They are phishing scams. Apple does not take reports of lost or stolen devices, they do not search for, track, monitor or anything else about such items. They will never contact anyone about their lost or stolen device since they literally know nothing about that.
Apple tracks their products by serial number. Using that, they do keep a record of sales, just like everyone else, but they attach it to serial number. So they can look up the serial number of a device and see who bought it. They don't use it to track anyone though.
You can't. Unless the iPad has been activated by you, you'll have no technical means by which to locate or manage the iPad. If the device was initially activated from new by anyone other than yourself, the iPad will be “legitimately” associated with the AppleID account of the “owner” who activated the iPad.
One of those strategies is to use technology and tracking to deter theft and lock smartphones from being used that have been stolen. Apple is one of those retailers that has implemented this feature and has disabled demo phones that have been stolen from their retail stores.
If it's listed as stolen then the original owner is known, and it must be returned to them. Any money he has paid to the thief is lost and his only redress would to be to attempt to get it back from him.
If it was stolen, report it to the police. There is no way to track an unopened, un-activated device.
If it's covered by AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss, you can sign in with your Apple ID and file a claim for an iPhone replacement. Use the Find My app or go to iCloud.com/find to mark your iPhone as lost.
With Find My iPhone, you can locate lost devices, disable them, and even fully erase them, but unless you've been in a situation where you've needed these services, you may not know exactly how they work, what they do, or what information someone can access when they have your device.
When you mark your device as lost, you remotely lock it with a passcode, keeping your information secure. This also disables Apple Pay on the missing device. And you can display a custom message with your contact information on the missing device.
Summary: Activation Lock & Lost or Stolen iPhone's
Once you exhausted all efforts to find the owner on the device, check with the police to see if it has been reported stolen or is needed for evidence. If all is clear with the authorities, you do have the option of selling it or even unlocking it and using it yourself.
No, there is nothing you can do. If you activated Find My Phone before it was lost or stolen, you can track it only if Wi-Fi is enabled on the device. What you cannot do is track your device using a serial number or other identifying number. You cannot expect Apple or anyone else to find your device for you.
You can even find devices that are offline or powered off.
If your missing device can't connect to the internet or has little to no battery life, the Find My app can still help you track it down using the Find My network — hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world.
Unless a serious felony is involved (abduction of a child, etc), the police aren't going to do anything other than make a note of it and file it away. The Police can request your mobile carrier via a warrant or judicial requirement to track a stolen device.
All apps are required to ask your permission before tracking you or your iPhone across websites or apps owned by other companies for advertising or to share your information with data brokers. After you grant or deny permission to an app, you can change permission later.
You cannot track the location of an iPhone through the IMEI or Serial number. It can only be done through the Find My app and only if Find My was activated on the iPhone before it was lost/stolen. If there is no service on the iPhone or if Find My was not activated, then it cannot be digitally located.
Major Updates to Safari Private Browsing
Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections go even further to help prevent websites from using the latest techniques to track or identify a user's device.
If you enable Lost Mode, your data is safe. If you remove it from your account, it could be reactivated but without your data Your data is not at risk. If you activated Find My Phone before it was lost or stolen, you can track it only when it is connected to the Internet by Wi-Fi or cellular.
Not unless they successfully guess your passcode to get into the device. If you are worried you should still change email passwords and any other logins that could be on that device. But the security of the data on the device is directly related to the security of the passcode/password you used to get into it.
iPhone burglars have a wide network of dealers who help them sell different parts of the stolen iOS device. All the confidential data, including contacts, photos, emails, documents, and chats, stored in it is treasured by hackers. So, the probability of data exposure to the wrong hands becomes tenfold.
If you believe your phone has been stolen, file a police report. Although law enforcement agencies don't have the resources to investigate every case of a stolen phone, if you're able to tell them where your phone is (using a finder app), they will be more likely to be able to help you recover it.
The thief who stole your AirPods has the ability to reset them and maybe even use them, but the thief can't set up your AirPods with his/her Apple ID because of Apple's security measures.
At the end of the day, whether AppleCare+ is worth it depends on your individual situation and budget constraints. While it does provide some additional peace of mind thanks to its coverage, it is expensive, and there may be cheaper ways of protecting your phone or other device.
IMEI numbers will now be recorded by the Police and checked against suspected stolen mobile phones.
With your phone, thieves can:
Make unauthorized purchases using your linked credit cards and Apple or Google Pay. Access your passwords and login information for various accounts. (As many as 99% of people reuse passwords across business and personal accounts [*].
Not only will Apple not track it for you, but if someone walks into an Apple store and tries to get it repaired while under warranty (even if you have reported it as stolen and provided the serial #), Apple will happily repair or replace the item FOR THE THIEF! Thus Apple is accepting stolen property.