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Smartphone Mugging More Popular Than Ever
SternisheFan writes with this snippet from gizmodo: "The Associated Press reports that smartphone robberies now account for nearly half of all robberies in San Francisco, as well as an impressive 40 percent here in New York City. And the numbers aren't just high, they're getting higher fast. In Los Angeles, smartphone robberies are up 27 percent from last year, with no signs of slowing down. The thefts come in all varieties as well. Victims have reported having their phones—iPhones in particular (surprise!)—yanked out of their hands while talking, snatched just as public transit reaches a stop, or even taken at gunpoint." When I was relieved at gunpoint of my (very, very dumb) phone a few years ago in Philadelphia (very, very dumb), it made for a lousy evening. Have you been robbed (or accosted) like this? If so, where?
All of these phones know their serial numbers. Just make it totally impossible to ever register a stolen serial number for new service and this should slow way down.
Dog is my co-pilot.
Most folks take one look at my crappy company-issued Blackberry Curve, and go look for better pickings (figuring that anyone still carryiong one of these probably doesn't have any money either).
I guess even criminals have more self-respect these days than to be seen trying to fence a entry-level crackberry.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I had somebody ask me to use my smartphone at a light rail station in a reasonably nice part of Denver (at 11pm). I politely refused, but I couldn't help but wonder if this person was out to 1) just make a call, which was obviously not an emergency, 2) call some sort of pay-per-call or txt number that would put $20 on my phone bill and the person would get a commission, or 3) just start running, or pull out a weapon, and steal my phone.
Is this a common tactic for stealing phones?
I couldn't help but wonder if I should have let the person use it (I'm about 6'5, 265lbs, with a 36 inch waist, I exercise, etc - so it's not like I was picked out as being the "easy target")
In the end, I concluded that I was right to refuse a stranger access to my $700 "pocket computer" which contains all of my personal information, and costs about a hundred bucks a month to keep services to, in addition to the cost of the device.
Grandpa: My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star.
I used to get random schmoes on the street asking to use my phone as I pulled it out to check the time. Now I have a wristwatch and the worst I've gotten is, "Hey buddy, got the time?"
That line, "got the time", is the exact line a mugger used on me once to determine if I had a watch, before he attempted to mug me for it.
This has been brought up before. In Europe it's common to do this and theft rates are down. Thieves don't bother stealing them because the phone will be worthless within a couple hours. In the USA however, carriers have realized that theft makes them money. Victims have to buy a new phone to replace the stolen one. Carriers have a financial disincentive to brick stolen phones or assist victims in any way. Hopefully the government will make the choice for the carriers and force them to brick stolen phones in order to curb the growing crime. It's an easy way for any politician to reduce crime and win points for reelection.
-1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity#Blacklist_of_stolen_devices
Hey, how about that. An existing solution. It's not perfect, but it'd make it a bit harder than just throwing the iPhone on craigslist - especially since they'd have to modify the sticker on the phone as well, and if they didn't, it'd be proof the phone was stolen.
Let's not forget that the reason these people steal phones is because there's a market - plenty of other people happy to get a phone cheap off craigslist.
Please help metamoderate.
Oh well, I have karma to burn.....
http://www.theiphonespot.net/muggers-dont-want-android-tend-to-go-for-iphone-owners/
"A pair of would-be robbers targeting Columbia students in upper Manhattan seem to be rather picky as they prowl. Twice at 526 114th St., and once at 556 114th St., the suspects demanded the victims hand over their iPhones, police said. The first victim complied, but the second only had a Droid, according to police. The thieves apparently didn't want a Droid â" so they took cash instead."
In all seriousness, I read this headline initially as a story about phones inspiring ever-increasing amounts of smirky posing.
IIRC, CDMA and our form of LTE is not compatible overseas.
That may be so but quite a lot of the iPhones made now have GSM chips in them that work just fine for data and voice overseas - all of the AT&T iPhones ever made, and every iPhone since the iPhone 4 will work overseas with data (even the ones sold to work with CDMA carriers like Verizon).
Not being able to use LTE in some countries is to really that much a roadblock to selling them.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
A device that 1) has a data link to the outside world, 2) has a GPS receiver, and 3) has a microphone ought to be far riskier to steal. Something is not right here.
You should be able to log into your phone account from another device and retrieve the location of the phone, Maybe listen in and record calls from your phone, too.
What The Holy F-ck ... have you not heard of "Find My iPhone"?
It does *exactly* this behaviour. And I have a colleague at work who used it 2 months ago.
They located the house where the phone was, made it play a loud sound, and heard it in the front bedroom. Rang the doorbell, and got shooed away. Went to the local (Australian) police station, whereupon a detective jumped in a car, went straight back to the house, and put the heavy word on the residents.
They got the phone back.
I doubt that happens very much at all, to the point that it'd probably be a major news item if it happens.
Why?
1. IMEI numbers are currently hard to guess. They're not simple
2. No gain on the part of a seller to block a phone they just sold - indeed, odds are that the buyer can track them down to demand a refund for a *STOLEN PHONE*
3. It takes work; Most people aren't that nasty
4. If they can get that close to the phone, they might as well steal it
5. Most people wouldn't think to do it. Even divorcing couples.
Especially your specifying 'second-hand' phones. Unless it's stolen I doubt the seller is going to care; wish you luck with your new(to you) phone.
I don't read AC A human right
I wonder how long it would last if the muggers started ending up dead. San Fran is a "gun free" zone. So the perps know their victims are probably not packing.
Sure, it's just a cell phone and not worth taking someone's life. But that's not the issue. The issue is that the scum trying to take it from you definitely thinks a cell phone is worth taking YOUR life.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.