Stolen Mobiles

Anchises

My son's mobile was stolen recently. It's a ready2go (or whatever you call a prepaid phoe).
The prick who stole it is still using it. He has answered it a number of times and abused whoever has called.

How do we preceed to handle this ? everybody who knows him rings his number and is abused!
(I suppose he did not set a PIN, so it can be turned on by whoever has it ?)

Is it true that the IRL phone Co.s said recently that they could disable the actual phone (as opposed to the number)?

Could I arrange this ?

It irritates me that some prick could continue to use my son's no. with his stolen phone

---

It's a Vodaphone.....


Cheers

jesus_thats_gre

Firstly, call 1850 208787 to get the sim card barred. While you are there, they will be able to barr the handset for you...

Anchises

Thanks for that

But you know , there should be some way / process to punish the theft of phones.
If we simply disable phones that are stolen, the thief will look for another.....
Is there a way to make it unprofitable for thieves to do this?

In an ideal world (Big Brother ?) , use of any phone should be traceable. - I would even consider required registration, by ID, of ready-to -go phone.

Us guys who are legal have nothing to fear from such a system.

Oriel

Originally posted by Anchises

In an ideal world (Big Brother ?) , use of any phone should be traceable.

They are traceable, but for the average Joe like us, this technique can't be used.

BrianD

Let's assume that you have asked your operator to block the SIM and to block the IMEI so it can not be connected to any Irish mobile network.

However, before you get the chance to do this (sometimes you think that you have mislaid your mobile as opposed to it being stolen) you may find that the thief is making abusive phonecalls or sending messages to your contacts. I would recommend that everybody should do the following:

Have a PIn for both your SIM card and your voicemail. Your SIM card PIn should be active so you must enter it when you switch on.

Register your phone online so you check to see if the thief has topped up the credit. You can quickly eliminate his purchased credit by sending him a load of ringtones!!! You can also send him a few abusive text messages that come from your mobile number.

You can also keep store your IMEI number online so you can access it in the event you need to have it cancelled.

Perhaps their should be some other code that allows your phone to be remotely detonated eliminating both the phone, the thief and the problem. I believe Mossad have perfected this technology. Perhaps it's a bit extreme ...

BTW can you change your diverts remotely?

crowbar

Originally posted by BrianD
Perhaps their should be some other code that allows your phone to be remotely detonated eliminating both the phone, the thief and the problem.

just use a non-original nokia battery, they have been known to explode on several occassions in the uk, though not on demand ...

Originally posted by BrianD
BTW can you change your diverts remotely? [/B]

theoretically it's possible, someone just needs to manually change your hlr profile on the network. whether customer care staff have such access is operator dependent. in practice, o2 wouldn't do it for my mate when he accidentally left his phone in a pub.

another thought, o2 used to have a service called locator, which (with appropriate consents being granted) could find the location of another person's phone. so you could trace where the stolen phone is and, if you're brave/silly enough, go and rob it back* ...

* i do not endorse this method of retrieving a stolen phone

oneweb

I've a mate whose phone was stolen. He got his old number transferred to a new phone which meant the stolen phone couldn't be used with his number. I know you're gonna hate me for saying this, (but for reference to others in the future) but you should get in touch with the Gardai and your service provider immediately if your phone is stolen. The sooner you do, the better 'cos it'll give the thief less time to spend your credit (which, I think can be moved to a new phone), less time to abuse your phonebook and less time to sell it on.

BrianD is spot on regarding PINs for when you turn on the phone or enter a different SIM card, as well as noting down the IMEI right now!

Perhaps their should be some other code that allows your phone to be remotely detonated eliminating both the phone, the thief and the problem. <snip> Perhaps it's a bit extreme ...

I don't think so Blow the bastard's hand off! That'll learn 'em!

The Corinthian

Originally posted by Anchises
If we simply disable phones that are stolen, the thief will look for another.....
Is there a way to make it unprofitable for thieves to do this?

If we report the theft of all mobile phones, then all stolen phones will be disabled – making the theft of such devices unprofitable. For this, better advertising of the facility to disable stolen phones should be pursued so that victims, such as your son, are better informed.

In an ideal world (Big Brother ?) , use of any phone should be traceable. - I would even consider required registration, by ID, of ready-to -go phone.

Don’t you think that such a physical tracking of phones might be a little bit over the top? This reminds me of the old adage that a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged.

Us guys who are legal have nothing to fear from such a system.

Of course, because governments never abuse such systems... :rolleyes:

Faltermyer

This thread may be of interest:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124293&highlight=Stolen+mobiles

billy the squid

If a network is able to bar a phone by recognising its imei number would it not be a good idea if they could tell you which sim card was put into the stolen phone and disable the scumbags simcard as well

disable every single sim card that goes into that phone automatically

Faltermyer

Meteor's EIR used to work that way, until the onset of the C-EIR.

Problem was that some people were putting their SIMs into phones they did not realise were stolen and getting blocked.

They could of course be unblocked by calling the Customer Care line and they were told why they had been blocked and warned against using the phone again. If it happened a second time they would have to write in to be unbarred.

soiaf

BTW can you change your diverts remotely?

If you're a Vodafone subscriber you can do it on www.vodafone.ie
Its in the My Vodafone section under 'Additional Services'.
You can change all your diverts there.

LFCFan

Originally posted by Faltermyer
Meteor's EIR used to work that way, until the onset of the C-EIR.

Problem was that some people were putting their SIMs into phones they did not realise were stolen and getting blocked.

They could of course be unblocked by calling the Customer Care line and they were told why they had been blocked and warned against using the phone again. If it happened a second time they would have to write in to be unbarred.

Surely though if it was getting blocked it was because of using a new sim in a blocked phone which was probably nicked so they could be done for recieving stolen goods so have no comeback trying to get the phone unblocked....if you get my meaning

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by BrianD
BTW can you change your diverts remotely?

Your operator can change update your diverts for you no problem. However, if there is any call barrs on the account, the diverts are effectively disabled, nor can they be changed while there is a bar on the account. By barr, I mean an outbound or inbound call barr on the sim card.

The Corinthian is correct, once the ability to barr a handset become public knowledge, criminals will just gradually just stop stealing phones as it will be a pointless exercise.

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by soiaf
If you're a Vodafone subscriber you can do it on www.vodafone.ie
Its in the My Vodafone section under 'Additional Services'.
You can change all your diverts there.

This will not work if there is any operator barrs on the account.

Walter Ego

I belive that all phone service operators are slow to block use of stolen phones because it decreases their revenue.

Lets face it, you going to buy a new phone and continue using their service.
In the meantime the thief is in effect a new customer also spending money on their network.

Call me a cynic if you like...

Sleipnir

I remember I lost an RTG phone a few years ago and when I called vodafone to get it blocked (had the IMEI code), they said they could only do that for 'billable' customers, not Ready to Go customers.
That was a few ago though so I'm sure it's for all phones now.

seamus

Originally posted by Silent Death
Call me a cynic if you like...

Cynic

The mobile telco's are big, but are still run by ordinary people. And nobody wants their phone stolen...

Besides, mobile phones are heavily subsidised. You'll probably find that the company either loses money, or just about breaks even from people's phones being stolen, and then being replaced with another subsidised phone. If there is better prevention after the fact, they can also push insurance, since it would look even worse if they advocated insurance but didn't bother their arse preventing theft.

But some people will always be idiots. You could put a big sticker on the box when you buy a phone saying "REGISTER YOUR IMEI NOW AND HELP STOP PHONE THEFT", and make this sticker so difficult to get off that it takes 4 strong men and a gallon of paint stripper, and you'll STILL get people who'll ignore it.

Put "Get free credit by registering your IMEI" on the box in teeny-tiny letters, and every joe and his uncle will be registering :rolleyes:

The Corinthian

Originally posted by BrianD
BTW can you change your diverts remotely?

Try this.

Originally posted by Silent Death
I belive that all phone service operators are slow to block use of stolen phones because it decreases their revenue.

Unlikely, stolen phones mean an increase in insurance claims (which in turn inflates premiums and hence makes their mobile phone insurance less attractive to consumers).

Additionally you’re assuming that the thief will keep the same number, or even stay on the same network - either of which is a questionable assumption.

Also there’s a question of customer support and administration involved (in particular with contract customers), and the cost involved.

Last but not least, a customer who’s had their phone stolen will not be making calls for a day or two as they replace it - and when they do replace it, they don’t really make a profit on the sale of the phone (in fact, some are subsidised to the extent that they will make a loss on the sale), but on usage.

Walter Ego

I pity the poor b*st*rd that robs my phone it's an 085 and I haven't had a signal on it since Friday.

Walter Ego

Somebody in Meteor must have read that cos I now have a signal.

Faltermyer

Originally posted by LFCFan
Surely though if it was getting blocked it was because of using a new sim in a blocked phone which was probably nicked

Not always, a lot of the time it was where someones battery died and they borrowed a mates phone(Usually on a being used on a different network, but an Unlocked phone so it would accept their SIM).

E.G. Mr Meteor McGonnigle, num 085 XXXXXXX, has his phone stolen, and gets the IMEI blocked.

Thief of phone sells it down the pub to Joe Blogss on Vodaphone who unlocks it and uses it no problem(because this was in the day of the Single EIR for each network, not a linked one.). Joe blogss is going fine.

Joe Blogg's m8's battery dies and he borrows Joes phone - His mate is on Meteor, he makes a call, he gets an SMS from Meteor warning him that if a second call is made, he will be barred as he is using a Stolen handset. Often, two calls are made before this SMS reaches him and his a/c gets blocked.

He calls Meteor and gets his line un-barred and gets warned about what has happened, that if it gets blocked again, it will require a written request to unblock his line.

Now though, since the EIR's became linked, if you put your SIM in a phone which has been EIR-blacklisted by any network, you will get "SIM registration failed". Though, obviously, this message can also come up for other reasons(SIM is not provisioned, line de-activated etc etc).

That website will only give you the GSM codes, you still need to have your SIM in a phone to enter them.

soiaf

This will not work if there is any operator barrs on the account.

Sorry, I was just answering the general question of 'can you set diverts remotely?'.
Which is very handy if you leave your mobile at home and want to divert your
calls to an office phone or something like that.

You are absolutely correct that this will not work if there are operator bars on
your account (as a result of you reporting your phone stolen for example).

In the case of the original poster where the phone had not been reported
stolen and people were ringing the phone number in good faith and getting
through to the 'scumbag', then this would be a good way of 'intercepting' the calls.