According to Rob, after getting his iPhone stolen he went to the Apple Store to buy a new one. He proceeded to set up it up with MobileMe, the service that allows mails, contacts, and all kinds of data to be synchronized with Apple's servers. The synchronized data is then merged into a database, and then pushed to all the devices set with the same MobileMe account.

This was the key to the case. A day later he noticed something weird in his new iPhone: There were contacts which never were there. He quickly realized what was happening: The dumb thief forgot to wipe out the cellphone, so Rob had the power to identify those contacts—after that, he called them, got the thief's contact information, and told the police, who apprehend the thief and recovered the iPhone.

He is now selling the old iPhone in eBay, along with this story. Is it too cool to be true? Maybe. Tell us your opinion in the comments. [eBay via TUAW]