My friend had her XDAIIs stolen from her backpack today on the lovely safe london underground, She only noticed it missing when she came out of the station to make a call to be picked up,
When she Got home she rang her service provider (O2) who asked her if she had the IMEI number so the handset can be blocked from the network She had this and gave it to the operator.
The operator told her the handset would be blocked.
The problem is that she had her unit unlocked , so the lucky theif will be able to use it on another network.
If the theif uses the handset on another network can it be traced if O2 have blocked the handset?
I don't understand how O2 can trace the handset if its been blocked.
What are the chances of tracing the handset if the theif uses a pay as you go sim card, as his details will not be logged against any number as it is with a contract number. Also if the theif stupidly fills out the owners information screen with his details, will O2 or any other network he is on be able to see this information and pass his name and address on to the police?
This is only hope. and hoping this parasite is caught soon before he can steal again.
I hope someone on this site can develop some software to transmit by text message or E-mail the owners information screen to the owner every time the sim card is changed.then if the unit is stolen the new owners details will be revealed.
Xda stolen
Hi,
How about trying to call all of the GSM carriers in your region and report both the device serial number and IMEI number stolen and advise all the networks to advise the retail stores to keep the phone if the thief walks in to get it activated DO THIS ASAP!! and of course file a police report.
Tell your friend I'm am very sorry to read about her loss on her phone, I bet she feels sick and angry all at once, I know I would if it happened to me. Good Luck.
Shane
I wouldn't imagine that other carriers would block the handheld I am afraid. Any attempt would most likely be caught by the UK's privacy laws, if the carriers actually voluntarily wanted to be so kind to you.
I know it sucks, but could you imagine the damage that unscrupulous persons could do if what you are asking for could actually be done?
If a UK opperator has bared it, within 3 weeks max it will be barred on all UK networks, at the moment its not world wide, so the phone will still work in any country apart from the UK
but the bad bit is that still gives the theif upto 3 weeks to sell it as a working phone, and the unlucky buyer thinks the phone is fine, even if they call there provider, it will not show as stolen yet.
John
In the UK, last year or the year before all the uk networks made an agreement (with a little push from the government!) of setting up a nationwide database of stolen handsets. If your phone is stolen and reported to the network in question then that network submits the imei to the said database and this should then block the phone from ALL UK networks, rendering it useless. It is possible for the network to trace phones, they sometimes do this for the authorities in the event of crime, but with literally 1000's and 1000's of phones being stolen every year, it just wouldn't be possible to trace all of them (or be commercially viable!).
Sorry to hear about the stolen phone, i'm a great believer in 'what goes around comes around' so hopefully the thieving scum will get whats coming to them!
Thanks All
She is feeling sick,but she just found out she took the insurance out when she purchased the XDAIIs,so she is feeling a bit better now,
The only thing is, she will be without her beloved device for a while .
Anyway the theif might find it difficult to sell as her unit had a very loose screen,a problem most of them have, she hopes her new unit will have a tighter screen.
Mabe O2 can source her an XDAIII, Mmm just a thought!!!
You might want to advise registering here. More chance of the aforementioned scum being caught.
http://www.immobilise.com/about/press_item_launch.html
JD
The phone will be blocked on ALL UK networks but will work fine abroad.
Related
2 weeks ago I stupidly left my XDAII on top of the car and proceeded to drive off into the blue yonder without a care in the world.
Thanks to the insurance I'm now the proud owner XDAIIi but had a call from someone today saying they found my XDAII on the side of the road and we're meeting up tomorrow so he can return it.
I know I should probably confess to the insurance company but speaking hyperthetically is there anything other than my morals to stop me selling ths phone on? Is there any way of telling if this phone is still working with a different sim or for them to track down the new owner or disable the phone?
Thanks in advance.
yes, probably it is or will be IMEI blocked. meaning it won't work with any sim card with a provider who supports this list, which afaik are most west european. I don't know about the rest of the world.
Or it is tagged: I got my XDA1 back after a theft, because the "innocent" buyer used it with his contract SIM, which meant the provider knew his name and address.
Thanks, I thought there was something like that but wasn't sure.
I'll sit on it for a few months and try a new p&g sim and see what happens.
It will be on permanent block in UK.
Yeah thats assuming they have the right IMEI number though.
The insurance company still thought I had an XDA from years back and my network thought I had a phone I was given as a free upgrade a few months ago. I also had 2 or 3 different XDAII's as they kept going wrong and being replaced. So chances are they have noidea which one to block.
I would like to bring to your attention to what I understand may be a scam.
I have received about 4 phone calls over the last month or two from an Indian sounding voice, claiming to be from “Vodafone Business”
They first of all introduce themselves, and also seem to know my name. No security checks are asked. Alarm bells were ringing pretty much instantly, however I asked them to confirm my address, to which they were able!
They asked if I have upgraded my handset in the last 12 months. Strange question I thought! This is something I would expect Vodafone to know. I basically said that to the caller. They ignored what I said, and carried on asking “so do you have a Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson Handset” at which point I just hung up!
My partner also receives these calls, as does one of my colleagues at work. All three of us have small businesses, and I am convinced that they are trolling Google for basic personal info. As when you type the name of my photography business into Google, it actually displays my name, address, and mobile phone number. I think this is how they were able to confirm my address.
Anyway, just thought you should be aware of this, as who knows what personal information they could have tried to ask me for had I not been on the ball.
Looking forward to your thoughts and responses. I have sent Vodafone an email.
I believe all retailers are able to check when contracts are due for renewal.
All they do is scan the database for when this comes up and call you hoping to get your business rather than you sticking with your current provider (ie Vodaphone directly or another retailer such as CPWH).
I used to get them all the time on Voda.
Dont belive this is the same thing, for the following 2 reasons.
1. im 6 months into my current contract with Vodafone. (been a customer for approx 7 years, so this is obvioulsy an upgrade.
2. They said they were from vodafone business, not someother company. in other words, they were pretending to be Vodafone! thats not right!
It was probably a Vodaphone reseller. We have tons of them for TMO here in the states. IF this was the case he would have access to all your info from vodaphone. He basically makes money when he resigns you, upgrades you, or sells you a smartphone.
I used to get them throughout the contract when I was with voda.
thinking about it I've had none on o2, maybe voda sell their customer database hence more chance of being called.
another reason I'm happy to be rid of them!
So I have a unique situation on my hands. I bought a couple if phones from people on the seattle cl. I live in Canada and sold one of them here and kept the other one for myself.
I just got a call from someone in seattle who somehow got my number. She said that the guy who sold me phone #1 basically pulled some shady stuff and some people got ripped off. The girl who got ripped off supposedly called att and they are disabling the phone via its imei number.
Now what am I to do? I can't get the phone back to the girl. I don't have the money to refund the guy I sold it to. He hasn't contacted me out anything and the girl said it had been a week since Att was contacted. I would feel pretty damn guilty if the guys phone was disabled. Should I contact him? Or I could just let it be and see what happens.
Can att even remotely disable a phone when its in another country. I know for sure that I couldn't connect to their servers to get the ota jh7 update.
Just be wary when buying from cl, people. The guy who sold it to me seemed like a perfectly nice guy and even made up some bs about switching over to a t mobile family plan with his dad.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
they can't disable it if its not on their network.
First of all ATT cant disable phones from their network. Second of all, you did nothing wrong, so its not your responsibility to make it up to anyone.
It sounds shady that "some girl" got your number and called u to tell u that. That in itself sounds shady. I'm all is fine. As long as your handset works who cares
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Unless she is willing to file a complaint in Canada stating that the phone was stolen there, and provide your information as benefiting from that theft, you have nothing to worry about. Given that she said it was taken in the US. You are clear from any liability. Until we annex Canada.
If someone resells the phone back to the US then it would be a problem for them.
well i have first hand knowledge that ATT CAN block imei numbers i had a Dell Streak Beta that they blocked and when there system would recongnize that i had that imei# they would block my sim and i would have to call in to have them remove the block by giving them the IMEI number of a "good" Att phone. so it CAN be done.
So if they disable a certain imei, is that only pertaining to their network? Say he visits the us and att does their voodoo magic. Will it work again when he's back in canada?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
leecox said:
Until we annex Canada.
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The way our country is going, I wouldn't be surprised if they beat us to it!
Another live and learn. If you buy electronics off Craig's List you get what you get be it legit or not. So many stories of friends buying Cisco stuff only to find out upon arrival it's not what they were lead to believe it was.
IMEIs can be blocked by operators but in the US it is not common practice. The reason you couldn't do the JH7 OTA from outside of the US is because it can only be done from their network. You can't even do it over WiFi.
If your phone was blocked you wouldn't even be able to attach to the network. And if that's the case, maybe someone messed with the PRI our other network settings.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
AT&T can most certainly block certain IMEIs, however it's only done in extreme situations and it's not like some AT&T customer service rep can decide to block a phone from the network. I read about how the Dell Streak beta/dev phones were all blocked, but those were beta phones and AT&T wanted them out of circulation. They aren't going to use resources that high up to block a single phone from the network.
I'm sure someone could call and say "oh my phone was stolen", but all that will happen is the SIM linked to the account of the "victim" will get shut down, not the handset itself.
nooomoto said:
AT&T can most certainly block certain IMEIs, however it's only done in extreme situations and it's not like some AT&T customer service rep can decide to block a phone from the network. I read about how the Dell Streak beta/dev phones were all blocked, but those were beta phones and AT&T wanted them out of circulation. They aren't going to use resources that high up to block a single phone from the network.
I'm sure someone could call and say "oh my phone was stolen", but all that will happen is the SIM linked to the account of the "victim" will get shut down, not the handset itself.
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Wrong if someone calls at&t and say "oh my phone was stolen"! that imei will be added the list of blocked imei's in the past the only way to find out someone was using a blocked imei is if they called customer server and gave the stolen imei because the phone did not commiunite the imei of the phone being use on the network but now phones will update the imei on the network with you calling them!
subzerologic said:
Wrong if someone calls at&t and say "oh my phone was stolen"! that imei will be added the list of blocked imei's in the past the only way to find out someone was using a blocked imei is if they called customer server and gave the stolen imei because the phone did not commiunite the imei of the phone being use on the network but now phones will update the imei on the network with you calling them!
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How would AT&T know you had the legal right to block a given IMEI? How many AT&T bought phones are sold on eBay every day? Standard AT&T policy is unless it has the potential to disrupt the network, they DO NOT block IMEIs without a warrant or other legal justification.
And BTW, details of the mobile equipment including IMEI are communicated to the network every time you attach to it. That's what makes blocking phones possible.
OP, AT&T does not block IMEIs simply at a customer's request and they certainly can't block anything running outside of their own network.
Thanks for the info guys. Worry free now! haha
Normally when you buy the phone from a carrier, and if you loose your phone, call in and get it blacklisted and people can check the database to see if it blacklisted and all that good stuff...
I bought my N5 from Google Play and can use it on any carrier, so if its lost/stolen, do I call the current carrier and have them blacklist it?
What if someone got a hold of my IMEI and called to get it blacklisted.. how would I go about getting it unblacklisted if I wasnt the one who called it in???
Does google have their own blacklisting database?
I'm pretty sure your carrier will not blacklist the phone till the caller can confirm that they are the owner of the phone (maybe by carrier's records, or by proof of purchase etc).
But since the N5 can be used on other carriers, a carrier blacklist is really not sufficient (if the phone is stolen). I would certainly hope that Google has their own blacklist that will prevent the device from accessing any google services.
I found a story on somewere else of an user whose Google play. N5 got blacklisted by Spring
These are 2 quotes fro the same person:
AIO's website says my Google Nexus 5 is on the lost and stolen list?
Device Reported Lost or Stolen
Our records show that this device is on the national lost and stolen list. Please contact the company that previously provided wireless service for this device for help.
Aio Wireless cannot activate a device that another wireless company added to this list.
This phone was purchased from the Google Play Store. It's been on RingPlus, and StraightTalk (which it's currently on). Is it possible that someone marked it lost or stolen, but it's still working without any problems on ST? It might have been on Net10, I did have the SIM card in it, but I don't think it was active.
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I just got off the phone with Google support. That took around an hour of my time. The Google rep was quite lost on to why in the world Sprint would EVER blacklist phones that were not lost or stolen and have no contracts with them. I was put on hold a couple of times, and I explained what happened. After talking to him, I was transferred to the shipping dept (which apparently takes care of all returns for any reason).
The rep in the shipping dept was very nice, but he kept wanting to give me a refurbished phone for something I never did anything wrong with to begin with. My battery is charged at 50% all the time and I don't want to get stuck with a used phone or a bad battery. I kept telling the rep that I even have an email from RingPlus explaining the situation and that my phone was activated before they knew of this secret blacklist that included Google Play store purchases. He told me he would talk to his lead, came back, and claims that they will be sending me a new device. I don't know if I'm actually getting a used or new device, but at least when it comes it will hopefully not be blacklisted.
I was hoping to switch over to another carrier to save a few dollars each month. So after a $431 dollar hold was put onto my credit card, I guess I wait 3-5 business days and see what I end up receiving in the mail. I'll have to reorder one of the glass screen protectors for my device.
I guess this was a learning experience. Be very careful what CDMA carriers can do to your devices, because they need to have the numbers for it as they can't just pop in a SIM card and go. I'm not sure I will ever be using a Sprint or Verizon MVNO again, or at least for quite a while, and wouldn't ever do it with any devices less then a few months old.
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Original article. http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...Google-Nexus-5-is-on-the-lost-and-stolen-list
Not sure about the US, but in europe some countries/carriers have joint IMEI databases. If one carrier marks the IMEI as stolen the phone won't work on any carrier in that country.
Sent from my Nexus 5
liud said:
Not sure about the US, but in europe some countries/carriers have joint IMEI databases. If one carrier marks the IMEI as stolen the phone won't work on any carrier in that country.
Sent from my Nexus 5
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I know this.. thats the situation with in Canada, US and so on... that wasnt my question...
Could somebody point me to an actual law that says it is illegal in the USA and and that it could be, for example, up to 20 years imprisonment or a $5,000 fine, if I changed my IMEI from my broken Verizon device to my unbroken Straighttalk device?
This is a debate that a friend of mine have been going through, and well I can't seem to find the correct answer, not even on here. Everybody is saying it is illegal on XDA, but nobody has actually posted a link to an actual law, just this bill that was submitted into congress, which is not really the answer, it's a bill, where is it shown that it has been already passed along with the penalty?
Here is an example of my isue, just recently bought a phone from Irulu, Chinese phone. It has no IMEI number but when I dial #66# says to write IMEI number. Now everybody is saying it is ilegal to change your IMEI number, but how do you get an IMEI munber if you don't have one? Do I call, for example, T-Mobile and they will give me one? SOme companies even want the serial number along with the IMEI number, well my serial number is something like "0123456789ABCDEF", now how does that fly with a company?
Also, everybody is saying it is illegal to change the IMEI number according to this bill, which is a bill introduced by to congress that, unless somebody point me in the right direction, has not been submitted into a actual law yet.
Also the bill says "This Act may be cited as the `Mobile Device Theft Deterrence Act of 2012". Okay, well my phone is not stolen and if you look closely at this part of the "Bill":
`(1) the term `manufacturer' means a person who has lawfully obtained the right to assign a mobile device identification number to a mobile device before the initial sale of the mobile device;
and then here:
`(d) Exception- Subsection (b) shall not apply to the manufacturer of a mobile device or a person who repairs or refurbishes a mobile device unless the manufacturer or person knows that the mobile device or part involved is stolen.'.
Okay now, I have two verizon phones and two AT&T phones, that I own, that are not stolen, all are broken, then I have a a ZTE merit phone that works just fine, but I do not want to go with straight talk because I live hour away from walmart, which is the only place to purchase minutes, unless you have a credit card, which I do not and I am not going to pay an extra $5 a month for a reloadable card just to put minutes on my phone.
So my question is, according to those two lines, I am refurbishing my phone, it is not stolen and I just want to transfer one IMEI number to another phone so that I can keep using the same service without going through the hassle of ordering another sim card or buying another phone when I have two here that work and four that do not.
I have seen a few closed threads with people getting really upset about this being brought up, pointing to this bill and assuming the person is asking because, if you read that bill, they want to do this with a stolen phone.
Well, as long as you realize that changing the IMEI of a cellphone is "Patriot Act" material (and you are fine with it), I doubt you will find any law (anywhere) where it will clearly state IMEI.
Maybe the 18 U.S. Code § 1028 may apply (do remember the FCC is an authority and that an identification registered by that authority), or the 18 U.S. Code § 1029 if intent can be proven, but then again... if any trouble arises firstly you wont be charged with any of that, you'll get the "Patriot Act" treatment from the get-go.
enapah said:
Well, as long as you realize that changing the IMEI of a cellphone is "Patriot Act" material (and you are fine with it), I doubt you will find any law (anywhere) where it will clearly state IMEI.
Maybe the 18 U.S. Code § 1028 may apply (do remember the FCC is an authority and that an identification registered by that authority), or the 18 U.S. Code § 1029 if intent can be proven, but then again... if any trouble arises firstly you wont be charged with any of that, you'll get the "Patriot Act" treatment from the get-go.
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That is just it, stolen, the term stolen is loosely used in this bill, which as far as I can see, hasn't even been passed.
Schumer Introduces Bill to Make Cell Phone ID Tampering a Crime
By Damon Poeter
May 24, 2013 02:03pm EST
3 Comments
The NY Democrat aims to criminalize tampering with mobile device identification numbers as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on the black market for stolen cell phones.
Like I stated in my question, it is my phone, I paid for the phone, went to Walmart, bought the phone and activated it under my name. Discontinued the service, still have the phone. Bought a cheap AT&T phone, used it for a month, ran out of minutes, never got around to buying more minutes, was just a cheap pay as you go phone for emergency, now the number is gone and AT&T has some annoying thing where you have to buy a new sim card. Now using the AT&T phone to charge the battery from the Verizon phone because the Verizon phone's charger port broke, and the battery works in the Verizon phone but the Verizon battery doesn't work in the AT&T phone.
When the term "stolen" comes up, makes me think it means, somebody stole my cell phone or I stole somebody else's cellphone. Not the case, these are my broken or inactive phones, paid for through a manufacturer, not off the street.
As for the patriot act, well lets just say, if that made sense and the US congress did fully understand it, wouldn't rooting or installing new ROM from one service provider to another service provider's phone be an issue as well?
It just seems pretty lame that people are coming in and saying that you will go to jail, then post a bill that isn't even in law that is so vague, without a reasonable explanation or knowledge about what the bill or law actually is, then just closes the thread.
I'm in the US, not the UK.