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by aikinai 1150 days ago
Those are new in-box unactivated phones, completely unrelated to personal theft and activation lock.
1 comments

It’s not related to personal theft, but to activation lock. Apple can (and will) lock these phones as well.
Is that something that is happening? I would have thought it would have been in the news before if apple had been doing that.
Oh yeah, good point. I can’t imagine how that’s worth it then…
They will sell the hardware to unwitting victims as new via eBay, Craigslist, … and disappear before the victim figures it out. It is a new iPhone in the original shrinkwrap - who’d become suspicious?
A cheap sealed boxed iPhone off craigslist or eBay seems like something I'd be suspicious of.
You'd be surprised.

If you mean "suspicious that it might have been stolen", the buyers are suspicious too, but they don't care, they're fine with it if it means they get it for cheaper.