Stolen iPhone? Good luck...

Question

Last Friday, I lost my 4S 64GB to a snatch and dash operation in the subway.
I was reading, absorbed in the phone - easy to do - and just as the train was about to leave a station, as the doors started to close, the thief dashed past, lifted the phone from my hands and was out before I could give chase. I believe I was targeted because I was sitting with a briefcase & a couple bags of groceries at my feet and honestly not paying attention - it was a relatively quiet night on the train (gives room for theives to run, I was told later). Dumb of me in hindsight I guess. Another guy playing a video game lost his phone - 4S 32GB - to a second thief in the same incident. My phone was set up to lock in 1 minute, his was unlocked.
Everyone made a fuss about me trying to find the phone & presumably the theives. I did have "Find my Phone" activated, and was not in Airplane mode.
But really, Find my Phone is a waste of time for anything other than if you've lost your phone around the house & want to make it beep, or if you left it someplace like a restaurant where some honest soul finds it or it goes behind some furnishing or other and sits with the dustballs.
First thing thieves do is turn off the phone & pop out the telco chip. I am given to understand once that's done, "Find my Phone" is useless. I have seen no trace of my phone since I requested a "Wipe" on a cop's phone when I reported the incident. (First thing you should do, other than report to police, is change all your passwords to on-line services. Not only will that keep an unlocked (keypad lock, that is) phone from connecting to them, but it will mean the encrypted p/w data on the phone would be useless if cracked by the thief or someone downstream).
What really bugs me though, is that while the telco can easily route calls to my new phone, neither the telcos in North America nor Apple will do anything to help locate my lost phone, notwithstanding the fact it contains a unique hardware identifier, if not several of them. I believe in Europe there is a means to blacklist stolen phones based on the hardware identifier.
You know, Apple, if you are reading this, I'd pay a modest purchase fee to have that capability, just for the pleasure of being able to shut down some dirtbag's thrill. Or I'd pay my telco a modest fee, monthly even - there's a revenue opporutnity here that would offset the revenue made in replacing stolen phones. All the current policy does is encourage criminality and promote a public safety risk, to victims and thieves alike (the second guy who lost his phone did manage to get out the doors of the train in time to give chase, but he lost the guys - they'd have been mincedmeat if he'd got his hands on them).
I don't know how well the remote locking features work for stolen cars, but for stolen phones, good luck.
So much for my rant - I expect nothing beyond the satisfaction of venting. But if you read this and agree it's ridiculous we can't bring a halt to stolen phones being fitted with a new chip and "restored" as new in some thief's iTunes and then brough back on the network, please post even a brief reply here to give a word of support.
And if you have additional wisdom to contribute to the conversation, go for it!
For example, I am curious where these phones go generally. Do they stay local? Do they go offshore? What happens to them?
Thanks!
gz

Answer 1

For example, I am curious where these phones go generally. Do they stay local? Do they go offshore? What happens to them?
Craigslist and pawn shops. The dirtbags got ten, maybe twenty bucks tops. Good enough for one more hit of whatever it is they're using.
Find my iPhone is like locking your door. It's intended for honest people.
Sorry to hear it was stolen, but
Apple does not read this support forum
Ranting may help you blow off steam but it is against the terms of use here, and
To provide suggestions directly to Apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/
I'm not being snarky with #3. They do read it.