Lost Iphone 3 months ago - someone "found" it and wants a reward

Question

My daughter lost her Iphone 4S 3 months ago.  I reported it stolen/lost, suspended service and replaced the phone.  I had a text on there that said to call my own cell number if it was found.  Today, 3 months later, someone called and said they "found" it and wanted a reward.  I said it was stolen and no reward was being offered because it has already been replaced.  He said he didn't steal it but wanted a reward to return it - I refused and he hung up. The cell # he called from is on the T Mobile system (he says the phone he was calling from belonged to his neighbor).  I can pay to find out the address on a website, but is it even worth it?  Is the phone useless anyway at this point?  I believe I could use it for a backup phone if I ever need one, but I'd have to track this guy down somehow.

Answer 1

Who is to know if the person calling you was the person who had "stolen" it? They could simply have found it as they said after the person who stole it had tossed it aside when it was inoperable because it had been reported stolen.
Another question to ask yourself is did you replace it with insurance you had on it? If so, then you would have to return the "found" phone to Assurion as they are now the rightful owners of the device.
Regardless, I am unsure how easy it is to get a phone off of Verizon's blacklist as I have never tried to do so.
Whether or not you track down the phone, I am not sure if you would want to confront the person with the phone. It may be more of a case for the police and whether or not they would be willing to assist is questionable.