My sister has just had her handbag stolen from her work office with her one week old imate Jam. Is it possible to track the phone through the IMEI? Any help would be most grateful.
when i had my xda1 stolen i reportet it to the police and they blocked the IMEI and then the insurance pay'd me for a new a xda2 though
Frigit, you can't track IMEIs (we can't anyway, I think operators can AFAIK). However, no thief fool is going to use your phone after it's been stolen. Typically they have their IMEI overwritten and are then resold, or are shipped to Eastern Europe and beyond where they don't have a stolen IMEI database in effect.
Offtopic, but a few of us are working on software to help "track" stolen phones. There's software available on the forum called IIWPO which you might want to look into.
@all Reseach purposes only, but is there a manipulator etc to change the IMEI on a Magician? I'm writing a stolen phone locator, and would be interested to know if this can be done.
V
Related
My phone (Touch) got stolen will HTC help me by locking it and making it useless for the thief.
viewedit said:
My phone (Touch) got stolen will HTC help me by locking it and making it useless for the thief.
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Sorry to hear that mate
As long as I know, unless you had installed an anti theft software on your stolen device, it won´t be possible (Hope I´m worng)
They toss your sim card?
Anywho, phones have a unique IMEI number right? couldn't the phone companies see if anyone trys to use it, even with a different sim card? Heck, they could triangulate where the person is using it if he is in range of 3 towers! Lord knows they wont help you that much but they can atleast disable the IMEI and make it worthless to the a-hole.
diff countries diff rules here
when my phone got stolen i gave the IMEI to the police
and they got it blocked from any domestic phone service
and any other countires service's the domestic company's had roaming
or other agreements with
I don't know how it works in India, but in the UK we can call up our network operator and as long as the phone is registered with them, they can block the IMEI number.
The other major networks will then block the phone within 24-48 hours. That makes stealing a mobile pointless in the UK because it will almost certainly be blocked from all the major networks within 2 days.
Got it back bec of anti theft software + HTC Replied
After the phone was stolen, I didn't receive any imei and sms from the stolen phone for a day, I thought the thief was smart enough to HR the phone, but i was wrong, I got that [email protected]# [email protected]#$% imei and Cell no, went straight to the cops, they called him and told him to handover the phone, he denyed having it initially, but when cops were at his door step he confessed.
Am very happy the software worked.
Now I am seriousely thinking of embedding it inside the rom, so even if some some smart A$% HR's it, I will still get it back.
Vodafone in India didnt co-operate at all.
Thanks everyone for showing concern.
Here is what HTC replied to my mail.
Thank you for contacting HTC Email support.
We will be assisting you with “HTC". As per your mail we understand that you have lost your handset and we understand that you are looking forward to block or trace the device with the help of IMEI number.
We are sorry to know that you have lost your device In this case we would like to inform you that unfortunately it won’t be possible for us to deactivate or trace the phone however services can be barred and you may block your SIM through your service provider.
If you need any further assistance with the HTC please feel free to get back to us, we will be more than happy to assist you further.
We look forward to be of service to you again..
Best Regards,
Gaurav Rathore,
Customer Service Department,
Customer Service Hotline (India): 1800 11 33 77
glad all is ok now
so this thread is now closed.
thank you
I had a software company ask me for the IMEI for my phone - is there any issue with me giving them this number? Ultimately, what malicious activies could they perform with knowing my IMEI?
Thanks!
if they report your imei to the police as a stolen phone it's blocked and precious few ever gotten their imei off those lists making the phone useless
They could duplicate the imei number to an other device and make illegal activities using that imei number which is billed to you.
You wonder the story next
Semseddin said:
They could duplicate the imei number to an other device and make illegal activities using that imei number which is billed to you.
You wonder the story next
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you would also have to have their same sim number for that to work.
josefcrist said:
you would also have to have their same sim number for that to work.
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Right!
IMEI refers to the International Mobile Equipment Identifier, a unique 15 digit code programmed into each mobile phone during production. The number holds information regarding manufacturer, model type and the approval body for the handset. The identification, bound into the IMEI when combined with the use of blacklisting and a connection the CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register, is one route to preventing stolen devices being used on authorized networks. However, if the integrity of the code relating to the communication of the IMEI with the network is not guaranteed, the device is open to attack. This is the case with many current handsets, allowing impersonation of the IMEI and again rendering this security feature ineffective and redundant.
Year 22nd Dec 2008 in Turkey, there was a police operation for cloned phones and illegally saved imei numbers... Police has arrested over 50 people and got over 10 thousand cloned phones with real imei numbers... One of the arrested told to police that they bought the imei numbers from some internet sites as packages of 1000 imei numbers... It is really harmfull to post imei numbers on the web... Be carefull while buying secondhand phones also...
That Should Sum It up
It is very important to not give to anyone your imei number. Here in Greece we had few affairs with that issue.
thank God there ain any Android Signed
Semseddin said:
They could duplicate the imei number to an other device and make illegal activities using that imei number which is billed to you.
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one more reason to hate nokia and their bloody Symbian Signed. opda must have milions of imeis worldwide cause of theire stupid software. long live google and the android
Giiving imei number is like givn ur bank card pin......Dont do it!
is this still true, till this day? are there any security updates made to prevent these danger?
I gave out my IMEI number to a person posing as a personnel from MTN in Abuja, Nigeria. He said that they going to upgrade my phone to 4 G platform. Is there anything like this from MTN Nigeria?
Abuamatullah said:
I gave out my IMEI number to a person posing as a personnel from MTN in Abuja, Nigeria. He said that they going to upgrade my phone to 4 G platform. Is there anything like this from MTN Nigeria?
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Almost every phone is like this.
When the carriers developed a certain product, they could just update your phone through your software (A last patch for the phone). ? By going to system update.
The software is always limited to what your hardware's phone could do, and you should have expertise to know that.
What I meant here is, after they released a product, they would forgot it and go to the drawing board and make a more improved phone, they won't really need your phone because they are the ones who manufactured it(same for the source codes). It would be seemingly suspicious for someone to have an interest to your phone which will be outdated in a couple of months or a year.
Hi Guys,
I lost my phone one night. I am not in hope of finding it, but I do not want thief to profit from the occasion.
I have the IMEI number still at hand. Is there anything that can be done?
(NB: I did not have a phone/sim lock on the phone and the thief deleted the findmyphone function WP7 has)
Many thanks in advance,
Jason
jasonchiu said:
Hi Guys,
I lost my phone one night. I am not in hope of finding it, but I do not want thief to profit from the occasion.
I have the IMEI number still at hand. Is there anything that can be done?
(NB: I did not have a phone/sim lock on the phone and the thief deleted the findmyphone function WP7 has)
Many thanks in advance,
Jason
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Click to collapse
If you really want to pursue it, you can ask your cell phone company to try and give you a rough location of where it is through cell triangulation, although that may be difficult to get them to do. Otherwise, you can tell them to Blacklist the IMEI number so that it can't be used on any networks.
Product F(RED) said:
If you really want to pursue it, you can ask your cell phone company to try and give you a rough location of where it is through cell triangulation, although that may be difficult to get them to do. Otherwise, you can tell them to Blacklist the IMEI number so that it can't be used on any networks.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the tips.
I tried to block the IMEI in Hong Kong, but my service providor (Smartone Vodafone) said they dont provide such service.
When I went back to the UK, I called up T-Mobile and someone from an India call centre said they blocked it for me, but the "reassuringly" told me it can be easily unlocked by someone who knows mobiles well...
Are there any sites or places I can submit the IMEI number to?
Many thanks,
Jason
jasonchiu said:
Thanks for the tips.
I tried to block the IMEI in Hong Kong, but my service providor (Smartone Vodafone) said they dont provide such service.
When I went back to the UK, I called up T-Mobile and someone from an India call centre said they blocked it for me, but the "reassuringly" told me it can be easily unlocked by someone who knows mobiles well...
Are there any sites or places I can submit the IMEI number to?
Many thanks,
Jason
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Click to collapse
It can't be "unlocked". The person would have to spoof or change the IMEI number, something which I've been able to ever do on 1 phone (original iPhone). But the reason I did it is not because it was stolen, but because I didn't want a data plan that AT&T was forcing on its customers, so I made the phone appear as another phone. I don't think it can be done easily on most phones.
I don't think there are any websites you can submit the IMEI number to. I believe there's a global IMEI blacklist database that most responsible carriers choose to enforce.
Cheers for the details.
I too was shocked that Smartone Vodafone did not offer IMEI blocking.
I hope t-mobile really did block the IMEI number.
I was a bit sceptic as all the CS Agent did was take note it and that was it. She didnt ask for any details about me either.
Product F(RED) said:
It can't be "unlocked". The person would have to spoof or change the IMEI number, something which I've been able to ever do on 1 phone (original iPhone). But the reason I did it is not because it was stolen, but because I didn't want a data plan that AT&T was forcing on its customers, so I made the phone appear as another phone. I don't think it can be done easily on most phones.
I don't think there are any websites you can submit the IMEI number to. I believe there's a global IMEI blacklist database that most responsible carriers choose to enforce.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This question is geared towards an iPhone, but it should be the same for any phone.
My girlfriend's phone was stolen yesterday and given repetitive attempts to contact the thief and offer money to get it back, in her haste she asked the cellphone company to block her IMEI.
My question is, since we know the thief has seen my messages to him with my contact number and the offer of a good reward, if I recover the phone, can my girlfriend unblock/unblacklist her phone IMEI. I don't mean illegally changing the IMEI, I mean legally. I'm just wondering if IMEI blocking is a one way street or if she can present herself in her cellphone company with her purchase receipt and her contract (if she ever recovers her phone) and they unblock her phone for her again.
Thanks for any help.
god. it's not very simple i don't think, although it is possible. you need to prove you own the phone(proof of purchase) and then ring up the network provider who blocked it i think, and then they will unblock it, and eventually the other networks should also unblock it.
Assuming you're with AT&T (since you said IMEI). All you need to do is have your friend call in and ask for it to be unblocked. They'll unblock it as long as the request is coming from the person who initially requested the block.
So we are clear: I am not talking about stolen phones. I am not asking how to change the IMEI on any device.
I am aware of someone who is involved in drugs, I know her mother but I do really know anything about her. It seems to me that she has some kind of scam going on with buying and reporting cell phones stolen. I really do not know the details of the scam, still putting the pieces together.
She took her mother's vehicle one night. Days later the mother was able to locate it and take it back.
In the truck was a lot of stuff, one was a receipt for four new phones on an ATT family plan. In the bottom portion it listed the same phones as the top portion with a statement regarding changing the IMEI.
I guess I am wondering if anyone knows what -if any- advantage there is to having the store change the IMEI of the phone you just bought?
Is this part of some scam anyone might be aware of?
I didn't even imagine that the store would, or could, change the IMEI before seeing this.
Interested story though!
Ok First off. Talks about this are not allowed on XDA. Now that is clear le me explain what is going on.
When a device is reported stolen/lost the carrier can put a block on the IMEI so it can not be used on the network. In EU they can do it so it doesnt work on any network in the area. By changing the IMEI (which is illegal in 98% of the world) This allows the device to be used on the network. This allows the device to be resold as a working device. Only the OEM has the rights to change these numbers. And I dont mean the phone OEM I mean the OEM for the main board which is where this number is hard coded.
I would stay as far away from this girl as you can. She is gonna get you caught up in more drama then you know.
Thread closed