Check if ipad is stolen by serial number

Q: How do you check if sealed iPad is stolen?

No way to tell if it has actually been stolen. Apple doesnt maintain such a database. A stolen device is likely to have Activation Lock set on it by the owner but if the thief were lucky it would not. Still, even if it isnt stolen you do NOT want one with Activation lock or it is essentially useless.

Q: How do you check if an Apple device is stolen?

How to Check If Youre Buying a Stolen iPhone or Android Phone.

If you're baffled by the strings of numbers attached to your devices, you're not alone. Many people never stop to think about what serial numbers mean until a device breaks or gets stolen, but it's essential to know where to find them when you need them.

Table of Contents Show

Why Do You Need to Know Your iPad's Serial Number?
What's the Difference Between a Serial Number and an IMEI Number?
3 Ways to Find Your iPad's Serial Number
Look on the Back of the Device
Connect It to Your Computer
Try Opening the Apple Music App
What If You Don't Have Your iPad?
Should You Share Your iPad's Serial Number?
The red flags
Check it’s erased and ready for setup
Stolen Phone Checker
Author: David Price, Editor
How can I tell if an iPad is stolen by serial number?
How do you check if sealed iPad is stolen?
How do you check if an Apple device is stolen?
Are Ipads traceable if stolen?

This May Also Interest You: How to Find the Serial Number on Your Appliances and Gadgets

Use the instructions below to find your iPad's serial number, whether or not you have the device in front of you.

Why Do You Need to Know Your iPad's Serial Number?

You'll need to know your iPad's serial number if you want to access repair services under warranty. The technician can use the serial number to determine whether it's been repaired in the past and what components to use.

Your iPad's serial number also proves that you own the device, and you may need to supply it to the police if you report it stolen. Insurers will usually ask for a police report with the serial number to process a claim.

What's the Difference Between a Serial Number and an IMEI Number?

IMEI stands for “international mobile equipment identity,” and the IMEI number allows you to connect mobile devices to cellular services. You may also need to know your IMEI number to report your device as stolen, register it with the manufacturer or activate the warranty.

Most iPads don't have an IMEI number unless they are cellular models. However, all iPads have a serial number that acts as a unique identifier for your device.

3 Ways to Find Your iPad's Serial Number

Look on the Back of the Device

You can find your iPad Pro or iPad serial number printed on the device's rear side under the iPad brand name. Alternatively, check the sticker attached to the original box.

Connect It to Your Computer

You can also try connecting your iPad to your Mac or PC with the Lightning cable. If your Mac runs on macOS Catalina or a later version, open the Finder and select your device. Select your “General” tab and then click on “Serial Number.”

Try Opening the Apple Music App

Open Apple Music (the app that replaced iTunes) on a PC or Mac running on an earlier macOS version. Choose your device from the menu on the left-hand side and select “Summary” to view your iPad's serial number.

What If You Don't Have Your iPad?

If your iPad is lost or stolen, you can still find the serial number if you linked it to your Apple ID account. Visit appleid.apple.com and use your Apple ID credentials to sign in. Select the device to reveal the serial number. Apple Support may also provide the serial number.

It's usually best to keep your iPad's serial number to yourself unless there's a legitimate reason to share it. The likelihood of someone using this information fraudulently is remote, but the number could provide access to warranty services or allow someone to order a replacement.

iPhones and iPads are expensive items to buy new from official retailers, and it’s understandable if you’re tempted when friends or even strangers offer you a second-hand model at a bargain price. But is it cheap because it fell off the back of a lorry?

In this article we explain how to find out if an iPhone or iPad is stolen.

The red flags

Is it a suspiciously good deal? We discuss plausible prices for older models of iPhone in our How to sell an iPhone article.

Do you know anything about the person or firm selling the device? Have you or anyone you know dealt with them before? Do research where appropriate and possible – look for positive, numerous reviews or ratings of the seller.

Check if the device is locked or unlocked – regardless of whether it’s stolen this is something worth checking when buying second-hand, but if they’ve been unable to unlock it this may be a red flag.

The factors above should give you a sense of how far it’s safe to trust the retailer without further measures. But at the very least you should make sure the device you’re buying has been erased and disassociated from a previous Apple ID; thanks to Find My iPhone Activation Lock, which we look at next, doing these things will be impossible for a thief unless they have the password.

Check it’s erased and ready for setup

Find My iPhone Activation Lock is a feature that Apple introduced as part of the iOS 7 update back in 2013, as part of the Find My iPhone service.

Activation Lock is automatically turned on when someone turns on Find My iPhone, and cannot be turned off again without the password to the associated Apple ID account. As well as this, it also means the user of the device will need to enter the password in order to erase or re-activate the device.

So when you buy a second-hand iPhone or iPad (or iPod touch or Apple Watch, for that matter, since Activation Lock applies to them too), you should check that this has all been deactivated: that it’s been erased, and the link to the old Apple ID account broken. If the seller can’t do this, then they don’t know the password, which is suspicious; it also means you won’t be able to set it up with your own account.

The way you do this is start the setup process as normal. Turn the device on; if it’s been erased you should see a screen reading ‘Set up your iPhone’ or equivalent.

If instead you get the passcode entry screen or Home screen (with the previous owner’s app icons), it hasn’t been erased – or it’s been erased but then they’ve set it up again, which is not what you want.

So ask the seller to erase it for you. They (or you, with permission) will need to go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

Once it’s erased, start the setup process as normal (see How to set up a new iPhone and How to set up a new iPad). Several steps in, you’ll be asked to enter an Apple ID, and this is the key: does the last owner’s Apple ID appear, or is the field blank?

If the Apple ID keeps appearing, tell the previous owner to turn off Find My iPhone. They don’t need to do this from the device itself, by the way: they can do so from icloud.com/find but they’ll need to enter their password.

Stolen Phone Checker

The previous measures only work if the previous owner turned on Find My iPhone (which we recommend, by the way). But if you’re reading this article from the US, there’s another tool you can use to check if the device has been reported stolen.

Stolen Phone Checker is a free online tool that lets you check five devices per day, but is US-only for the time being at least. Enter the IMEI, MEID or ESN for the device in question (here’s how to find your iPhone’s IMEI number; the same technique works for MEID as well) and it will tell you if it’s clean.

We’ll update this article if we hear that the service is expanded to include the UK.

Author: David Price, Editor

David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.

How can I tell if an iPad is stolen by serial number?

How to verify stolen iPad?.

First of all, locate IMEI or Serial Number of your iPad..

Then, go to our iPad Serial Number Checker service..

Enter Serial Number on the special box..

To proceed, press the magnifying glass symbol..

Success! Now, you will be able to check out the blacklist status to verify if iPad is stolen..

How do you check if sealed iPad is stolen?

No way to tell if it has actually been stolen. Apple doesn't maintain such a database. A stolen device is likely to have Activation Lock set on it by the owner but if the thief were lucky it would not. Still, even if it isn't stolen you do NOT want one with Activation lock or it is essentially useless.

How do you check if an Apple device is stolen?

How to Check If You're Buying a Stolen iPhone or Android Phone.

Get the IMEI number from the iPhone or Android phone, you can also do this by dialing *#06# on the phone..

Go to StolenPhoneChecker.org here to check and enter your IMEI number into the website..

Are Ipads traceable if stolen?

Look for your device on a map To find your device, sign in to iCloud.com/find. Or use the Find My app on another Apple device that you own. If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch doesn't appear in the list of devices, Find My was not turned on. But you can still protect your account if Find My was not turned on.