Another Stolen Iphone/Scam (La Romana)

[franco1111]

Ok, so stealing Iphones is an industry among the ladrones in La Romana. They are getting more sophisticated. One time they even told a family member they did not want the Iphone. Because they knew it was probably locked with code and fingerprint or face, and had GPS tracking enabled. But, things have changed.

This time the police report is filed. They know the location of the phone and say they cannot enter the house. Esta bien. The phone has been turned off now for three days. No location any more. Not until someone connects to internet.

So, we locked the phone and put the message on the screen with Find my Iphone app to call the owner's number to return the phone and a reward. We get a Whatsapp message that says it is from Apple that says phone has been located, click here to see location. Takes you to the screen below where they ask for the code used to unblock the phone. Jjj. Not really funny though, because if you do it, they can get in the phone, erase your credentials and the phone is theirs. Beware. This is a known scam in other parts of the world, First time I have seen it in DR.

(The phone number they used to communicate is in Arkansas US. Suspect, but there are call centers everywhere.)

Please tell me if this is legit (I did call Apple support and they said no.)

 

[MariaRubia]

I think it's a scam. Apple doesn't send Whatsapp messages, they send an SMS and tell you to login to your icloud account and then from there you can see the location in FindMyIphone.

If Apple support has said this is a scam, why are you asking us on DR1 by the way? Surely Apple will know what is legit and what isn't on their phones.

I am surprised that the police say they cannot enter the house . Maybe you need to give them a little "encouragement" to do so.

 

[Catsegler]

Yes that is scam. Same happened to me in April 21 when my iPhone X was stolen by a gang in Santo Domingo.
The software is well known worldwide for getting the people unlock their iPhone

 

[franco1111]

I don't know exactly what they are doing with the phone now. It is in Barahona. We are working slowly on getting it back - it is a long way to go from La Romana to Barahona. We were hoping they would come back to La Romana soon. They have not been able to get rid of the Apple ID of the owner. We can still see the location in Find my Iphone. In Barahona. I don't know what other parts of the phone they can use. I should do more research but no time.