Found a Cell Phone. Can I sell It?

[Deleted]

So yeah, about two months ago I was out walking and found an iPhone lying on the side of the road. Seeing as how I live WAY out in the middle of nowhere, this was a pretty weird thing. I cleaned it, charged it, and took a picture of the phone and lock screen so I could post it around various places online to try to find the owner. No one responded. I spread the word on this thing for two months and no one has claimed it. I'm guessing that the person who lost it has already bought another or I'm holding on to evidence of some mega crime or whatever. Can I legally sell this thing yet? Obviously I would have rather have found the owner, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. 

TL;DR Reddit Style: Found an iPhone in a ditch, have had the thing since early November, no one's claimed it, can I make some sweet cash from it? I'll hang up and listen.

[Paul]

I'd turn it in to my local police station (or the one closest to where I found it).

[chrom]

Turn it into the local police station.

If no one claims it within a month or so, its legally yours

[DiBiase is Good]

Jan 24, 2022 21:46:49 GMT -5 chrom said:

Turn it into the local police station.

If no one claims it within a month or so, its legally yours

I think location has a say on when and if an item you find becomes legally yours.
But yeah, contact the local authorities. They’ll advise you on if you have any claim on the item.

[Mayonnaise]

First you would need to know if it has been reported as lost or stolen to the carriers using a site like: stolenphonechecker.org/ If it has you'll be lucky to even sell it for parts. I'm not sure how you can get the info you'll need with it locked which brings me to point 2

iPhones are a bitch to erase so someone can set it up as their own without the original owner's info. Their might be ways to do it but I am unaware of them or the legalities around them.

You might be able to get a carrier to let you know on the first but no chance on the second.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Before the days of lock screens, when you found a cell you just found "Mom" in the contacts and called that number.

You should turn it into the police.

[Viking Hall]

Probably not, they actually have a code either physically on them or coded into the software somewhere that can be used to trace whether it's been lost or stolen. They're used by third party retailers for example to see if they're buying stolen goods. Best bet would be just to forget about it or hand it into the Police, nothing lost, nothing gained.

[Deleted]

Thank you all for the advice. I called the police department and they acted like I was an idiot, which considering our local police, I'm not surprised. Guy on the phone just said, "Yeah, you can bring it in. We'll throw it away if no one claims it."

[Deleted]

There’s those old phones for cash things inside Walmart. You will get about $20.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I know some places had bins you could toss your old phone in and they'd donate them to the Red Cross. Maybe that's something to do.

[Legion]

If you can't actually get in to the phone yourself, because it has a lockcode you dont know, the thing is basically a paperweight.

You can't break the code without the email that was used to set up the phone, and even a factory restore attempt with just ask for the code again.

Only other thing you could try is removing the sim, noting the number, contacting the network carrier and seeing if they can help, or at least tell you if the thing is registered.

[4real]

When I was at college it was a 20 minute or so walk to the train station. At some point during that walk I dropped my phone (I probably had my earphones in so didn’t hear it drop). When I got to college I noticed my phone was gone. Luckily I only had a morning class so got to leave by 12 or 1 whatever it was. So I retraced my steps trying to find it but nothing.

Got home and my Mum drove me to the police station and someone had handed it in.

So yeah hand it into the police station.

[Zombie Mod is not a ghoul.]

As the thread starter deleted their account, no need to keep the thread open