

When my iPhone was stolen last year, and though the phone was locked, I immediately changed the passwords for all my email accounts. I suggest you do the same - especially given your employer.

As for the use of the phone, it can be easily wiped and reused. I contacted both AT&T and T-Mobile to request they call the police if the phone is used on their network (which is really a simple process for them since each phone has a unique identification code), but no joy from either. You'd think there would be a process for them to do this...but it could detract from their revenue... And the phone could be sent overseas and used on another network without issue.

It's too bad you didn't wipe your data, but I think you acted properly. If you do wipe the data remotely, you lose the ability to find the phone, and you were optimistic about recovering it. I am glad to learn the police took the matter seriously. I think this should be a lesson to all of us to report a stolen phone immediatey to the police, especially if we can track it. In situations like this I'd rather be overly cautious rather than overly optimistic about human nature, even when faced with proof that an item was stolen.

 

[Ridewithme38]

In situations like this I'd rather be overly cautious rather than overly optimistic about human nature, even when faced with proof that an item was stolen.

In this situation, the phone was lost by the owner and saved to be returned by the other person.... unfortunately we live in a society where some believe that people should be deemed guilty immediately, without cause

Reporting a phone lost or calling it to thank the person for finding it and giving them information on how to return it would have been a much more prudent action then contacting the authorities and threatening the good Samaritan with criminal charges

 

[heathpack]

In this situation, the phone was lost by the owner and saved to be returned by the other person.... unfortunately we live in a society where some believe that people should be deemed guilty immediately, without cause

???? In this case the phone was STOLEN by a shameless thief who refuses to return the phone ????

Sorry, if I found a phone at work with the intention of returning it, I would turn it in to security. No way would I hang on to someone's valuable personal property, would hate for there to be any mix-up as to my intentions.

H

 

[MommaBear]

It is very concerning to me that the person who took the phone works for Homeland Security!

 

[dmharris]

???? In this case the phone was STOLEN by a shameless thief who refuses to return the phone ????

Sorry, if I found a phone at work with the intention of returning it, I would turn it in to security. No way would I hang on to someone's valuable personal property, would hate for there to be any mix-up as to my intentions.

H

Heathpack this is exactly what I was thinking; this sounds like a temporary employee who stole the phone. Bye iPhone! I have a colleague whose iPhone was stolen going through security at an airport. She's convinced it was a TSA employee. Just sayin'

 

[heathpack]

I think that if the police cannot do anything (and I would not yet be convinced- for example, they may be willing to contact the tenants in the house you traced the phone to, maybe they will find out that the thief stopped by to pick up rent or something similar), I would do whatever I could to put her employment in jeopardy. Presumably y'all need a security clearance to work at DHS. I would make sure her boss knows of this incident, expressing concern about DHS as an institution, not my personal phone. I would also attempt to be in touch with whoever in DHS is responsible for doing the background checks. They may not do too much with just an allegation, and I would not tell any of them that she definitively stole the phone. I would just go to these people, express my concern over the incident and relate that I was not sure how it should best be handled, given the sensitive nature of the department y'all work for, and the "possibility" that this person may be a security risk for DHS. I would do this in writing and copy the letter fairly high up in the food chain. It may not immediately accomplish anything, but if there is a notation of an "incident" in her HR file, it becomes easier to get rid of her later on if she does prove to be a thief.

BTW, I left my phone at work the night before last. Thankfully no one decided to take it home for "safekeeping." There is a security camera trained in my office, their actions would have been recorded and if he/she refused to return the phone, he/she would have been fired. And yes, we would have called the police.

H

 

[Ridewithme38]

???? In this case the phone was STOLEN by a shameless thief who refuses to return the phone ????

Sorry, if I found a phone at work with the intention of returning it, I would turn it in to security. No way would I hang on to someone's valuable personal property, would hate for there to be any mix-up as to my intentions.

H

The original poster said they either left it at their desk or the bathroom before they left for the day...I work in a rather large building and i'd bet homeland security is also in an equally large building...We have a private security company that works the front desk and drives around the parking lot at night...Much different people during the day and the night...and umm, this is going to sound wrong but its true, these guys aren't exactly highly educated or even of good backgrounds...I'd feel safer if i took it home with me, so i could hand it to the owner myself in the morning...instead of giving it to a random security guard with a shady past who would need to leave a note for the morning guard and *HOPE* the morning guard knows what to do

The ONLY way to keep the item safe and to be a responsible adult about it, isn't to pawn it off on some minimum wage making, nameless security guard who won't know who to return it to, but to keep it, find out who the owner is and hand it off to the person yourself...i know i'd feel MUCH safer if i knew someone in my company had my phone instead of a security guard i only nod at in the morning and wouldn't recognize in a crowded room

 

[ampaholic]

It is very concerning to me that the person who took the phone works for Homeland Security!

Without getting controversial - I would hope we could agree that the folks who work at DHS are "just folks" and don't have any special claim to higher ethics or morals than the average citizen.

That said - I think they would have more to lose if they were "suspected" of a crime and so would tend to "clam up" much tighter than average folk would.

Given that - I would imagine the phone is at the bottom of some body of water by now.

JMHO

 

[Pens_Fan]

The original poster said they either left it at their desk or the bathroom before they left for the day...I work in a rather large building and i'd bet homeland security is also in an equally large building...We have a private security company that works the front desk and drives around the parking lot at night...Much different people during the day and the night...and umm, this is going to sound wrong but its true, these guys aren't exactly highly educated or even of good backgrounds...I'd feel safer if i took it home with me, so i could hand it to the owner myself in the morning...instead of giving it to a random security guard with a shady past who would need to leave a note for the morning guard and *HOPE* the morning guard knows what to do

The ONLY way to keep the item safe and to be a responsible adult about it, isn't to pawn it off on some minimum wage making, nameless security guard who won't know who to return it to, but to keep it, find out who the owner is and hand it off to the person yourself...i know i'd feel MUCH safer if i knew someone in my company had my phone instead of a security guard i only nod at in the morning and wouldn't recognize in a crowded room

If I found someone's phone and, for some reason, felt that security was not really all that secure, I would have locked it in my desk at work.

What would be the reason to take it home and then not answer it when someone called?

 

[Passepartout]

Given that - I would imagine the phone is at the bottom of some body of water by now.

JMHO

....Or soon-to-be available on eBay like the $40 iPhone that Easy said he bought in a post in the Mexico forum. If all it takes is a new sim card to negate a 'lock', it's worth more than a skipping stone.

Jim

 

[SueDonJ]

In this situation, the phone was lost by the owner and saved to be returned by the other person.... unfortunately we live in a society where some believe that people should be deemed guilty immediately, without cause

Reporting a phone lost or calling it to thank the person for finding it and giving them information on how to return it would have been a much more prudent action then contacting the authorities and threatening the good Samaritan with criminal charges

You know, I'm about as big a believer in "innocent until proven guilty" as anyone can be, and pretty much am always in favor of a defendant receiving all of his rights including the most important - the benefit of the doubt - until a prosecutor definitively proves his case.

But even I'm shocked at what you're saying. You really think that the OP should have gone overboard in sweet-talking a possible thief here so as to not cause hurt feelings, or with the idea that the whacked psychology would convince the possible thief to turn over a new leaf? And the OP should have done nothing to make sure that the sensitive, classified information on her phone remained protected and out of the range of whoever has her phone, whether their intentions are good or evil? I'm sorry, but that's preposterous.

Jane, I agree with the others. I think you should approach HR and Security with "just the facts, ma'am" and let them take it from there. Even if they're not able to get your phone back, they'll at least have a record of what happened and be able to determine for themselves if this employee should continue working for Homeland Security.

 

[SueDonJ]

The original poster said they either left it at their desk or the bathroom before they left for the day...I work in a rather large building and i'd bet homeland security is also in an equally large building...We have a private security company that works the front desk and drives around the parking lot at night...Much different people during the day and the night...and umm, this is going to sound wrong but its true, these guys aren't exactly highly educated or even of good backgrounds...I'd feel safer if i took it home with me, so i could hand it to the owner myself in the morning...instead of giving it to a random security guard with a shady past who would need to leave a note for the morning guard and *HOPE* the morning guard knows what to do

The ONLY way to keep the item safe and to be a responsible adult about it, isn't to pawn it off on some minimum wage making, nameless security guard who won't know who to return it to, but to keep it, find out who the owner is and hand it off to the person yourself...i know i'd feel MUCH safer if i knew someone in my company had my phone instead of a security guard i only nod at in the morning and wouldn't recognize in a crowded room

If somebody found a phone and decided that they were much more able to safeguard it and find the true owner than the local security force (which in this case happens to be the force that is supposedly equipped to protect Homeland Security! employees,) wouldn't such a Good Samaritan answer the phone when it rang in the hope that the owner would be calling?

 

[SueDonJ]

Without getting controversial - I would hope we could agree that the folks who work at DHS are "just folks" and don't have any special claim to higher ethics or morals than the average citizen.

That said - I think they would have more to lose if they were "suspected" of a crime and so would tend to "clam up" much tighter than average folk would.

Given that - I would imagine the phone is at the bottom of some body of water by now.

JMHO

Hmmm. Fair point, they may not have higher morals or ethics than Your Average Joe. But wouldn't they be subject to somehow stricter security checks than the Average Joes working at, for example, an accounting firm or WalMart? I don't know, but I would think that a Homeland Security employee would have to at least be above suspicion in his place of employment. I hope so, anyway!

 

[Ridewithme38]

If I found someone's phone and, for some reason, felt that security was not really all that secure, I would have locked it in my desk at work.

Locking in the desk would have been the best solution, we can always look back at how things 'should' have been done and find the perfect answer, but at the time, who knows why she thought it was better to take it home...maybe she was rushed and thought she could find the owner once she got home?

What would be the reason to take it home and then not answer it when someone called?

wouldn't such a Good Samaritan answer the phone when it rang in the hope that the owner would be calling?

The phone was locked as soon as the owner figured out they had lost it...I don't think they called or even tried to contact the good samaritan in anyway, they definatly didn't indicate they did in this thread...and with the phone locked, the good samaritan couldn't contact them either
_______________________

Why are you guys all so jadded against you fellow man? In my experience people are good and strive to do the right thing when given the opportunity...You should REALLY think about what YOU would do if you found a phone in the bathroom at work after hours....thats how i approach a situation...Thats why i'm so shocked with this thread...To think all of you would have stolen this phone is rediculous

 

[PigsDad]

The phone was locked as soon as the owner figured out they had lost it...I don't think they called or even tried to contact the good samaritan in anyway, they definatly didn't indicate they did in this thread...and with the phone locked, the good samaritan couldn't contact them either

Hello! Have you even been reading the OP's posts? She tried at least three times to contact the person who stole her phone:

I forgot to mention we did call her office and cell phone this morning before calling the police(1). She did not pick up. My coworker also sent text message with his number when we first found the phone missing yesterday(2). The message I sent last night was very polite(3). I thanked her for picking up the phone and asked her to return it to the security in the lobby before noon.

All evidence points to the phone being stolen. As far as people being shocked this happened at a Homeland Security, I would say it could equally happen anywhere. I don't know of any company where stealing is not grounds for immediate dismissal, so I don't think DHS employees have more to lose than employees at any other place of work. The OP should definitely contact her security department and present the facts and let the chips fall where they may. Hopefully the scumbag would at least get fired.

Kurt

 

[SueDonJ]

Locking in the desk would have been the best solution, we can always look back at how things 'should' have been done and find the perfect answer, but at the time, who knows why she thought it was better to take it home...maybe she was rushed and thought she could find the owner once she got home?

How?

The phone was locked as soon as the owner figured out they had lost it...I don't think they called or even tried to contact the good samaritan in anyway, they definatly didn't indicate they did in this thread...and with the phone locked, the good samaritan couldn't contact them either
_______________________

Why are you guys all so jadded against you fellow man? In my experience people are good and strive to do the right thing when given the opportunity...You should REALLY think about what YOU would do if you found a phone in the bathroom at work after hours....thats how i approach a situation...Thats why i'm so shocked with this thread...To think all of you would have stolen this phone is rediculous

I think you're rearranging the facts to suit your argument. The phone didn't disappear after hours, the OP realized it as she was getting ready to leave work for the day. And in Post #6 in this thread she said that a fellow employee did call the phone: "The phone is still on. That is how I could track it. My coworker tried to call my phone but no one picks up. He also sent a text message asking to person to contact him to locate the owner."

Like I said, I'm not usually jaded. But I am a realist and the person who took Janej's phone (whether it was for good or evil) does not appear to be completely innocent here, at least not as innocent as you would want us to think she is. The good thing is, if she shows up today with the phone and goes to Security herself with a reasonable explanation of why she took steps that don't look good for her, then maybe Security won't have to investigate further and Janej will get her phone back.

 

[Ridewithme38]

I forgot to mention we did call her office and cell phone this morning before calling the police. She did not pick up. My coworker also sent text message with his number when we first found the phone missing yesterday. The message I sent last night was very polite. I thanked her for picking up the phone and asked her to return it to the security in the lobby before noon. I don't know how much "encouragement" a federal employee needs to do the right thing here. My only regret is that I did not wipe out the phone remotely before it disappeared. I am concerned about the data on the phone. I locked it remotely. I hope that means the phone will have to be wiped out any way without the key to unlock.

I found out today from At&T that I last used the phone at 2pm yesterday. By 4pm, I found it already sitting in that house in Maryland. I don't think the person had any intention to do the right thing. I also had a very distinct Minnie Mouse cover for the phone my husband bought from Hong Kong. I've never seen another one like that.

I somehow missed this whole post