His iPhone is stolen in New York and ends up in China with its new owner. They are now great friends

One of the biggest fears of the technological age is losing or stealing your iPhone. Sometimes we get lucky and a charitable soul returns it to us, but unfortunately it’s not common. Then there are outrageous stories to the max like the one experienced by Matt Stopera, editor of BuzzFeed who has been famous in China for years thanks to losing his iPhone.

Stopera lost his iPhone almost ten years ago in New York, and far from any recommendation, he did not activate the iPhone’s lost mode. This could have been the end of any clue about the location of the device. However, the thief made a serious mistake and the journalist was not only able to reach his iPhone, but he did so in a rather curious way.

It all started with an oversight in the worst possible place

We already said that losing an iPhone is not the most pleasant thing. It wasn’t for Matt Stopera, who in early 2014 was at his favorite bar in East New York. He was crowded and that could have helped Stopera lose his iPhone in an accident. Or rather, that In a moment of carelessness, he helped to steal it.

He left his iPhone on a bar table to greet someone else. An almost instinctive act that cost him dearly. So much so that when he wanted to notice, his iPhone was no longer on the table. From another phone, he called that line and checked what he calls “the death signal,” which is nothing more than the automatic announcement that precedes the voice mail. Sure enough, someone had stolen his iPhone.

When Stopera tells this story, he praises the thief’s keen criminal eye, saying that that bar on that night “was a perfect place to steal mobile phones.” He even bet that he could have stolen around 20 iPhones on that night alone.

So far, so good. An unfortunate robbery, but ultimately nothing unusual. Given the circumstances, Stopera bought another iPhone and continued to live his life as normal. Until things started to happen.paranormal phenomena”.

A double failure gave the definitive clue to Matt Stopera

First of all we must emphasize Stopera’s error. You did not lock your iPhone and that allows the thief to continue using it. The most common thing is that within a few minutes the session in iCloud is closed and the iPhone is restored to factory settings. This way the thief can keep it using his own account or, failing that, sell it to a third party. This also did not happen.

The thief also did not log out of Stopera’s accountThe journalist probably didn’t give it much thought until what we used to call paranormal phenomena started to occur. And, without knowing how they had gotten there, he had photos of an unknown Chinese man on his new iPhone.

There were a few photographs of orange trees that he found in his gallery, accompanied by a mysterious Chinese citizen. And yes, she knew he was Chinese because the photo metadata reflected the location where those photos had been taken.

At first he might have thought that his account had been hacked. The explanation, however, was very simple. The stolen iPhone was still active with his account and therefore all the data of the new owner was synchronized with the content of Stopera. In fact, the new Chinese owner would also have Stopera’s photos.

“I became a celebrity in China and gained a friend for life”

Although he has told it in various interviews, the impact of this story began with an article published by Matt Stopera himself in BuzzFeed. And while it is true that it attracted attention among readers, it does not compare at all with what happened in China. Someone translated this story and both Matt and the new iPhone owner went viral in China. At least, in a large part of it.

With some grace, the Chinese nicknamed the Brother Orange to that compatriot who now had Stopera’s iPhone. This other, for his part, opened an account on Weiboo, which is the main social network in China and which is something similar to X (formerly Twitter).

His list of followers was increasing by the minute.. There were thousands who began to follow him. So much so that in the end he had to take that impact of the story seriously to travel to China himself and meet with the new owner of his lost iPhone. Invited by him, too, since on the same Weiboo he publicly invited him to “try the local food”, attesting that he would be well received.

Beyond taking photos with every citizen who recognized him, Stopera had an important meeting with the other leg of his fame. Brother Orange His real name is Li Hongjun, he was 30 years old at the time and lived in a small town in the Meizhou region of China.

The curious thing about this story is that Matt Stopera was greeted like a hero, a king or any head of state. Presented with flowers and other gifts, dozens of Chinese citizens welcomed him at the airport. And yes, Li Hongjun was also there as the host and he didn’t forget his iPhone. Stopera’s former iPhone.

But how did the iPhone get from New York to China?

Yes, okay, the iPhone would arrive in China by plane. However, beyond this obvious joke, the truth is that even today it is unknown what happened in between this story. When Li Hongjun met with Li Honjung (AKA, the Brother Orange), could know that The Chinese citizen received the iPhone as a gift from his nephew.

However, Li was completely unaware of the origin. He didn’t even know where he had bought it, or anything at all. Given the close bond that united the two, he took it for granted that In no case were they responsible for the theft. Not even the famous Brother Orangenor his nephew.

The iPhone stolen in New York was most likely just another in a long chain of intermediaries. It was probably sold illegally on the black market in the United States and somehow ended up being sold in turn to China. Li Hongjun’s nephew would not have known where it came from when he bought it and he was never afraid of it being stolen.

Images and information | Matt Stopera

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