Hello everyone
Long story short, I think I have purchased a phone which was stolen. It's a brand new sealed iPhone. It was on Gumtree.
If I report it to the police or the mobile company and after checking if it comes out to be stolen will I get my money back?
What should I do? I don't want to keep the phone but obviously want my money back too.
What is the best way to do it?
Cover your ass. Just make a police report about the facts you know. Dont make assumptions in the report and Don't hand over the phone. Police will go after the real perp if there is an problem down the track. Honesty is the best policy.
if i report it to Police, will they ask me to return the phone to them so that they can give it to its rightful owner??? I mean force me to do it and without any promises of returning my money from the fake seller??
Police do not organise the refund of monies from criminals. If they do not go through the criminal justice system, where restitution may be awarded, you will have to take a civil action to reclaim the money. Even if you get a judgment in your favour, extracting the money from the scumbag will be a long, drawn out process.
I doubt that the police would do that if you did'nt offer it. Talk to them.
Put his mobile number into Facebook. You'd be surprised how many people allow you to search for them on FB by using their mobile number.
It's not a stole phone, I guess the seller a bit wary about letting stranger know their address (you could be a thief yeah), I did the same thing when I sold my phone, I met up in someplace public thats it's hard for them to run …and brought a friend just in case..
Theres a very good chance the phone is not stolen. Some people actually keep their phones for more than two years. You get another phone for free when your contracts up and some people rather profit from selling a brand new phone than trying to flog their old one for next to nothing.
As for the address, that might just be a result of gumtree. Its quite dodgy selling things for pickup as you tend to give your address out to about 5 or 6 people and only 1 will show up. Kind of makes you wonder what the other 4 people wanted your address for.
I've been stuffed around so much with gumtree, now i prefer to just put things on the street and give them away for free.
"Profit"? Really? By the time you factor in Boost is $30 a month the remaining cost for an iPhone on a plan typically exceeds RRP.
If it is a contract phone and it's stolen. As soon as it's reported to Optus, they can send through a request to block the IMEI in Australia. I expect that to happen if it is stolen.
Should have got a android
IF the IMEI does get blocked, you can go to the Police with the following information:
-Bought phone off someone off Gumtree
-IMEI got blocked
-Enquiries through Optus found the phone was reported stolen (people only go to the effort to block an IMEI for insurance claim purposes, really)
and then given the fact fraud is a serious offence I'd expect the Police to follow up through Optus the account holder, and with such irrefutable evidence commence a prosecution in which compensation is sought for the cost of the fraud.
You could, however, list the phone on eBay and say the IMEI is blocked. Someone in Australia might buy it for spare parts, or someone overseas could buy it as the IMEI block would only be within Australia. This is always an option to recoup probably the whole cost of the phone. Caution: as you already suspect it is stolen you could be committing an offence contrary to dealing with stolen goods.
I guess you should sell it fast before insurance blocks imei?
If someone is reporting a phone stolen for insurance purposes they need a police report for the theft. When making the report police will tell that person to have the Service Provider or Apple block the IMEI as a bricked phone is useless to a crook.
Police will follow up with investigation and if it has been sold the person who has possession of the phone will be questioned, they'll advise they bought it from 'victim', Optus will be updated. Police will follow up in regards to make false report to Police and Optus (or Optus' insurance) will follow up in regards to fraudulent claim.
so given the complexity - still a good price.. ?
Not worth the trouble of buying things online that can be bricked remotely. I'd rather pay an extra 100-200 for peace of mind.
So IF it's a guy trying to do the insurance scam, the way I see it, it is now your phone legally. Save as much information as you can to demonstrate this (records of Gumtree ad, bank withdrawl, his phone number, his address he gave you (even if fake)), times/dates/duration of calls, his name, physical description, etc).
He's not allowed to have insurance on YOUR phone. So you could call Optus/Telstra/whoever (if you know this was the carrier) and tell them you've just bought a phone and want to make sure the previous owner has cancelled his policy. You might need to 'prove' you bought it (with all of the above). Surely they'd do this! And if he goes to lodge a claim, he'll either be told his policy has been cancelled (or get it deep s**t, hopefully!).
Blend it
If you don't want the phone and want the money back, assuming the phone is still sealed, contact the seller.
It might just be the seller does not want to disclose any personal information to you. The insurance scam is just what you think. As for claiming it as an expense for tax return, he might still be able to do it on the actual phone bills (the first phone bill for the contact might have an once off handset payment fee (obviously, the phone would be heavily subsidised).
Don't expect too much, you want a brand new phone, an invoice which you cannot use (because it is not under your name either) - and for warranty purpose, since the phone is still sealed, once you register the phone under your name on Apple's site, you are sorted. You also want the seller's home address. If you want all that, use PayPal and buy from a proper retailer.
I had a friend who worked for a merchandising company, they told them to make store displays using empty iPhone boxes and to pick up the empty phone boxes from the office. While she was making up the displays she noticed the boxes were way to heavy, when she opened them they all had brand new phones in them. She took every one out of the box and what she didn't need she sold. He might have had something like that happen.
Are you saying she stole them???
She doesn't think she did, but I think she should have told her employer. I think someone stuffed up and will probably lose their job over it.
Hate to be pragmatic about it but you'll just have to live out your predicament…