How to unlock a stolen iDevice Step by Step Tutorial

Congratulations, stolen iDevice you are one of the owners of the coveted iPhone 6 out there. The only thing is, your iPhone happens to have a problem – it is locked! You have probably scoured the internet for solutions on 

Unlock your stolen iPhone 6,

and that is how you have ended up here.

 

  Now, there is no judgment here about how you ended up with a stolen iPhone in your hands. After all, it is understandable that some people end up unknowingly buying stolen iPhones every other day. Even after doing some due diligence and performing an IMEI check, people still end up with stolen iPhones. As the person with the locked iPhone to deal with, you have to work through those forum post frowns and judgemental advice about owning a stolen iPhone.

However, there is none of that here, and I just want to help you unlock your iPhone 6.

Well, the sure thing is that I will give you the lowdown on how to unlock stolen iPhone 6. However, worth pointing out is that this post will focus on iPhones that were legitimately bought from online marketplaces and afterward reported as stolen by the original iPhone owners.

The Stolen iPhone Curse

Yes, it is a curse to end up with a stolen iPhone. Many who have ended up with them will tell you that it practically means owning a useless smart gadget. Add in the twisted fact that it makes you feel like you did something wrong to end up with a stolen iPhone, and it is just one “big tech curse” that unfortunately, befalls many hopeful iPhone enthusiasts.

As long as you legitimately bought the iPhone and it ended up locked in the course, of the purchase or after you had it in your possession; this guide on how to unlock the stolen iPhone 6 should help you figure out how to get your iPhone unlocked.

How Did You End Up With A Stolen iPhone?

Now, this is probably something that most of the online forum advisers who condemn anyone asking for help on how to unlock a stolen iPhone 6 need to understand. Ending up with a stolen iPhone does not mean that someone went out to the streets and mugged or pickpocketed from an unsuspecting victim.

There are some ways that an unsuspecting pre-owned iPhone buyer might end up with a stolen iPhone.

Not Too Upfront Of A Seller

Now, you came across a used iPhone 6 listing on eBay, Amazon, or even Craigslist.

The price was just right, and after negotiation as well as an IMEI check, you ended up sealing the deal and buying the iPhone.

Everything must have checked out, and after using an IMEI search website such as iUnlockDevice, you did not have any reason why you shouldn’t buy the iPhone. The thing is that at the time of checking up the iPhone IMEI, the seller had the iPhone in buyer-ready condition and nothing sent off red flags.

So, after getting the iPhone shipped out to you, the seller might have waited for the return period to lapse and then reported the iPhone they sold you as stolen. Now, you might have even used the iPhone for a couple of days only to pick up your iPhone and find that it is stuck on the Activation Lock screen.

Illegally Stolen iPhone

Yes, it does happen, stolen iPhones end up-sold to unsuspecting pre-owned iPhone buyers. Similarly, when the iPhone got sold to you everything seemed in order, and that was why you bought it in the first place.

Likewise, after a few days or even hours of using the iPhone, you get a message flashing on the screen that the iPhone has been stolen and to call a particular number. It is a puzzling occurrence, but there are iPhone thieves these days who have perfected the art of hacking locked iPhones. What happens is that they are somehow able to change the iPhone’s iCloud credentials leaving it unlocked to make that lucrative sale.

However, the original iPhone owner can still reclaim back their iCloud account and place the iPhone in Lost Mode, Erase its contents, and even get it blacklisted.

The only sure way to know whether an iPhone has been stolen or not is to find out the iPhone’s particular status by using iUnlockDevice in services to perform an IMEI check.

stolen iDevice Then Gifted/Donated

Now, everyone knows that a locked iPhone is virtually worthless to anyone other than its rightful owner. Often, lost or stolen

iPhones will offer no service in the wrong hands and several

thieves have ended up tossing them or donating them as gifts.

It isn’t uncommon to come across a locked iPhone for sale at a commercial auction house or even at a church sale. Maybe you bought one of these iPhones because they often go for considerably low prices.

Whether misguided by the numerous claims that it is easy to unlock an iPhone 6 or perhaps you bought it without knowing

that it was locked; you now realize that having a locked iPhone 6 in your possession means having a phone that you can’t use.

How To stolen iDevice Unlock Stolen iPhone 6 Effectively

Now that the stolen iDevice issue of how you got your stolen iPhone 6 is out of the way, it is time to explore more about how to unlock the stolen iPhone 6.

More than likely, you must have given one of the online  free iCloud bypass tools a try, and none worked. What the website you got the iCloud remover tool from did not tell you is

that to unlock a locked iPhone you first have to understand its particular lock state.

The stolen iDevice iPhone Lock States

Yes, your stolen iDevice iPhone is locked, and you undoubtedly can’t use it. However, before you figure out how to unlock a stolen iPhone 6, you will need to find out what is its particular lock state.

Depending on the factors surrounding its loss; iPhones get locked in different lock states. The different iPhone lock states include:

The iCloud States

The iCloud stolen iDevice locked state is by far one of the most common iPhone locks situations. Likewise,  the iCloud locked state comes about in several ways including:

Legitimately Sold iPhone Reported Stolen

The Problem

So, maybe this is how you ended up with a stolen iPhone that you are trying to unlock. You legally bought an iPhone 6, and it was working fine until all of a sudden it was asking you to “Activate iPhone.”

What might have happened was that after the seller had made sure that the return period has passed, they went ahead and reported the iPhone as stolen. The reason why a seller would do this is to run an insurance scam.

The Solution

Initiate contact with the iPhone seller, through a phone call or email, asking them to remove the iCloud lock from your iPhone.

Never dismiss this option, because sometimes it may end up to have been a human error on the seller’s part and they might cooperate and unlock the iPhone.

However, if the seller is unresponsive, then your next option is to reach out to Apple. If you have all documentation proving that you legitimately bought your iPhone, you can contact Apple to figure out how to reactivate the iPhone. It is a long shot because Apple rarely does get involved in third-party resell matters, but you never know how it will turn out.

There is a possibility that the suggested methods above will not be of much assistance.

Your next option is to explore getting your refund back if you bought the iPhone through online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. Again, the possibility of a cash refund will depend on the sales terms and cash refund policies.

Lost Mode/ Erased

The Problem

Another iCloud lock state is when the original iPhone owner places the iPhone in Lost Mode and subsequently deletes its contents.   Often, any iPhone owner who loses or has their iPhone stolen will log on to the iCloud site and place the 

iPhone in Lost Mode.

Putting an iPhone in Lost Mode requires anyone who has it in their possession to reactivate it using the original owner’s Apple ID and password. It also allows the original iPhone owner to run a message and phone the number that will run on the iPhone screen.

The original iPhone owner might go ahead and also delete the contents of the iPhone through the iCloud website.

As long as they have also activated the Lost Mode, the only way to reactivate the iPhone even after deleting its contents is to enter the original iPhone owner’s Apple credentials.

The solution

Once again, the only iPhone Lost Mode hack that will work is to get in touch with the original iPhone owner. Get in contact with the original phone owner through the phone number flashing on the screen and explain to them the situation.

You could propose to sell the iPhone back to them if you did indeed buy the iPhone legitimately and have purchase invoices to prove it. There have been individuals who have successfully come to such agreements.

The chances are that you will not manage to get through to the original iPhone owner because the iPhone has not been placed in Lost Mode and is just Activation Locked. The next option is to get in touch with Apple and provide a full account of the situation.

Find out more about iPhone activation lock hacks and how to possibly unlock your activated locked iPhone.

Blacklisted iPhone

Naturally, an iPhone owner who loses their phone will call their network carrier and report it as stolen. The carrier will then blacklist the iPhone and make it impossible to use the iPhone with any other SIM card.

Often, a blacklisted iPhone will also have been placed in Lost Mode and additionally had its contents erased by the original iPhone owner. What it means is that as the new iPhone owner you not only have to figure out how to unlock iCloud locked iPhone 6, but you also have to deal with getting it un-blacklisted.

However, most blacklist issues come from the original iPhone owner not honoring contract payments for the iPhone or insurance claims. 

Troubleshoot A Blacklisted iPhone

The only way to get an iPhone unblacklisted is by getting in touch with the original iPhone owner and asking them to have the blacklist removed. If the blacklist is due to defaults on network contract payments, then the original iPhone owner clearing it up might get the iPhone unblacklisted. You

If the blacklist is due to defaults on network contract payments, then the original iPhone owner clearing it up might get the iPhone unblacklisted.

You might have to make any pending payments because let us face it, the reason why you have the iPhone in your possession is that the original iPhone users could no longer keep up with its payments.

However, you will most likely have to reach out to the network carrier that has blacklisted the iPhone.

Explain the situation, and maybe they can mediate by reaching out to the original iPhone owner on your behalf.

Once again, it is worth mentioning that this might not work, but depending on the situation they might just agree to clean the iPhone’s IMEI.

Sell Locked iPhone For Parts

If all else fails, when you are figuring out how to unlock a stolen iPhone 6, explore the option of selling it for parts.

The sell-locked iPhone for parts market is equally a growing and lucrative one just like the pre-owned iPhone market.   In as much as people want to get their hands on iPhones, there are scores of people out there trying to fix their iPhones and are in need of iPhone 6 replacement parts.

It just might turn out that your best option is to cut your losses

and give up that treasured but locked iPhone 6.

Worst case scenario in the

whole equations that you will recover back part of the money you used to buy it and put it towards the purchase of a functional unlocked iPhone.

Still not sure about your options or you are just starting out on trying to unlock your iPhone?

  Find out your iPhone’s status and let us help you troubleshoot how to unlock it based on the particular situation.