Located Stolen Phone Coordinates from Robbery. What to Do Now?

Fat Horny Ghost on 16/12/2018 - 20:07

So my friend was robbed (one person distracted her while other one grabbed the phone and ran away) inside a shopping center.

A day later we found out the phones location from find my phone app and it’s pin pointed to an address nearby.

Reading online it seems it’s very dim… police wont act on a stolen phone unless it’s a more serious crime and the app is not deemed as accurate.

We made a police link report.

What can we do now?

I can only think the most effective way to retrieve the phone is through gang connections and a fee otherwise it’s forget and move on.

General Discussion Mobile Phone

Comments

  • Sage on 16/12/2018 - 20:22

    Kinda curious, where was the robbery?

    • Fat Horny Ghost on 16/12/2018 - 20:26
      +5

      Logan, high crime and bogan area

  • [Deactivated] on 16/12/2018 - 20:23
    +32

    Place an order on http://www.ozbargainbikiesunion.com.au/lostmyphone
    before midnight tonight and you'll have your phone delivered to you by 8am tomorrow.

    • Slippage on 17/12/2018 - 07:40
      +11

      Not going to lie, I clicked the link :D

      • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2018 - 07:57
        +1

        Haha I hesitated, then read your comment so didn’t click :)

  • whooah1979 on 16/12/2018 - 20:23
    +1

    Remote lock and wipe the smartphone.

    • thatonethere on 16/12/2018 - 21:19
      +3

      Dont un associate your apple id with the phone tho otherwise they can re use it.

  • Fat Horny Ghost on 16/12/2018 - 20:28

    Phone is also on as we couldn’t use GPS earlier and received an email and location where it was turned on about 5 mins drive from the shopping center in a residential home.

  • Halo375 on 16/12/2018 - 20:29

    If you could think of a way to give police a real reason to enter that property without a warrant then you and a lot of other people would get their stuff back.

    Isn’t there some process for Apple to permanently brick that phone if stolen?

  • BertieBrown on 16/12/2018 - 20:31

    I’d suggest forget and move on.

    Involving any sort of criminal enterprise, for virtually anything is always likely to be a very bad idea, and to do so over a phone would be a terrible idea.

    • subywagon on 16/12/2018 - 20:45
      +6

      You just want the bikies to yourself.

  • AdosHouse on 16/12/2018 - 20:37
    +28

    We finally found the thread where the answer really is Bikies!

  • bboarder on 16/12/2018 - 20:46
    +3

    Put a letter in their mailbox. Lost Phone- reward if found. Don't know what the reward you could offer is. Maybe 19 SD cards ??

  • Diji1 on 16/12/2018 - 20:46
    +4

    Sorry, the police won't accompany you to recover the device? What are they doing?

    • Fat Horny Ghost on 16/12/2018 - 22:08

      I think there is little they can do without a search warrant and good evidence.. maybe cctv footage might be sufficient but not for a small petty crime.. if it was armed robbery might be different story

      • [Deactivated] on 16/12/2018 - 23:10

        They're not searching the property. They're escorting you. Inform the police that the phone has sensitive information that may compromise your security. This is probably true of all phones.

      • Flanders on 16/12/2018 - 23:14
        +3

        What about CCTV footage from shopping centre ?
        Could park up the road abit from the house, in car with tinted windows, surveil location, and identify person who did the robbery (if they live there or frequent there). Even better and easier and safer for surveillance would be to park car with dashc on recording, and see whether the robber lives there that way.
        Then you could go back to police and say, we spotted the robber at this home. Fair enough, GPS etc isn't reliable enough for evidence, but surely an eyewitness (the person who was robbed, identifies person who robbed them) is better evidence. Still maybe not enough for a warrant, but catching the perpetrator and having them face criminal justice system should be more of a priority, to stop them doing it to others.
        If you have (or get) CCTV from shopping centre robbery, pair that with dash cam footage of robber on CCTV, entering/exiting/frequenting home you suspect your phone is at, surely then police could act and prosecute (thought still maybe no warrant and no phone back).

  • adam on 16/12/2018 - 20:59
    +2

    I'd pop in at the local police office and ask to speak to an officer about it. You might get lucky and get one who's willing to help. I have had police turn up on my door once when selling a $1000 laptop on ebay as they thought it might have ben one that had been stolen nearby last week. The victim was in his car around the corner and the police had come and knocked for him after he found our listing on gumtree and thought it was his stolen one. Maybe if you suggest to the police you're considering knocking on the door yourself they may agree to accompany you.

    • trustnoone on 16/12/2018 - 22:02
      +1

      Honestly, I think only chance OP really has, if OP has access, try to get any serial numbers (maybe from itunes or something?) related to the phone to prove its yours. and then super hope you get a nice police officer whose willing to help out. Maybe even see if there is cam footage?

  • plmko on 16/12/2018 - 21:01
    +3

    Maybe park an unregistered car or start speeding on the street. The cops will smell the cash and come running out to investigate.

  • holdenmg on 16/12/2018 - 21:24
    +5

    Park your "Broken Down" Car across their driveway.

    Ask them if you can use their Phone to call for help or a Tow Truck

    Call your Mobile Number and listen.

    If your Mobile rings, invite them to go answer their Phone, then ask them to return it to you.

    Otherwise, Bikies.

    • altomic on 17/12/2018 - 16:33

      Wouldn't the sim have been removed?

  • WreckTangle on 16/12/2018 - 22:00

    Hire a security guard to support you for a few hours and go and visit them

  • Cheeper on 16/12/2018 - 22:14

    Regardless of forum experts and online advice go to your local cop shop and at least report the situation.

    If your tracking software shows the phone is at a certain nearby address I assume the police would need a search warrant to enter the place to look for it? That may be where the reluctance to do anything comes from?? Damn slack if it is.

    Lodge a report in person at the local cop shop and go from there.

    Trying to do something yourself now could backfire and just make things worse and as you live in the area maybe non stop trouble thereafter.

  • Switchblade88 on 16/12/2018 - 23:13
    +5

    I actually had exactly the same scenario a fortnight ago. Burglary to my office overnight, flogged the spare iPhone 6s we had on standby (no PIN etc).

    Rang the cops as soon as I realised I could ping the location - had an officer arrive in 15 minutes, explained the situation. They took my iPad with Find my Phone live, and pinged the iPhone whilst standing at the front door - no search warrant needed for this!!

    In this specific instance, the parents were also quite happy for the officer to sit and discuss the situation with the juvenile involved who 'found the iPhone lying out the back…' and after the interview the phone was confiscated ready for return. A win!

    • Fat Horny Ghost on 16/12/2018 - 23:22

      Which state you in? I doubt police officers would take the time to do this

      • Switchblade88 on 16/12/2018 - 23:42
        +6

        NSW, rural town where everyone knows each other (including us knowing the perps)

        What can I say? Rural living has its benefits when you're on first-name basis with the local cops…

      • HighAndDry on 17/12/2018 - 11:41

        They'll be more willing if you're at the location about to deal with it yourself.

  • tunzafun001 on 17/12/2018 - 00:51
    +3

    The fact the phone is still turned on means they don't really know what they are doing, so assuming the person who 'ran away' was a kid?
    Knock on the door with another person or two, and say phone back or the cops. Simple as that really.

    Put the details/ address on Facebook buy swap and sell etc for others who have had their stuff knocked off in the area. I guarantee you will get a few 'volunteers' who are willing to join you to knock on the door.

    Feel free to also put up a big sign that says thief lives here. Stolen property within etc.

  • HighAndDry on 17/12/2018 - 02:27
    +2

    Go to the location, stand outside, call the cops and report a crime in progress.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2018 - 08:38

      There is nothing false about this report.

      • jason101 on 18/12/2018 - 20:29

        Interested in this - could you call the police, say your phone was stolen and the alleged offender took it inside their home, you are standing outside their house and are worried about what may happen next - would they police attend this type of call?

        • HighAndDry on 19/12/2018 - 09:19

          More likely to. It's a little underhanded, but you're basically taking advantage of the fact that the police care a lot more about a possible physical altercation than simple pretty theft. You just have to be very careful to not implicate yourself in any kind of offence, so you've got to sound a bit slow so as to not understand that it could turn physical ("no officer I'm just going to ask nicely, they're sure to return it after I can prove it's my phone!").

  • alxr0101 on 17/12/2018 - 07:42
    +1

    "…phone unless it’s a more serious crime and the app is not deemed as accurate…."

    Are they stuck in last decade?

    Locations are very accurate.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2018 - 08:44
      +3

      You are the one stuck in the last decade. It is a very serious crime but 3m accuracy means the laser fired from the space station could end up vapourizing one of their house guests or the beloved family pet.

      • HighAndDry on 17/12/2018 - 11:41
        +1

        Turn down the power on that laser so it only stuns instead of vaporizes, blast the area, then finish the perp off personally.

        • [Deactivated] on 18/12/2018 - 22:47

          The technology just isn't there yet.

          • 4wd on 18/12/2018 - 23:06
            +1

            @[Deactivated]: "Nuke the entire site from orbit—it's the only way to be sure"

  • Book72 on 17/12/2018 - 09:26
    +1

    Grab a mean mother (literally) and door knock. Better than bikies.

    (True story- my young son found an iphone and brought it home so he could hand it in to the police station the next day. That night we had a very irate mother and her daughter knock on the door theatening blue murder. Scared the entire family and our dogs.)

  • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2018 - 17:49

    I'll front up with you with my baseball bat. I'm in South West Brisbane but this is a worthy cause.

  • Jalif on 18/12/2018 - 02:27

    Give the information to the police, they will tell you to contact your insurance company.

    The robbery will be added to today's statistics and everyone will go about doing what they were doing before.

  • ozbjunkie on 18/12/2018 - 06:46
    +2

    In for updates. Hopefully visiting the copshop in person will get you there.

    Anonymous tip off for another probably crime fitting the demographics may be a way to get revenge, but probably not your phone.

    Were they kids, smackheads?

  • laurence on 18/12/2018 - 19:30

    just go the gym, give $50 to 2 big dudes and get them to roll the (profanity) who stole it - all sorted

  • cantstanzya on 18/12/2018 - 19:37
    +2

    What's the address in Logan?

  • Fat Horny Ghost on 03/01/2019 - 08:31

    Update: My friend decided not to pursue the phone and nothing heard from police yet

    I didn't ask her for details about the culprits she just wanted to me to help her figure out what to do.

    I told her to contact Police link and get a report number, then contact shopping centre management to get footage and tell them of the report number to assist the police with the investigation (if it ever happened - which I doubt they will unless it was a serious crime like armed robbery, and they seem to usually prioritise immediate danger/crime OR investigate serious incidents).

    I passed her on to someone I knew who is affiliated with gangs (not bikie) who suggested going to the front door and talk. However the GPS location was actually a duplex unit (8 double storey townhouses next to each other). So she ended up not going that route. She did not go in person to the police station herself or go outside the place and report a crime happening (which could work, but if the guy denies it it's going to be a messy situation without a search warrant).

    I guess for future reference, if someone steals my phone… I will track it down and call the police that I'm outside the house and you feel like you are in danger.

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