Stolen Iphones

gracesgoodies73

So why is the stolen Iphone epidemic not being reviewed. I purchased an iphone 4 from a guy named Gabriel in Northridge. He upgraded to an Iphone 5, per the conversation. He sold it to me knowing it was a gift for my daughters 13th bday. I got it home and took it to Verizon. They reviewed it and realized it was named "jeffs Phone" but cleared it to its original point with no questions. Then a few days later when I went to add it to my monthly Verizon bill they said sorry it was reported lost or stolen. However, they cannot help assist you find the original owner off of an id number that it correlates too nor will they assist you locate the person whom sold it to you. The person I bought it from says it is my word against his and no money back. The police will not look into the address or anything of the kind which correlates to the person whom sold it.............why is this? Now I am out 200 and a gift for my daughter. Someone have advise!

rcschnoor

I'm not sure what you could possibly think Verizon should do. If Verizon gave you the name/number of the original owner, that would be a breach of his/her privacy agreement with Verizon. Even if they DID somehow get you in touch with the original owner, what would you expect to happen then. I am sure the original owner would expect their phone back and you would STILL be out $200. So I guess I fail to see the point.

It seems that the person you purchased the phone from(Gabriel) quite possibly stole the phone from the original owner(Jeff) and then sold it to you. I am not sure how the police would be able to help you. What kind of proof do you have that you actually purchased the phone from "Gabriel". I would assume "Gabriel" did not accept a personal check, but preferred cash.

In the future, you should always check to see if the "used" phone you are purchasing has been reported stolen to Verizon. Even if it hasn't, you should always be wary when purchasing from an unknown source as it could STILL be reported stolen after you purchase it. You can check on Verizon's website for the status of a phone HERE.

You can also check on sites such as Swappa.com.