I'm just curious because I am a little startled/irritated by what happened yesterday. Some buff meathead in a M. Benz comes racing up to our house. He was wearing gym clothes and luckily H was home and answered the door. He said his phone was stolen and it was in our backyard according to find my iphone app. He insisted that he go in our backyard and look for it.
We let him go through the side yard and look but I was uncomfortable with how accustory he was. He asked if we go to his gym. (Where it was apparently taken.) He asked where we were last etc etc. I was peeved. My H said "Dude, we didn't take your phone. Both my wife and I have iphones and my kids are toddlers so we know they dont have it either. You're welcome to look for it if someone threw it over the wall or something."
He was at our house for a fucking HOUR. No iphone. We almost had to force him to leave.
We handled it correctly right? Or should we have thrown him out after the first 5mins?
Nope, sounds like he was casing your yard/house/occupant situation. He should have had the police meet him there which is what any sane person would do.
My husband lost his iPhone at Costco, and his "Find My iPhone" said his phone was at the Veterans Hospital a few miles away. But then the next morning we got a call from Costco, saying that it was there.
My husband lost his iPhone at Costco, and his "Find My iPhone" said his phone was at the Veterans Hospital a few miles away. But then the next morning we got a call from Costco, saying that it was there.
This answers my question as to whether the app might trace where the phone has been. Like, it was stolen and the person that has it happened to walk near our house? We haven't seen dude all day today so I am hoping he figured it out. If I lost my phone, I would not be as bold and rude as this guy. If he comes back we'll tell him that we'll call the cops for him.
How weird. Guy sounds like a loon anyways not sure if I would have let him look in my back yard, especially for an hour. I've never had to use that app but I'm sure it can be wrong.
"Do you have a warrant to search my property? No? I'm sorry I'm not allowing you on my property. If you would like to call the phone I would be happy to go listen for it while my H waits here with you."
"Unfortunately those apps use positioning based off of cellular towers and isn't always completely accurate, I can assure you your phone is not in my backyard. I hope you find your phone. Good day!"
Ewwww, that is weird. Ugh. If he was being an asshole I'd say "well, let's call the police and see what they think. Maybe they can help."
I had to do this once when some crazy chick was harassing us over something we weren't even guilty of back when we lived in an apartment. She was like "if you don't fucking stop I WILL CALL THE POLICE!" I was like, dude, yeah, let's get the fucking police here.
When we're at home, our phones show up as being AT our house because we have an airave. But many, MANY times the app will show us kind of near where we are but not always exactly. SOmetimes DH, when I know he's on his boat, will show up as being at some odd location in the middle of the city. I think it's the last tower that picked up his signal.
And even when it's at home, it absolutely doesn't show the EXACT location of the phone - whether it's inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs.
Eek, that whole situation gives me anxiety. My phone has always been whenever the app says it is, but I don't think I would have the gull to show up at someone's house accusing them of stealing my phone if the app said it was at their house. He sounds like a huge ass, and I would not be surprised if he had been up to something else.
Post by litebright on Apr 24, 2014 19:54:47 GMT -5
Cell phone positioning is NOT an exact science. At all. And that's even if the info is coming directly from the carrier to say, public safety, much less a third party consumer app. You can use cell phone sites (identifying what cell site you're closest to -- there can be miles between sites), triangulation (using multiple sites to get a better location than just what sector the phone is in) or GPS or GNSS (more precise, satellite positioning, but only good outdoors/with an unobstructed view of the sky).
The FCC is considering rules right now to make cell phone carriers improve how closely they can pinpoint a user. It's a huge problem for public safety trying to find people calling 911 from cell phones, and I highly doubt that an app is getting information that is any better.
Post by bigoleworm on Apr 24, 2014 21:05:53 GMT -5
A friend had the neighboring state police show up at her house at 2 am asking if they found an iPad on a train that am because they had someone whose find my ipod ap had their ipod in their house. They don't travel by train and did not have the ipad.
Some dude showed up in between my neighbors house and mine asking my neighbor if we had his phone because this was where the ap said it was. I called the cops and when the police got there, the people took off.
My boss had his iPhone stolen at work last year, and he called the police to make a report. The police said there was nothing else they could do because that app doesn't prove anything.
On the flip side a friend of mine lost her iPad (it was actually her moms) wannabe & nannersp you gals might remember this Facebook event from one of our old nesties.
Anyway they tracked it down via the find my iPad app and it was exactly where the app said it was. A friend showed up to the house and The woman denied it at first then minutes after friend left the iPad suddenly turned off. Coincidence?! Long story short her teenage son had the iPad. Police were called and the iPad was returned with a story that they found it.
My husband lost his iPhone at Costco, and his "Find My iPhone" said his phone was at the Veterans Hospital a few miles away. But then the next morning we got a call from Costco, saying that it was there.
This answers my question as to whether the app might trace where the phone has been. Like, it was stolen and the person that has it happened to walk near our house? We haven't seen dude all day today so I am hoping he figured it out. If I lost my phone, I would not be as bold and rude as this guy. If he comes back we'll tell him that we'll call the cops for him.
And another thing, how would he have known it was in your backyard??
Maybe there is some other find my iPhone app that I don't have, but mine doesn't give that precise of a location to know if it's in the house vs in the yard.
I also don't think it tracks your location, I think it only shows it's current location. However, that might not always be 100%.
Anyway, I hope you don't have anymore problems with this guy! People can be so crazy.
Yeah I would have told him to GTFO until the cops came.
A friend's g/f had her iPhone stolen while they were vacationing in Arizona. They used the "find my iPhone" app, which tracked it to a house. They gave the police that info, but the police said they couldn't do anything; it wasn't definitive proof and is often incorrect.