All,

I've recently bought an IPhone 5S from Fleabay and the phone is still linked to the previous owner's Icloud account. I don't know the ICloud account password.

Oddly the seller is not replying to my emails which is beginning to make me suspicious about the phone.

Does anyone know of a method to remove the previous Icloud details or have I been sold a lemon?

Thanks guys,

Mike

Go to Settings / General / Reset and select Reset all content and settings.

This will return the iPhone to it's factory state (and completely wipe it).

Then you can set it up as your own.

Not necessarily so, because of Activation Lock to prevent theft.

If you don't/can't disable iCloud before resetting the phone, it will still ask for the password on the first boot after being reset.

EDIT: The above assumes that Find my iPhone is switched on. I think you need the iCloud ID and password to erase all content and settings anyway.

Bugger, yes, you got me there.
Absolutely correct. It will ask for the iCloud password on reset.
Sorry, forgot that.

Well, that rather throws a spanner in the works doesn't it.

Would it not be possible to manually re-flash it with the latest iOS then ?

If i remember correctly (which is unlikely ), you can download the IPSW file and go to iTunes and press the shift key + restore to choose the file from your hard drive.

Surely that would allow you to set up and link a new icloud account ?

No, this is a theft deterrent, called Activation Lock. If the icloud password is not known the phone cannot be activated, have new firmware flashed etc. Only the person with the icloud password can.

Its most likely a stolen phone :-/

Put a claim in with paypal item not as described get your money back.

You can't restore unless find my phone is switched off. You can't switch that off without the iCloud password.

There's no way around it. Apple themselves won't help. It's to prevent stolen phones being used.

If the seller is ignoring you'd put in a PayPal claim as not as described asap and get your money back.

You can restore it by putting the device into recovery mode, but it will not activate afterwards without first being signed into the iCloud account it's locked to.

OP - as said - open an eBay dispute and return the phone to the seller.

Thanks guys, sounds like the phone's useless without the ICloud details then.

Back to Ebay then!

There are loads of these on eBay I've noticed. I suspect most of them are ones that people have found and that the previous owner has reported as lost/stolen.

Shameless plug but I've got a 5S for sale...