iMessages going to stolen iPhones? There may be a fix in the works

iPhone users whose devices have been stolen may soon get a little help from Apple when it comes to the problem of iMessages going to the pilfered phone. Ars has heard that Apple may be planning changes to the way iMessages are handled that will make it simpler for users to lock out unauthorized devices, though it's unclear when that might happen. In the meantime, some users are finding that there are some temporary "fixes" to the problem of iMessages going to stolen phones.

Ars covered this phenomenon last week when Ars reader David Hovis contacted us to tell us his wife's tale of woe. To recap: Mrs. Hovis' iPhone 4S was stolen, so she remotely wiped the device and then asked her carrier to deactivate the SIM. She then purchased a new iPhone and activated it with her old number—theoretically erasing all traces of her information from the original stolen phone. But when Hovis began sending iMessages to his wife, both she and the new owner of the stolen phone received them—Hovis and the new owner had a somewhat lengthy dialogue back and forth about the issue in order to confirm, and the new owner (who had allegedly purchased the stolen device from someone for $500) seemed just as perplexed as Hovis.