So I bought a used iPhone 5S...

HighVoltage101 · Mar 28, 2014

To make a long story short, I just bought a used less than a week old iPhone 5s (Verizon). Here is the problem though: The person who last owned it didn't do a factory reset, and I can't do the reset on the phone because I don't know her password to her iCloud account. She isn't returning any of my calls or messages either so I can ask her or meet with her to let her do the reset.

I have my SIM card and everything, ready to activate the phone...but I want to get this taken care of first. What can I do?

Pinkpoison · Mar 28, 2014

Hello, read this-
http://www.iphoneforums.net/forum/iphone-help-15/before-buying-new-second-hand-device-online-61994/

HighVoltage101 · Mar 28, 2014

Poisonivy said:
Hello, read this-
http://www.iphoneforums.net/forum/iphone-help-15/before-buying-new-second-hand-device-online-61994/

Thanks, I bought the phone from a trusted source. I am 100% sure there is no scam or fraud going on. I found this YouTube video, would this be an option for me to do?

scifan57 · Mar 28, 2014

HighVoltage101 said:
Thanks, I bought the phone from a trusted source. I am 100% sure there is no scam or fraud going on. I found this YouTube video, would this be an option for me to do? YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIuvStoRyO4

That video was done with an iPhone on iOS 6. The iOS 7 activation lock would prevent you from doing that unless you had the original owner's Apple ID and password. Unless your are able to get that ID and password, all you have is a fancy expensive paperweight.

If the source you bought it from is so trustworthy, why didn't they check to make sure that the phone was properly reset to factory settings before selling it to you?

HighVoltage101 · Mar 28, 2014

scifan57 said:
That video was done with an iPhone on iOS 6. The iOS 7 activation lock would prevent you from doing that unless you had the original owner's Apple ID and password. Unless your are able to get that ID and password, all you have is a fancy expensive paperweight.

If the source you bought it from is so trustworthy, why didn't they check to make sure that the phone was properly reset to factory settings before selling it to you?

He wasn't aware of the activation lock on ios7.

Couldn't I plug the phone into my iTunes on my laptop and do a restore?