Man retrieves lost iPhone using dating service - and a hammer

Picture the scene: you lose your iPhone on New Year's Eve, only to see someone using it the next day on an online dating service. What would you do?

If you're a 27-year-old New York trombonist named Nadav Nirenberg, you pose online as a busty female to ensnare the thief into a date with destiny. Then you turn up with a hammer.

After seeing an email from dating site OKCupid alerting him that someone was using his missing iPhone 4, the nerveless Nirenberg posed as a luscious 24-year-old beauty, and sent messages to the thief.

"I could log on and see everything he was sending," Nirenberg, from Brooklyn, told the New York Post. "He was even using my photo."

Nirenberg -- trombonist in ska band Streetlight Manifesto -- took a photo from Google Images and posed as a girl, calling himself 'Jennifer in BK'. He started messaging the thief, suggesting they meet up.

"As soon as he responded, it was pretty crazy," Nirenberg said. "It was extremely surreal. Afterwards, I was pretty giddy.

"I used lots of winks and smiley faces so I would seem like a girl."

The thief-cum-lothario -- who misspelled beer as 'bear' -- turned up at 7pm clasping a bottle of wine and smelling of cologne. But instead of giving him a night of passion, Nirenberg tapped him on the shoulder and showed him the hammer.

The thief handed over the blower and went to scarper. Nirenberg gave him $20 for his trouble though, and even called after him, "You smell great, though."

Classy touch.

Thefts of Apple products seem very common in New York, with the mayor recently blaming them for a rise in crime. Now almost everyone carries a smart phone, everyone becomes a target. We can't condone Nirenberg's method of getting your gadget back, but it is heartwarming to see justice being done.

Have you ever lost your phone? Did you manage to get it back? Let me know in the comments, or on our old romantic Facebook page.