Have you ever found an Iphone?

[Juiceman]

Was out detecting and found an IPhone about 6" under sand. I was out of town and the phone was locked so I put it in my bag and forgot about it. Today I was trying to figure out how to get it back to whomever lost it. When I google what to do the answers are not helpful, basically the answers on the net are suggesting if I have it I must have stole it which is ridiculous since I found it metal detecting! I didn't loose the thing I'm just trying to figure out what to do with it. What do all of you do when you find them?

 

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[BigWaveDave]

Toss it or e-cycle it
The owner has by now gotten it replaced, and what you found is worthless

 

[toddbbq]

Will it turn on? Have you tried to recharge it? Is it destroyed? If it is locked try the emergency phone call tab sometimes the old owner has left contact information there. Any other questions feel free to P.M me. I have sold a few on fleabay for decent money as long as the screen is not boken. If the serial# is on the back you can verify if it is blacklisted on a few websites also the serial# is located on the sim card holder if it has one.

 

[IDXMonster]

I found one that the owner called,so I answered it. Wound up being a local girl whose father I know through my boss.
I also found an iPod,which I went through a great deal of trouble to return and the kid acted like I was a crook or something. I didn’t ask for money or any of that,just an address to send it to.
Anything I CAN return I’ll make an effort to do so. But BWD is probably right,they likely had replaced it already.
To me that’s part of this game...to try and return stuff. It strokes my ego when someone is happy that YOUR effort reunited owner and property. It’s great others do the same, but you really don’t have to...IMHO.

 

[Rookster]

No, I have never found one.

 

[against the wind]

I have found a few. One phone had "Mom" in the Contacts. I called her and told her I was leaving her son's phone with security.
Others I have found in salt water which destroys them

 

[The1rod]

I don't have any idea how to find the owner, but if you can I would rather than just tossing it. They may have replaced the phone by now, but that one may contain unreplaceable photos or videos or other data that they may never see again otherwise.

 

[Rick K]

Nice thing with iPhone, it’s all backed up in the cloud. Lose phone, lose only money, not data

 

[Terry Soloman]

Got a frantic call from our good friend, saying her daughter had lost her brand new Iphone in some tall grass near a golf course behind their house. The ringer was turned off, so calling it didn't help. I was on my way back from hitting the beach out on Long Island, so I stopped by with my Sand Shark. Found the phone under the smashed down grass that the kids had been walking over looking for it in less than 15-minutes - Happy Day!

 

[cudamark]

I've found dozens of them. I managed to returned a few that worked, but, even some that did, the owner didn't want it back as they had already turned in a claim for insurance. The salt water soaked ones are worthless except for maybe the chip. Those I toss in the recycle bin.

 

[toddbbq]

Nice thing with iPhone, it’s all backed up in the cloud. Lose phone, lose only money, not data

Not entirely true if the most recent pics were not up loaded to the cloud before lost by owner. IMHO

 

[adamBomb]

I've found a bunch of them. An iphone can sell on feebay for several hundred dollars if it turns on, even if locked. If it doesn't turn on it can still be sold for parts for $50-$100+ depending on the model. I have yet to find one that wasn't locked so there was nothing I could do to return it. I took the first one to a verizon store and the rep basically said they were just going to toss it so I could keep it or give it to them. Now I just sell them unless I can somehow find the owner. These phones are the new gold...

 

[diggummup]

Iphone, no. Android, yes. One, 6" under the sand, still working, not locked. Returned to the owner, same day. Several broken old school cell phones that were garbage.

 

[Truth]

No but I lost some lol

 

[smokeythecat]

I found one at the beach after Hurricane Sandy ate it. Wasn't much left of it.

 

[PaleoCris]

I have found a bunch of them. You can pop the sim card in another phone and go into the phone's About page in settings...about half the time, you can get the phone number of the sim card and call the person on their new phone. I have returned a few this way from locked iPhones.

 

[Juiceman]

UPDATE: I ended up hooking the phone up to ITunes and restoring it. After doing that I was able to get into the phone. I found that the phone was owned by a company a few thousand miles from where I'm at. I called them and gave the info on the phone. The guy was happy that I called he is sending me a prepaid envelope to mail it back to them. Funny thing is the employee that lost it had not reported it lost. The guy I talked to was not happy that his employee did not report the phone lost. Feels good to do the right thing. It is however allot of work... So maybe I will get some karma points... LOL Got to go swing some more wish me luck!