One of the ways that Apple has attempted to cut down on the number of iPhone-related thefts is with a feature called Activation Lock, which basically prevents the thief from wiping your phone and reselling it as a brand new device. So far the feature seems to be effective as last we heard, the number of such cases are on the decline.
Apple has also made it pretty easy for users to check on the status of a device to see if it might potentially be stolen via the iCloud Activation Lock website, but as users are now reporting, the website has since been removed. It does not appear to have been done so in error either because Apple’s support document has reflected those changes.
The document used to tell users to check the Activation Lock status of an iOS device before purchasing it to ensure that it is a legitimate purchase, but following the removal of the website, the document has been updated and the text has since been removed. It is unclear as to why Apple decided to remove Activation Lock’s website as it was a useful tool in checking that the second hand iPhone you bought is the real deal.
This of course does not affect the way Activation Lock works, but for users shopping online and buying their iOS devices second hand, checking to see if it is the real deal just got a lot harder.