Hi DJI,

Is there a good way to report a drone stolen,  I had all my luggage stolen yesterday in Pisa Italy which included my Mavic 2 pro as below.  It would be nice to report the serials so that it cannot be used.

Drone -  163DFAF00182S4
Controller - 163DFAF00182S4
Camera - 0K8TFA60020061
Battery 1 - 0P2AFA85340AY2
Battery 2 - 0P2AF9D534061U

Unfortunatly, there is no way to "lock-down" a DJI product (or any other UAV) at this time like they lock down a stolen cell phone.
They could, but all one has to do to get around it, is to never let the bird "phone home". Just keep it isolated from the internet, and that's it.
I hope all is good with your insurance bits......

Hi, there. Thank you for reaching out and On behalf of DJI I extend my sincere apologies for the incident happened to your drone. Regretfully, we are unable to block your stolen aircraft. Tracking it would require the aircraft to be flying when it was lost through the flight record on your DJI Go 4 App. We recommend that you report to your local authorities of the theft that had happened, and allow the police to run on their investigation of this incident. Hoping we could do more, we apologize. Thank you for understanding and have a great day

My drone was stolen from a rental car today.

Place San Jose at Denny's at 1st street. 08-05-2019 ca 9am

Mavic Pro with accessory serial number:

08QUE3Q00102HR

If this is for sale please contact me!

I had my Mavic Pro stolen in Buena Vista, Colorado from my rental jeep on September 20, 2019.  It's serial number is 08QCE9K02252PD, FAA #FA3LAXLFNH

I had my Mavic Pro stolen on Sept 20, 2019 in Buena Vista Colorado from my unlocked rental jeep while having lunch.  Serial Number:  08QCE9K002252PD  FAA # FA3LAXLFNH

It doesn't seem like it would be all that hard to block a stolen drone and create a database of those serial numbers reported stolen.  Just require the ID of the person who originally activated along with a police report etc. to weed out the troublemakers. Maybe the thieves could get around it by not updating the software, but at very least it would reduce the resale value and therefore incentive to steal them in the future.

C'mon DJI, you have no problem blocking us legit pilots from flying when all is not well, why not lock down t=stolen drones???  

Never leave your stuff unattended while on vacation.

Jason James Posted at 1-24 11:33
It doesn't seem like it would be all that hard to block a stolen drone and create a database of those serial numbers reported stolen.  Just require the ID of the person who originally activated along with a police report etc. to weed out the troublemakers. Maybe the thieves could get around it by not updating the software, but at very least it would reduce the resale value and therefore incentive to steal them in the future.

C'mon DJI, you have no problem blocking us legit pilots from flying when all is not well, why not lock down t=stolen drones???

My guess is that it is just another complication for DJI to track, I doubt they could be bothered.

Hey sorry to hear that, what a nightmare, looks like no help from dji, hopefully the fuc#ers fall of a cliff or something similar .

"Never leave your stuff unattended while on vacation."
Thank you captain obvious, I never would have thought of that on my own.
Please, keep these words of wisdom coming.

1Eagle Posted at 1-24 14:38
"Never leave your stuff unattended while on vacation."
Thank you captain obvious, I never would have thought of that on my own.
Please, keep these words of wisdom coming.

..

Some bastards stole my watch from my checked luggage but my drone was in my carry-on bag so still have mine. Luckily I have insurance so they cut me a check.

Jason James Posted at 1-24 11:33
It doesn't seem like it would be all that hard to block a stolen drone and create a database of those serial numbers reported stolen.  Just require the ID of the person who originally activated along with a police report etc. to weed out the troublemakers. Maybe the thieves could get around it by not updating the software, but at very least it would reduce the resale value and therefore incentive to steal them in the future.

C'mon DJI, you have no problem blocking us legit pilots from flying when all is not well, why not lock down t=stolen drones???

C'mon DJI, you have no problem blocking us legit pilots from flying when all is not well, why not lock down t=stolen drones???  
How would you propose they do that?
The drone and controller can only transmit for a couple of kilometres, certainly not enough to send any information to China.

DJI have no way of knowing when any drone is being flown.

Get Real.

Labroides Posted at 1-24 21:46
C'mon DJI, you have no problem blocking us legit pilots from flying when all is not well, why not lock down t=stolen drones???  
How would you propose they do that?
The drone and controller can only transmit for a couple of kilometres, certainly not enough to send any information to China.

Imagine if they lock down the wrong drone while it's in the air and it's your drone that crashes into some super expensive infrastructure.

I hope they don't add features that could ruin flight stability in their new drones.  Having features such as law enforcement being able to hijack on demand wouldn't be good.  Imagine if this was implemented with the Mavic Mini but the system is kind of broken where it just goes into that made and gets bugged there which leads to fly-aways and crashes.  I would stay away from the new DJI drones until there have been no reports of problems for a few weeks but there will be those who will rush to buy.  Unless they strap on a 3x optical zoom on a 1" or go 4/3" with 14 HDR stops and 35MP, I don't think it would be worth it.

Labroides Posted at 1-24 21:46
C'mon DJI, you have no problem blocking us legit pilots from flying when all is not well, why not lock down t=stolen drones???  
How would you propose they do that?
The drone and controller can only transmit for a couple of kilometres, certainly not enough to send any information to China.

You obviously didn't understand, or didn't bother to read the entire post.

What would transmission range have do with anything? Isn't it clear that any communication happens over the app, such as when updates happen or flight records are synced?

It would absolutely be possible to lock a drone after an app update if there were a database of stolen drone serial numbers.

Next time read the post before you respond....

AntDX316 Posted at 1-24 22:29
Imagine if they lock down the wrong drone while it's in the air and it's your drone that crashes into some super expensive infrastructure.

I hope they don't add features that could ruin flight stability in their new drones.  Having features such as law enforcement being able to hijack on demand wouldn't be good.  Imagine if this was implemented with the Mavic Mini but the system is kind of broken where it just goes into that made and gets bugged there which leads to fly-aways and crashes.  I would stay away from the new DJI drones until there have been no reports of problems for a few weeks but there will be those who will rush to buy.  Unless they strap on a 3x optical zoom on a 1" or go 4/3" with 14 HDR stops and 35MP, I don't think it would be worth it.

How or why would a drone ever be locked while it's in the air? That doesn't make any sense to me.

If a drone were to be locked it would just be prevented from taking off, just as currently happens for a number of reasons/errors.

AntDX316 Posted at 1-24 22:29
Imagine if they lock down the wrong drone while it's in the air and it's your drone that crashes into some super expensive infrastructure.

I hope they don't add features that could ruin flight stability in their new drones.  Having features such as law enforcement being able to hijack on demand wouldn't be good.  Imagine if this was implemented with the Mavic Mini but the system is kind of broken where it just goes into that made and gets bugged there which leads to fly-aways and crashes.  I would stay away from the new DJI drones until there have been no reports of problems for a few weeks but there will be those who will rush to buy.  Unless they strap on a 3x optical zoom on a 1" or go 4/3" with 14 HDR stops and 35MP, I don't think it would be worth it.

It should be an option we have in app to do, that way only the registered owner can do it.

AntDX316 Posted at 1-24 13:19
Never leave your stuff unattended while on vacation.

All the luggage was locked in the boot of the hire car,  we later learned that the criminals out there hire cars, get an extra key cut and install GPS trackers.  They then just wait until the cars come back to popular spots and they go and help themselves.  The carpark itself we later learned had over 500 reviews of people loosing their stuff.  People keep asking why the police don't do anything, and we just found a reason.  They fine people over £100 when they park outside the police station to report it.  But those fines take 7 months to turn up.  And the police station isn't cleary signed no parking.

To Jason James and DAFlys, maybe due to the possibility of rogue Swarm drones used as bombs.  They have something on the electronics that makes law enforcement hack them in mass.  Without, they aren't allowed to sell new drones into the United States.  Perhaps all the other drones that are being made have that capability.

Law enforcement can prob just aim a wide-beam at them and boom, control.  Maybe fast movers like an F-18 can just scan the area, commandeer all drones, and make them land somewhere safe, or over water and have them dump while locating the location of the PIC.

These are all speculations and have no clear evidence to back.  It could just be something defective at the manufacturing level that a supplier chose to knock-off to profit more money.  They are already losing big by selling a 249g amazing camera drone at $399 in the air so the people who bided to take jobs for less probably don't get QA checked.  People can pass QA and we trust that what they have given us is what we wanted but infact they can slip some unreliable defects into the mix and no one at the parent/child manufacturer would ever know, but the consumers will know and suffer for it.  While everyone assumes some kind of Pilot error, it probably isn't.

Luckily, the upper-end DJI drones don't have these issues and are well built.. but it still can happen and happen with anything.  My stuff never had an issue except my M2P that had roll tilt problems at the gimbal when sliding hard left that DJI warranty fixed and has the fixed one coming back which I will test.  To be honest, had an instant gimbal 90­° roll problem (split second to 90° when sliding right but then it goes back to horizon level) a couple times over some flights when I set the gains at 120 way back then back to 100 when I first got it.  Probably the capacitors needed to be cycled.  It never happened again.  Had an Inspire 1 Pro X3 problem where it went wack messing w/ the gimbal follow yaw back and forth setting slider One time (which no one does) but the bird was perfect.  All the DJI birds never scared me, they never went super rogue.  When a signal is lost, it just sits and either comes back or lands on the spot if very near which is super important.  I, most of the time fly with no liability insurance so to trust flying over extremely expensive solar cells, traffic at times, expensive objects, you just can't risk something going wrong and from what I've seen, DJI always puts out what you want that I don't really have to think twice if something will go wrong because it won't.

going back to stolen drones, there could be a way to install third party software on smart controller that would report back to the owner email every time it got on internet... it could report IP, even send log data or pictures / video that were taken... but of course it would just be an android app which thief could uninstall...

DJI please find a way to integrate this features including blocking a drone in your software. it really would be deterrent for thief if they turn the app on and it would display "this drone is stolen" message all over display.

Sebastjan Posted at 3-1 00:45
going back to stolen drones, there could be a way to install third party software on smart controller that would report back to the owner email every time it got on internet... it could report IP, even send log data or pictures / video that were taken... but of course it would just be an android app which thief could uninstall...

DJI please find a way to integrate this features including blocking a drone in your software. it really would be deterrent for thief if they turn the app on and it would display "this drone is stolen" message all over display.

it really would be deterrent for thief if they turn the app on and it would display "this drone is stolen" message all over display.
Now all you have to do is find a way for DJI to communicate with your drone.
And for it to have any deterrent effect, thieves would have to know this would happen (before they steal it).

would the thief be able to reregister the drone? If not, if they do use the app to fly - how without the new credentials?
It seems like IF they do get to internet (and most DJI drones will not let you fly far without the app, if u got gps enabled) eventually dji should get a record if anyone syncs their logs...  if they bothered to keep the database of stolen drones, and bothered to contact the original owner to ask if they wish to have the data sent to authorities? I am sure enough DJIs get stolen where it would be worth pursuing.. well.. for "honesty" and "Recovery" - clearly not for DJI to make $... but i do hope that is far from the only thing they care about!
I would hope that as technology gets smarter, they'd at least try....
Best of luck to all of you who lost their drones!

Phantomski Posted at 7-4 21:01
would the thief be able to reregister the drone? If not, if they do use the app to fly - how without the new credentials?
It seems like IF they do get to internet (and most DJI drones will not let you fly far without the app, if u got gps enabled) eventually dji should get a record if anyone syncs their logs...  if they bothered to keep the database of stolen drones, and bothered to contact the original owner to ask if they wish to have the data sent to authorities? I am sure enough DJIs get stolen where it would be worth pursuing.. well.. for "honesty" and "Recovery" - clearly not for DJI to make $... but i do hope that is far from the only thing they care about!
I would hope that as technology gets smarter, they'd at least try....

Shouldn't be too hard to do either.

If you had auto sync turned on, the flights are updated to your profile, at least you can see where it's being flown at and get the local law enforcement. I doubt the there's themselves would fly, but rather sell. Sucks to hear that.

djiuser_WAJQBx50rEFI Posted at 7-14 09:14
If you had auto sync turned on, the flights are updated to your profile, at least you can see where it's being flown at and get the local law enforcement. I doubt the there's themselves would fly, but rather sell. Sucks to hear that.

Auto sync would mean they would have to steal your phone too.

Dirty Bird Posted at 7-15 12:01
You are correct as autosync would require access to the owner's DJI account.  A useful anti-theft/recovery solution, once setup & activated, has to be handled by the drone firmware alone.

I think my "Lojack for Drones" solution is an elegant, simple, & effective solution.  Users could view their drones last known location, lock it to render it useless to thieves or on the stolen drones market, & be another innovative feature & selling point for DJI.  It could be implemented for DJI's non-drone products as well.

I guess they sell more drones if they get stolen.

Hi I just lost my mavic mini. I crashed into the water and disappeared. Could you guys help me out to find my mini?
Thank you.

djiuser_uo4k6mBmQm2j Posted at 10-12 15:36
Hi I just lost my mavic mini. I crashed into the water and disappeared. Could you guys help me out to find my mini?
Thank you.

Start a new thread for your issue.
Include the recorded flight data.

To get to your flight data, go to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
... where you'll find instructions to upload the data to that site and it will give a report
For help interpreting the data you can post a link for the report here.
Or just post the .txt file.

Labroides Posted at 10-12 17:18
Start a new thread for your issue.
Include the recorded flight data.

How do I post a new thread?

djiuser_uo4k6mBmQm2j Posted at 10-12 20:52
How do I post a new thread?

On this page:  https://forum.dji.com/forum-129-1.html
You'll find a link in the top right of the page.

Hi, I just lost my aircraft (SN: 5DXCJBB1A31MHT) , Controller number 5SCJBB01102A8. If anyone finds it or sees it on sale please contact me! Thank you.

djiuser_eu2DGUOqt7E4 Posted at 4-2 18:18
Hi, I just lost my aircraft (SN: 5DXCJBB1A31MHT) , Controller number 5SCJBB01102A8. If anyone finds it or sees it on sale please contact me! Thank you.

If only the drone was lost why give the controller number? Stating the area in which the drone was lost would be somewhat helpful too.

DJI Air 2S complete Fly more kit in the bag was stolen in Murrells Inlet, SC (Myrtle Beach area South Carolina)  Was in the DJI bag.

Serial #  3YTSJ3K00300HXN

Also posted on site:  stolendrone.info

Nextdoor:  https://nextdoor.com/p/pwdHJZ4D2trD?utm_source=share&extras=NzMyNzg2Mjc%3D

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edgebz

I know the chance of recovery is slim to none but I am making the effort to do what I can.

EdGebz Posted at 8-25 16:23
DJI Air 2S complete Fly more kit in the bag was stolen in Murrells Inlet, SC (Myrtle Beach area South Carolina)  Was in the DJI bag.

Serial #  3YTSJ3K00300HXN

Did you report the theft to the police?

If you still have the phone download the flight logs to computer, for your own records, (see https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ for instructions)  and upload them to airdata.


You should, perhaps, then be able to get the serial numbers for controller and batteries as well as the drone. If airdata doesn't show the controller serial number up load a couple of logs to the phantomhelp page and then download their csv's. Open those csv's with a modernish spreadsheet program and you may be able to find the controller serial number in there. For me, with a mini 2, the remote controller serial number appears in columns EM / 143 /RECOVER.rcSerial & EY / 155 /DETAILS.rcSerial
You may need to go through the individual logs to find each battery's serial as only the currently in use battery is recorded in a log, I do not know if airdata presents information about all you batteries or only the battery of the log.
Battery serial numbers are shown in the phantomhelp csv's as maybe their production date and charge count, airdata shows the charge count but I don't know about the production date.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-26 04:45
Did you report the theft to the police?

If you still have the phone download the flight logs to computer, for your own records, (see https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ for instructions)  and upload them to airdata.

I have recorded ALL my drone serial nos. Remote control serial nos. All Battery serial nos. Battery charging cycles. Date of Battery manufacture etc etc.....
Am I paranoid? Probably!

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-26 04:45
Did you report the theft to the police?

If you still have the phone download the flight logs to computer, for your own records, (see https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ for instructions)  and upload them to airdata.

So I found what I believe to be my drone on the Facebook marketplace for sale!  I contacted the police and they visited the seller who they ended up arrested for having outstanding warrants.  The SERIAL NUMBER does not match my box so I am SOL right now unless I can prove it some other way.  It makes no sense at all.  I am super upset right now as you can imagine all of this just went down.  
The seller (thief) was missing the AC adapter, extra control sticks, and the box, which just happens to be the items I still have in my possession as they were not in the drone bag.  Yet this is not enough to prove its my drone.  I can't get access to the drone either.  

The police officer says the serial number on the drone started with 3N3BJBJ - he couldn't give me the entire number.  My box has one serial number, and the fly app has a different serial number??  

3YT3JCH003Z037 is the serial number in the flight records on the fly app.
3YTSJ3K0030HXN is the serial number on the box

Any help is greatly appreciated.  I will attempt to download those flight logs and see what else I can figure out.  Oh and the seller was only asking $500 for the drone fly more kit Air 2S lol its so obvious.

Thanks so much for the help thus far.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-26 04:45
Did you report the theft to the police?

If you still have the phone download the flight logs to computer, for your own records, (see https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ for instructions)  and upload them to airdata.

Unfortunately, those serial numbers are different numbers.  I verified this with my Spark the number on the drone and box is not the same number listed in the logs for aircraft.  

Ask the police if, with your phone attached to the controller, you can fly the drone or even just start the motors and let them idle for a second or so or ask if they can start the motors etc with your phone or a phone attached to the controller. Then compare the serial numbers in the resulting log with the numbers in previous logs. If you have a laptop (Windows) then download CsvView on to it and take the laptop with you to the police station so you can use it to process the log whilst under the eye of the police.
The logs also record the camera's serial number and the drone's name.
Normally the camera serial number doesn't change.
Check also the battery serial numbers against your logs.
Normally the camera serial number doesn't change. I am not on the correct computer to use CsvView at the moment but the  drone's serial number id normally shown in the summary that CsvView produces and I think so are the camera's serial number and the drone's name. If for any reason they are not available in the summary then you'd need to create cdv's fo the relevant logs by clicking on the "export" button on the top left of the tool bar along the top of the CsvView window.
Remember serial numbers are shown in two places in the csv, they should be the same in both sets but occasionally one set is empty. I can not remember which drones were involved but very occasionally I have seen the serial numbers differ between the two sets for perhaps the first 20 to 30 lines of a log, I do not know the reason for this.
If the police will let you do this and nothing matches then it isn't your drone. I can not remember if my M2P/Z reported serial number matches the one on the box and or the label in the drone, some of my drones report the "flight controller"'s serial number, rather than the drone's serial number, the "flight controller" being something inside the drone and NOT the remote controller's serial number.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 9-2 01:42
Ask the police if, with your phone attached to the controller, you can fly the drone or even just start the motors and let them idle for a second or so or ask if they can start the motors etc with your phone or a phone attached to the controller. Then compare the serial numbers in the resulting log with the numbers in previous logs. If you have a laptop (Windows) then download CsvView on to it and take the laptop with you to the police station so you can use it to process the log whilst under the eye of the police.
The logs also record the camera's serial number and the drone's name.
Normally the camera serial number doesn't change.

Eh?,   I already reported the serials here but DJI won't do anything.