Apparently a gentleman named Rob fully owned the chimp that stole his iPhone with the MobileMe syncing app.

Rob bought a new iPhone and installed MobileMe.

The thief meanwhile didn’t wipe the iPhone, and when he added new contacts they synced with Rob’s new phone.

Rob called the new contacts and managed to track down chimpo the thief and alert the police.

His ebay listing (here):

SERIOUS, U.S. BIDDERS ONLY PLEASE!

This is a like-new 3G, 16GB, Black Apple iPhone, and boy does it come with a million dollar story!

I purchased this phone a few months ago. Last week, it was stolen from me. Having become quite addicted to this marvelous piece of technology, I went right out and bought another one with some money I had in savings.

The next day, as I’m scrolling through to make a phone call, I notice some new contacts in my brand new phone. Apparently, the thief had added contacts to my stolen phone, and Apple’s MobileMe service synced those contacts with the internet, and then with my NEW iPhone! I called the contacts, got the thief’s information, and called the police. By the end of the night, I was the proud owner of TWO iPhones.

Needless to say, this phone is in PERFECT condition. I’m selling this one on ebay in the hopes of offsetting the expense of my new iPhone, as well as the $150 speeding ticket I got rushing down to the Apple Store that night to purchase the new phone!

***NOTE: Please check out shipping options. If you want this by Christmas, I will be glad to have it overnighted!***

EDIT: Thanks to ebay users ralpha1961 and harpolesappaloosas for kindly pointing out that, because this phone is updated to 2.2, it is not currently able to be unlocked.

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Sources:

iPhone thief thwarted by MobileMe sync

MobileMe Rescues iPhone from Thief

iPhone thief nailed by MobileMe contact sync