Apple Stores no longer repair iPhones reported as lost

Apple Stores will no longer repair iPhones marked as lost. According to a leak, the internal systems put in place by Apple will automatically consult a database that lists all stolen or lost devices.

All iPhones reported as lost will no longer be repaired by Apple Store teams, our colleagues at MacRumors report. The media managed to get their hands on an internal memo for employees from the California firm.

Until now, Apple Stores, and Apple-approved stores, repaired without question all terminals brought by a consumer. Employees do not systematically verify the origin of the iPhone.

Related: Stolen iPhones Are Really Unresellable Police Snitches

Apple now refuses to repair iPhones reported as lost

Now, employees will be alerted if the iPhone dropped off by a user has been reported as lost. Internal MobileGenius or GSX systems will consult the GSMA device database looking for iPhone. If so, the employee will be notified in real time. Apple then asks him to refuse the repair.

Developed by the GSMA, the association which represents more than 750 mobile telephone operators and manufacturers, this register contains all smartphones reported as lost, stolen or subject to a payment plan. The database lists the IMEI numbers of phones reported as lost. For those who don’t know, an IMEI number is a unique identifier made up of 15 digits that allows you to block or unlock a smartphone remotely.

Phones flagged as lost or stolen are registered in the register by the telecommunications operators, such as Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom or Free Mobile. The GSMA asks all operators to collaborate in the development of this register, which is essential “in the fight against digital crime and fraud”.

In addition, the law obliges all operators to prevent stolen smartphones from connecting to their network “within four working days of receipt by the operator concerned of the official declaration of theft, transmitted by the police or gendarmerie services”, can we read in article L34-3 – Postal and Electronic Communications Code. For this, the operators also rely on the IMEI code.

Source: MacRumors