Footage from the French riots appears to show a stolen iPhone displaying a warning that the device has been deactivated and is being tracked. The clip began circulating on X on October 21, four days after protests over living costs and public services turned violent in cities across France.
The video was posted by the Visegrád 24 account, and TechTimes UK picked it up. It shows a handset with a French-language message asking for the phone to be returned to an Apple Store and stating that it is deactivated and tracked. French media reported that Apple Stores in Bordeaux and Lille were among the businesses looted during the unrest.
The clip does not say how the handset was taken, how many other devices show the same message or whether the tracking has helped police identify anyone. No Apple statement accompanied the footage. The tools involved, Find My, Activation Lock and Lost Mode, are the same ones available to iPhone owners in the US.
🇫🇷 Apple blocked iPhones stolen by looters in France. Screens displayed: “Device deactivated and tracked”
Insured losses from the recent riots and looting are projected to reach up to €1.2 billion, with 3,000 storefronts vandalized or looted.
If losses hit that ceiling, it will become the most expensive civil unrest event in mainland French history.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 21, 2026
Activation Lock Is Designed to Keep Stolen iPhones Unusable
Activation Lock turns on automatically when Find My is set up on an iPhone. Each time the phone is activated or recovered, it contacts Apple to check whether the lock is on. The Apple Account password is required to turn off Find My, erase the phone or reactivate it, and the lock keeps deterring reactivation even after a remote erase.
On an iPhone running iOS 15 or later, a device protected by Activation Lock shows an “iPhone Locked to Owner” screen when it is turned on or woken. That screen is the sign a used iPhone is still tied to its original owner.
Lost Mode is a separate step that the owner switches on through Find My or iCloud.com. It locks the screen and shows a custom message with a phone number, while the owner can follow the phone’s location on a map. The message appears on the Lock Screen while the device is online and stays even after the phone is erased.
A custom message asking for a phone to be returned is the kind of thing Lost Mode can display. Nothing in the clip confirms which protection produced it.
A third layer, Stolen Device Protection, covers thieves who already know the passcode. Apple made it the default setting with iOS 26.4, and it requires Face ID or Touch ID for sensitive actions such as turning off Lost Mode or erasing the phone.
In London, a victim tracked a stolen iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport, where police found it in a box with 894 other stolen phones. Thieves have also been known to wrap stolen phones in foil or signal-blocking containers to avoid being located.
The same X post put insured losses from the unrest at up to €1.2 billion. It does not name the report behind that number or say how much of it covers property damage versus stolen stock.
Morningstar DBRS, the ratings agency, expects insured losses to stay below €1 billion to €1.2 billion if there is no further violence. As of October 19, authorities reported around 2,400 arrests and damage to or looting of at least 3,000 businesses. The 2023 riots produced about €730 million in insured losses, according to the agency.
