My dad found some smartphones. Can he use them?

[-=Mr_B=-]

The 16GB version still sells for around $250 on craigslist.

Damn. You guys over there really got sucked in to the cult of Steve good i guess. Sure, peole here list 4s for about the same money to, but they don't sell. Those that sell look like brand new, and are listed at absolutely no more then 60 bucks. I know loads of people who have a 4s laying in a drawer since theirs isn't looking brand new any more, and the 25 bucks they can get for it isn't attractive, they rather keep the phone as a spare.

I have no idea why the difference is that big?
B!

 

[TeknoBug]

Damn. You guys over there really got sucked in to the cult of Steve good i guess. Sure, peole here list 4s for about the same money to, but they don't sell. Those that sell look like brand new, and are listed at absolutely no more then 60 bucks. I know loads of people who have a 4s laying in a drawer since theirs isn't looking brand new any more, and the 25 bucks they can get for it isn't attractive, they rather keep the phone as a spare.

I have no idea why the difference is that big?
B!

Are you outside N. America? The market for iPhones (even older ones) is insane in N. America, it's actually borderline stupid.

 

[Theocnoob]

Are you outside N. America? The market for iPhones (even older ones) is insane in N. America, it's actually borderline stupid.

Definitely not borderline and definitely 100% certifiably stupid.

 

[marketpantry]

ethically he should try to contact the owners. leave the phones charged and on if there is no owner info. iphone owners can find their phones if they are on.

 

[SteveLord]

What was the latest on this? He's had the phones for a while. Did they have Passcodes on them? If not, it should have taken no more than a few minutes to call someone in the contact list about retrieving the phone.

 

[Theocnoob]

He wants to keep them. It's out of my hands.

 

[kayson]

It's definitely illegal. Gotta take it to a police station and turn it in. If no one claims it after a certain time period (usually like 3 months) then it's legally yours. My friend did this with an iPhone that he found.

 

[Theocnoob]

Laws may vary from place to place. I'm in Canada.
Either way, even if it is illegal, he says he wants to keep them. I've told him it may be against the law but he wants to do his own thing.

 

[tungureanu]

Laws may vary from place to place. I'm in Canada.
Either way, even if it is illegal, he says he wants to keep them. I've told him it may be against the law but he wants to do his own thing.

in this case.....wipe the mofos before the popo come a'knocking!

 

[Theocnoob]

Wiping them wouldn't affect the trackability of them. Also, tracking down a stolen phone is not on the priority list for police here based on my experience with them.

 

[kmo_9000]

So my buddy just told me that he forgot his Lenovo y410p in a cab recently and I thought of this thread. In the one sense, I don't understand how this particular friend keeps breaking and loosing computers, but still it sucks when someone steals your things even if you are dumb and forget your cell phone or laptop in a cab.

Really, there's no way the cab driver would not notice it in the back between picking up passengers. Even if someone else got in the cab I don't see why they would not ask about a random bag left there.

It's really not hard to bring it to the main office and hold it for when the person inevitably calls about their forgotten item. It's the non-*** hole thing to do.

 

[SteveLord]

It's really not hard to bring it to the main office and hold it for when the person inevitably calls about their forgotten item. It's the non-*** hole thing to do.

Ding.

 

[tungureanu]

Wiping them wouldn't affect the trackability of them. Also, tracking down a stolen phone is not on the priority list for police here based on my experience with them.

was thinking more like hidden phone tracking apps

 

[Theocnoob]

It's really not hard to bring it to the main office and hold it for when the person inevitably calls about their forgotten item. It's the non-*** hole thing to do.

My dad makes like $16,000 a year driving cab 12 hours a day. The cab business is not good here. He can't afford to get a new smartphone, so when he finds one (they were on the floor not the seat), he wants to use it. He did take them back to the office and they were there for 1 week. Nobody claimed them so now he has them at home.

 

[SteveLord]

I am not sure what the point of the background was, but I am glad to hear he turned them into the office first.

 

[Theocnoob]

I am not sure what the point of the background was

I was explaining that he's low income and can't afford a new smartphone. So if one ends up on his lap he'd be inclined to want to use it.

 

[glussier]

I hope that being low income is not an excuse for being a robberer.

 

[Automata]

I think this thread has outlived its usefulness. He got his answer and I only see this devolving into personal attacks, so I'm ending it now.