[tcdent]

People that steal almost anything off the street aren't making a successful career out of it, they're addicts.

A second hand iPhone is only worth a few tens of dollars on the black market, but that's enough for the next hit.

[genewitch]

i don't understand how a stolen iphone is worth anything, do they part it out? I thought apple explicitly had coded/serialized parts, and i thought that would prevent someone from installing a stolen screen onto a different phone.

or, is it just because apple is a jerk and wants all repairs to be done by apple?

[a2128]

What happens sometimes is they get trafficked outside of the country, then they start sending messages to the original owner trying to manipulate them in various ways to remove the activation lock. Including lying that it's necessary to wipe the sensitive photos off the phone, lying that they're poor and got scammed by a seller who sold them a stolen phone, and sometimes harassing the owner with really graphic texts cursing their family members or threatening their lives until the phone is unlocked: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/iphone-theft-sto...

It's not like the users are really losing anything by wiping and removing activation lock, the phone is already stolen, so it often works