Chronicle of an iPhone Thief

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By Chris Taylor2013-08-06 16:44:14 -0400

Ever had a smartphone stolen? Nine times out of 10, you never hear of it again. Even tools such as Find My iPhone don't usually work; too often, the thief is smart enough to wipe the phone and destroy its SIM card.

But for one user, the theft of her iPhone on vacation in Spain at the end of July was only the beginning of the story. The thief, it seemed, had not turned off the feature that uploaded photos to Dropbox whenever the phone was connected to Wi-Fi. Not only that, he sent her a message on Facebook.

See also: Stolen Laptop Sends Mystery Pictures from Iran

Now that anonymous user has turned these inadvertent updates from the thief into a Tumblr, "Life of a Stranger Who Stole My iPhone." It now has 14,000 readers.

Those readers have discovered that the alleged thief's name is Hafid, he lives in Dubai with roommates, and that he is interested in costumes, cars and selfies. Apparently he is still unaware that his photos are being shared — though that hasn't stopped a few hundred Tumblr commenters from pretending to be Hafid.

This isn't the first time a gadget's unauthorized owner has been exposed via the stolen device. In April, a stolen laptop started sending surreptitious pictures from its new home in Tehran. Last year a tourist on a Disney cruise discovered her phone had been snatched by a Disney employee; she posted the employee's pictures to Facebook.

Thumbnail image: lifeofastrangerwhostolemyphone.tumblr.com

Topics: iPhone, Tech, tumblr, World