Receiving an iPhone as a Christmas present is probably at the top of everyone’s wishlist. But, what if it is a stolen iPhone? Will it still be that special? Unfortunately, this happened to Ben Dreyfuss, who bought an iPhone for his mom this Christmas. When Ben’s mom called Verizon to activate her shiny iPhone, she was shocked to hear that the unit was stolen. “Son, you gave me a stolen iPhone?” Ben’s mom asked.
Apparently Ben had bought the iPhone from one of Amazon’s refurbished warehouse deals. “It was one of those refurbished phones that actually came from an Amazon trade-in,” Dreyfuss said on Twitter. “When we called to activate it I read the MEI number and they said it was stolen. Amazon says there’s nothing to do but return it.” Thankfully, Amazon was kind enough to consider replacing the device. Dreyfuss says that Amazon was “very apologetic.” Obviously this was a mistake. Probably it is one of those extreme and rare cases. An honest mistake that is.