Stolen iPhone 5 Reportedly Sold Through Amazon’s Warehouse Deals

If you were one of the lucky so-and-so’s who received an iPhone 5 for Christmas, you’ll no doubt be the envy of friends and family. However, if it was a refurbished device purchased from Amazon as part of one of their warehouse deals you could get more than you bargained for – such as a visit from the police!

Twitter user Ben Dreyfuss tweeted on Christmas Day “I bought my my Mom an iPhone for Christmas off Amazon and when she tried to activate it they told her it had been stolen.” Rough deal for both mother and son, but fortunately Amazon responded to Ben’s complaint immediately and told him to return the device. We’re sure it was an honest mistake on their part, but it must still have been a massive shock to the family on Christmas morning.

If you’re in the same boat as Ben and bought a refurbished device from Amazon, the first thing you can do to check whether it’s a kosher purchase is contact your mobile service provider who can run the IMEI number for you. If it does happen to be reported as stolen, get in contact with Amazon immediately through their ‘Contact Us’ page and use ‘STOLEN ITEM’ as your issue summary, which should bump you to the top of their queue.

Via Gizmodo