![\"user-pic\"](\"/css/images/default.gif\")
That email has a Facebook account associated it it.
Are you from NJ?
2 replies
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-130682-100x100.png\")
I naturally came here to post \"New Jersey,\" but nothing gets past Consumerist readers.
That email has a Facebook account associated it it.
Are you from NJ?
I naturally came here to post \"New Jersey,\" but nothing gets past Consumerist readers.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-68720-100x100.png\")
Sure we don't know how he came about it, but why the heck is he playing with a device that obviously isn't his using services that also are obviously not his? I think that's uh...douche-ier...than anything else.
@Skunky: The OP said service was stopped, but AT&T doesn't typically blacklist the IEMI, so all the crook has to do is put in another sim card.
@Skunky: Because the Dad's service was stopped on the old SIM by AT&T, this guy could be using wifi or his own AT&T service to use the phone to send emails. I don't think he's using services that are not his. And as the post said, who's to say that this guy didn't buy it off someone else without knowledge of its theft?
The world may never know.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-2106-100x100.png\")
@Cafezinha: That is exactly what I thought. Taking that many pictures of oneself is a complete douchebag move. Adding those ridiculous glasses just cranks the douchebag level up to 11.
jrsyctyemerson@hotmail.com does have a facebook, its for \"Michael smith\" of central Jersey, nj
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-55601-100x100.png\")
epic douche.
this is just precious.
@evilrobot: that's what i was thinking. if he isn't shamed by that hair and general douchey look i'm surprised plastering him all over the internets like this would result in him returning the phone.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-199488-100x100.png\")
@evilrobot: Especially since there's a little girl (I think) in the background trying to chill on the bed...and he's taking douche-y pictures on an iPhone that doesn't belong to him.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-126486-100x100.png\")
Fez stole your iPhone!!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-332258-100x100.png\")
If this is seen widely on the Internet do you think it would shame the guy into give us back the phone?
Not after looking at those pictures he took of himself. But good luck!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-537475-100x100.png\")
That's what I thought too!
Name: Michael SmithTown: Central Jersey, NJ
This was obtained from his facebook account. However, he has no friends associated with that account. I would keep searching any type of site that allows a search of email. Myspace, Bebo, what have you.
It's true, we don't know how he got the phone.
That's why Chris did not suggest bombing the e-mail EECB-style.
Ahem.
@Cafezinha: Yeah, but if there's stuff on it (which there will be), he knows it's not his.
It looks awfully suspicious when you somehow get an ACTIVATED, 1st generation iPhone that has full contact list, email set up, probably some personalized apps, etc. You've gotta know it belongs to somebody other than you.
@metalmarious: Even if it saved me tons of money, I wouldn't buy a phone secondhand unless it was somebody I knew really, really well. Who knows what kind of shenanigans are going on in the background? This is a prime example.
(Not that we know for sure that he didn't buy it from his BFF, but I have a feeling that wasn't the case.)
@shorty63136: That's my thought to those decrying putting this up. Instead of buying the phone at a real store, they fell for some fence selling an OMG CHEAP iPhone...a deal too good to be true. Dingbat deserves the harassment, if ya ask me.
Would be interesting to find out that the OP isn't for real, though, as another commenter noted. That could stir some serious shit.
@Cafezinha: I really hope the tipster emails back and lets us know what happened. That would be awesome.
I am sure he found the phone, and wanted some fun self pics before searching for the owner. He looks like a great fellow with a greater sense of humor- right guys- right???
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-140105-100x100.png\")
well the first part of the email address is obviously jersey city.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-7884-100x100.png\")
In case you haven't figured it out, the e-mail probably is shorthand for \"Jersey City Emerson.\"
Also, you can make a police report and get them to get a search warrant to get the Internet Service Provider to give you his contact info. (Assuming his IP is reading out on the e-mail forwarded to you.)
I'm a bit of an amateur detective (caught a car thief, a hit-and-run driver, helped a woman find her birth parents, etc.)
Go to my site, advicegoddess.com, look up my contact info, and e-mail me, and I'll help you further.
@Zeniq: She has a particular set of skills, skills that make her a nightmare for people like you!
\"You\" meaning daughter-kidnappers.
teh douchiest
The method of obtaining said iPhone may not be douchey as he may have bought it off the dishonest person, but his look certainly says DATE RAPIST.
Also, you can blacklist the phone by reporting the serial stolen so he can't use it for anything more than a really terrible camera.
Haha! Looks like he's trying to take a klassy pic of himself for his Facebook page. lolz! What a douchecanoe.
That's how I got the idea to search on Facebook. That's totally a Facebook/MySpace type of pose.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-144398-100x100.png\")
How did he get his iphone to BCC every email? Is that a normal setting you can setup?
@Egat: and should have done a quick google before posting.
Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Always BCC Myself
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-414437-100x100.png\")
You could post this information on 4chan and see if anonymous takes interest in making this guy's life a living hell until he gives the phone back. Just keep in mind that /b/ is not your personal army, and they may or may not jump at the opportunity.
@WglyWrm: THT S N WFL D. D NT D THS. /B/ ND S GNS HV MD PNTS THT THY R NBDY'S RMY. F Y G T /B/ WTH THS, THY WLL SHT N Y ND TTCK Y NSTD. JSS CHRST 'V NVR SN WRS DVC N MY LF.
@RecordStoreToughGuy: Do you really want to risk a bunch of goons and anon. figuring it out and making your life hell? Is it really worth it? I see threads like this weekly with people figuring out that the OP is fake and watch them get eaten alive.
Wait, nevermind. That would be fun to watch. Go ahead story person and con these internet vigilantes! They'll never figure out the plan!
I type the name of the email before the @ on google maps and it points to:
jersey city emerson
[maps.google.com]
I would do a search on facebook/myspace in that area. Looking at how he took those pictures I would not be surprise he use them for those sites.
Good luck getting the phone back.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-55114-100x100.png\")
\"set up a rule where any email sent from the phone blind-cc'ed his personal email address\"
o.O
Really?
Man, when these things come down in price, I am going to buy one, set that up, and 'lose' it at the nudie bar!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-421036-100x100.png\")
it may be good to spread the word. some one should post this on digg. Some one in his neighborhood is probably familiar with digg and may recognize his face
That kid is what happens when you mix slum-dog millionaires with american idol. i kid i kid...but seriously he looks like a bit of a loser.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-679536-100x100.png\")
As someone who is from New Jersey I feel so shamed from this. Everyone knows everyone is jersey so if you follow those facebook leads I'm sure you can find this guy.
This is pathetic. You (Consumerist) have absolutely no idea how the person in the photos and whose email you just stuck up there came by the iphone. There are all kinds of bad ways he could have but jeez, what if, as a few have suggested, he bought it from someone with entirely good intentions?
Perhaps you should have a handle on a situation before posting such things? You note that you don't know how he came about it, but you feel it's reasonable and responsible to go ahead and hold him up for what you knew was coming anyway? Nice work.
@ccbweb: And I bet you would do the same thing. Find/Buy/Take an iPhone that is ACTIVE (until the owner had it suspended) and not be curious about why you can use all of its features with no penalty?
You say that the Consumerist, as a whole, is pathetic to hand down a manhunt on someone that \"came across\" an iPhone?
I lose my iPhone.
Someone finds it and uses it.
I find out their e-mail address due to BCC thingy.
I e-mail them.
No response.
E-mail.
No response.
Post on Consumerist about douche that has my phone.
Internet peeps lay the smackdown.
I don't see anything wrong in the way that this was handled. Didn't sound like any threats of harm were issued on either side. The punk (and yes, he looks like a tremendous DOUCHE!) took pictures of himself with the phone. Yeah, I'd say he had no intention of giving the phone back until he realized that A LOT of people knew what he looked like and that he had property that did not belong to him.
So the asshat was a little embarrassed. Who cares?
@ccbweb: Did you miss the part where the owner of the phone has emailed him asking for the phone back, and the guy has ignored him?
Perhaps you should have a handle on a situation before posting such things?
Pot, kettle, black.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-14643-100x100.png\")
Sex-ay! Looks like somebody has some snazzy new pix to add to his Match.com profile!
Found his personal profile and it looks like he posted those photos to it.
http://www.hi5.com/friend/p57786072--╬╬╬↔iEmer§onTellEm↔╬╬╬----html
@RachelBrutus: Emerson TellEm? Like Soulja Boy TellEm? Yup, 100% Grade \"A\" Douche Nozzle in the hizzy.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-410559-100x100.png\")
@RachelBrutus: Whether it's due to traffic or to the dude in question cottoning on, it looks to me like that profile got deleted!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-113401-100x100.png\")
iPhones put the location the photo was taken in the metadata. It doesn't look like Flickr is showing it, but you should be able to get it from the originals.
ha! looks like somebody beat me to my jersey jokes... which, ironically, aren't really jokes it seems. Nice bedspread and lavender-blue bathroom douchemeister maxx. I can't stand when people don't return things that they found that are easily returnable... wallets, phones, etc. My gf lost her phone and the guy who found it just called the person labeled \"DAD\" on the phone and reported the phone lost. Kudos to him.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-386042-100x100.png\")
@WalrusTaco: i lost my phone one afternoon running to the bus stop. the guy that found it called every single listing in my phone, all 65 of them. but at least he gave it back to me.
Long time reader, first time poster...do the original pics have any EXIF data on them? One of the first things I've learned about people who upload pictures from an iPhone is that the EXIF data on the pics tend to have exact coordinates of where the person who took the pictures were at when they took the pic. SOOOO...if the guy in those photos took pictures in his house, it's a possibility that we can find out where this loser lives.
All we need are the original photos, and hope the EXIF data can tell us something good! I'd love to help your dad get his phone back, Dino A.! :)
@FarrellBeetle: Buuuut...how do you get this info from the image?
I just emailed an image from my iPhone and I'm trying to figure out where the info is located.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-32765-100x100.png\")
@shorty63136: Well if the Flickr is right then he lives oh Jeffery Circle.
[www.flickr.com]
[maps.google.com]
That is, if that's the original data. (iPhone 2G also geotags, right?)
@FarrellBeetle: Good suggestion, but how would anyone go about getting the original photos that are on the iPhone?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-587956-100x100.png\")
@Dino A.: Congats on having a 64y/o dad that uses an iPhone in the first place. My dad (60) can barely figure out his plain old clamshell..
@Chris Walters: I judge the kid to be a douche regardless of how he came by the phone based upon pics alone. Though his bathroom sure is the decorators' hotness..
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-66943-100x100.png\")
Awesome idea cc'ing outgoing messages like that. Seriously, if this guy had any intention of returning the phone, he wouldn't be jerking around with it.
Consumerist does have to be careful about this though. What says that the original 'victim' is even real, and that he's not just putting up some dude's picture/email to get him in trouble?
Did anyone think of checking the GPS data in the pictures' EXIF data?:
I think y'all should stop posting comments until the guy who lost the phone gets back in touch with COnsumerist. I just sent him a message on Facebook, and he heplied
\"i already contact the owner.
the pictures were to be meant to find the address
of the owner so i could email
and some fun.. to but yea the phone i would give it back tomorrow
i already called the owner\"
True or not, let's give him an opportunity to do the right thing before he gets truly roasted.
\"the pictures were to be meant to find the address of the owner so i could email and some fun.. to but yea the phone i would give it back tomorrow i already called the owner\"
Sounds like he knew it wasn't his. If you found me in your car 10 miles away from where you left it would you accept, \"Oh yeah, I just wanted to see how it handled and have some fun, but I was also going to the DMV so they could contact you about it and I can give it back\".
IMO if all he gets are some harsh comments and emails then he's ahead of the game.
(Disclaimer: I've already emailed him the link to this posting, and I called him a stupid douche or somesuch. I'm sure I wasn't the first).
Kick-ass quilt.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1713-100x100.png\")
This is closing the door after the horse ran off, but iPhones have pass locks that can be easily set. You can even program them to erase themselves after 10 wrong entries. I highly recommend this for anybody with an iPhone (or iPod touch). It's an easy way to secure your personal data. Of course, you'll never get the phone back when it's stolen, but this way it's useless to the thief.
@B: Download a program called \"IfFound\" from the App Store. It's free. It will edit any image on your iPhone to include a little banner with a contact number on it. Then you set that as your background and when the phone is found, it says right there on the \"unlock\" screen, \"IF FOUND: ###-###-####\".
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-176526-100x100.png\")
Plug the address in to Pipl (www.pipl.com) and you'll find a Hi5 page (similar to myspace) that belongs to the kid. His location is listed as Jersey City, but it doesn't list his full name. Look through the comments though and you'll find that his GF is referring to him as Emerson, which throws out the Michael Smith name and makes his email make more sense.
Regardless of how he got the phone, he still is in possession of stolen property and could be charged for it. It could be worthwhile to fill out a police report in Jersey City. From there it could just be up to their caseload if it gets looked at. Who knows though, with his email out there I'm guessing he's getting pretty heavily flooded with hate mail right now and that might help facilitate the return of the phone.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-255368-100x100.png\")
Since you know who he's emailing from/to, my first thought to send them copies of the pictures photoshopped to make him look stupid... but realized the photoshop step was unneeded...
Well, you probably already figured he was testing the phone out, sending the pictures to his own hotmail account, JRSYCTY and you being from Jersey... well, the phone is in that area.. The \"Emerson\" is probably his last name. With all the hints, please keep us up to date with any info you find, people may be able to help with any hints.
@Sodypop: What's interesting is that THIS article also comes up with it...if he were to search for himself, he'd see we're all here plotting and scheming against him. :)
Even if his father *lost* that cellphone, it doesn't belong to Douchey McPictureTaker, and he should return it or he's going to have a bad experience with Interwebs Karma.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-445976-100x100.png\")
Looks like a punk ass mutha fucka.....
Like Amy Alkon noted earlier, the email address clearly \"translates\" to Jersey City Emerson. Either he lives on Emerson Avenue in Jersey City, or he is actually in Union City, where there is an Emerson High School. I'm originally from that area, so I'm pretty familiar.
Wow, the kid has already restricted his Hi5 profile. He must be getting the hate mail.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-765140-100x100.png\")
On his page, he has the song \"Let's Dance\" by Lady GaGa playing. In an ironic twist, here's some lyrics from the song:
\"...How does he twist the dance? Can't find a drink, oh man. Where are my keys? I lost my phone, phone...\"
This was with help of Lat Long info posted on the Flickr pictures.
Tell this guy you'll give him a free Von Dutch hat that he can wear crooked if he turns the phone in. Then have police, both normal and fashion at the ready to arrest him.
Searching for Michael Smith in Emerson, NJ brings up this phone number and addres; [www.google.com]
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-3865-100x100.png\")
@shorty63136: There are specfic programs for extracting this data. A google search for \"view EXIF data\" should help (I have a program home to do so, don't recall what it was, but it was small and free)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-286941-100x100.png\")
another homo with an iphone
You need to download the LARGE VERSION at Flicker to get the Lat Lon.
Anywho heres what I pulled:
GPS Lat: 40; 23.1; 0
GPS Lon: 74; 30.46; 0
@TrixMyles: That puts him about an hour from the address I found: [maps.google.com])&geocode=&dirflg=&saddr=6+adams+ct+emerson,+nj&f=d&hl=en&sll=40.384801,-74.512775&sspn=0.007192,0.013819&ie=UTF8&z=9
It looks as though he recently changed his email address.I has the little yellow line under it.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-26373-100x100.png\")
Make sure you download the LARGE Pictures from Flicker.
And it looks like the pictures are gone.
@FarrellBeetle: @AlteredBeast: Opera Browser automatically views EXIF data if you dont already know(right click on pic and view properties)... firefox has a plugin for that
just download the pics from flickr and upload to google picasa web, it has EXIF info and will show you a google map location.
Hi this is Dino,
I emailed this tip last night wondering if there was anything that could be done. And I am amazed that my dad got an email response from the guy that found his phone.
He later called my dad and they set up a time to meet tomorro so my dad can get his phone back. He also has seen this post and asked that the pictures be taken down too.
I haven't read all the posts here but I am grateful for all the help and simply amazed at the power of the internet. I never thought my dad would see his phone again.
Who needs facial recognition software when you have the internet!
Thank you very much and i'll keep you updated when my dad gets his iPhone back
Dino
with 20+ references to douchey or douchebag so far in the comments, you douches really need to take a look in the mirror sometime.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1673-100x100.png\")
@LesterGaze: I'm not saying he IS a douche (I apply that to most of the Jerseybois I run into in Texas, us being polite folk and all). But he's done ENOUGH looking into the mirror for all of us, judging from the pics.
I sent him an message on facebook..and this is the reply I got
Michael sent you a message.
--------------------
Re: Stolen Iphone
im not in trouble because
the pictures that i sent were because i wanted the owner to contact me.
he contacted today early and he said that he was going to pick it up tomorrow. he even said not today because he was working.
you can call him if u want
--------------------
Finders VS Keepers
I would of kept it and flashed the phone..and sold it to arabia...where no IMEI blacklists exist...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-513573-100x100.png\")
I'm guessing this guy can never use that email address again. At least not for another couple of weeks or so.
My Sidekick was stolen off my desk by a student a few years ago. I went home at lunch and found that a pic of a kid I did not know had been sent to my Sidekick page. I printed the pic and took it to the Security guys at school. They brought Mr Photo in; he denied everything, until he saw the photo. He ID'd the thief. We brought in the thief, who denied everything, until sombody called my number and it started ringing in his pack. The poor little lamb had already downloaded 6 gangsta rap ringtones, added 2 games and was chatting on an Asian porn site's chatboard.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-418500-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-248249-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-757497-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-568700-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-543146-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-314204-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-570288-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-281186-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-627579-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-38655-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1504-100x100.png\")
Search for the email address on facebook. This guy definitely looks like he has facebook.
@calquist: I friended him. Maybe he'll accept.
@calquist: I would have guessed MySpace. :p
Probably between the face and real name the guy can be threatened (if not shamed) with potential police action enough to return the phone.
@calquist: I just did it. It works: his name is Michael Smith.