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Stolen Cellphone Databases Switched On In US
alphadogg writes "U.S. cellphone carriers took a major step on Wednesday toward curbing the rising number of smartphone thefts with the introduction of databases that will block stolen phones from being used on domestic networks. The initiative got its start earlier this year when the FCC and police chiefs from major cities asked the cellular carriers for assistance in battling the surging number of smartphone thefts. In New York, more than 40 percent of all robberies involve cellphones and in Washington, D.C., cellphone thefts accounted for 38 percent of all robberies in 2011."
Carriers decide to start using the exact same technology to block users from re-selling used phones.
That is a ton of "man hours" for the police to track someone down for stealing a $100 device. In most states, they can't prove the current holder of the phone stole it, so the best they can do is confiscate the stolen goods. By making them not work at all, it should make the market for stolen phones dry up..
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
I sold an iPhone 3s for $175 on eBay, just after the 4s came out. I was due for an upgrade, so I sold my old phone.
I would get the same $$ if I stole yours and sold it. The cost of the service is irrelevant the the thief, as long as he can get good money for a stolen phone.
What do they care? They'd rather you bring in your old phone than buy a new one, because they subsidize the cost of the new phone. A carrier's favorite customer is the one who's still using his original iPhone 1. Still paying for a data plan, using relatively small amounts of data, and they paid off the subsidy a long time ago.
You're on an English-speaking website based in the US, discussing the US mobile market. The World [sic] is Potentially Interesting But Ultimately Not Germane.
Regardless, what if someone typos your ESN over another. How does one prove they should not be on the list?
Simply calling the carrier and telling them it's your phone and you did not steal it would probably suffice.
If you bought it on craigslist or ebay, then it probably is stolen, and maybe the police will take it off your hands and return it to the rightful owner.
If you bought it new from the carrier and somebody just fat-fingered the ESN, you'll just show them the receipt (or your carrier will provide proof) that you did buy it and it's not stolen and they'll fix it. It may be that only phones purchased new from the carriers will be so entered anyways, so they're not likely to make such mistakes (as they'll have a record of exactly what phone you bought and have been using.)
Certainly, I would not expect thieves and people who know they have stolen phones to contact the carriers about their phones being disabled (as it's a good way to go to jail), so anybody who contacts them and says the phone wasn't stolen probably could be reasonably trusted. The only exceptions will be people who bought used phones -- and in that case, the serial numbers and ESNs could be verified and if it's the stolen phone, return it, and if not, fix the database.