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What to do if your cellphone was stolen?

We all know that bad things happen with others. Friends were not careful and the keys from their apartment were stolen; a neighbor lost his wallet at the party and so on. There are hundred stories like these. In all these stories bad things happen because of the existence of criminals. Cellphones attracted attention of criminals since they became popular. There are few reasons for that. A cellphone doesn't weigh much and it is easy to sell, even if you don't have a charger or manual. Sometimes it is even more profitable to steal a cellphone than a wallet. The average profit of a cellphone thief in public transport is about $30-$60 at ones. The risk to get caught is very little.

There are few ways to steal a cellphone. The classical scheme is very simple: a cellphone was taken from the purse. It is easy to steal a cellphone from the purse if there are many people around, like in a movie theater or in public transport. To steal a cellphone from the belt is easier in crowds, for example during festivals or in public transport during rush-hours. When you get pushed from every direction, you won't notice one more push. For a skilled thief, it's not an obstacle even if your cellphone is hidden under your jacket, sweater or coat.

The advice is simple: don't put the cellphone in the external pockets of your bag or purse; keep it inside. Of course, it may take you longer to get your cellphone, but it will be safer there.

If you keep the cellphone on the belt, we recommend you to use a cellphone case. It is more difficult to remove this case from your belt unnoticeably.

The above mentioned techniques of stealing are rather primitive. More interesting are ones based on a specific of mobile communication and human psychology. For example, a nice girl asks you, a young man, to borrow your cellphone to make a call to her friend who is late for a meeting. You think a little and give her your phone. The girl dials a number (it may not be a local number as you thought) and shortly explains to her friend how tired she is to wait for her. The girl finishes the call and you stop worry because you don't expect dirty tricks anymore. What will happen next depends on the place, time of the day and amount of people around. The most popular scheme is when someone bumps into you and almost knocks you down. The girl disappears with your cellphone while that someone makes excuses. The second scheme is when the girl returns your cellphone to you but a teenager snatches it and runs away. Of course you try to catch him and forget about the girl. Though she also participates in this theft, you can't prove it.

I advise you never to give your cellphone to people you don't know. Even if they don't steal it, you don't know where they call. Don't be surprised if you will have to talk to a policeman about that call two days later. On the other hand if you think that the person is really in trouble, help him.

Criminals often try to divert the attention of the victim by using a cellphone. Usually they do it in crowded places, near the railway stations or airports. A good looking stranger with a cellphone comes to you and asks you something like: “Could you please help me dial the number, I can't do it?” or “I just arrived, I need to call home but the roaming doesn't work”. When you try to help and install new settings someone steals something (suitcase, wallet, etc.) from you. A common sense can protect you in such situations. Don't be too enthusiastic while setting up stranger's cellphone.

We are not going to discuss situations when the owner of the cellphone is careless, for example when the phone is stolen from under the towel on the beach. We would like to tell you what to do if the phone was stolen or lost. First, relax and forget about your phone. There is 97% probability that you will never see it again. Second, you have to call your cellular service to block your phone number. So, the thief won't be able to use your cellphone. If cellular service supports a black-list, your phone will be listed there. In that case your phone can't be activated in cellular network again. However, not many cellular services support this feature.

Don't rely on security codes that you setup in your phone. Entering PIN code is necessary only while switching on the phone. Criminals know that and won't switch off the phone. A password which you should enter to unlock a keypad is more efficient, but can be overwritten too. These codes can protect your phone from your friends, colleagues or your child but not from a thief. That means that all the phone numbers from your phonebook could be viewed. Some thieves find a fun dialing the numbers from your phonebook, talking with your friends. They waste your money and throw a SIM-card as an operator trace calls.

Someone may call you and offer returning your cellphone for a reward. It's a rare case when the phone is really returned, because the thieves are afraid to get caught.

If you find a cellphone and decide to return it to the owner, the most convenient way is to look at the SIM-card and take the phone to the nearest cellphone office. You can ask for a receipt that you deliver a phone or you can do it anonymously. In any case you did a good thing and nobody will think that you are a thief.

You can insure the phone against the theft. In this case you can get some compensation. In general, follow a common sense and trust your life experience.

The cellphone theft is a big problem of many developed countries. Some of them pass laws against it.

The cellphone theft in UK was increasing greatly in the past few years. According to John Denham (British Minister of the Internal Affairs), half of the all thefts in London are cellphone thefts (totally about 700 000 of cellphones per year get stolen in UK).. Now, changing of IMEI code, distribution of the information how to change it, possession and distribution of the equipment that can be used for making this change in UK will be considered as a criminal offence.

The same problem is very serious in Australia. There, sponsored by Australian Association of Mobil Telecommunication (AMTA) was created a data base of stolen cellphones and their IMEI-codes. This project is supported by all cellular cervices and will begin to work simultaneously at the end of the year 2003. The next step would be prohibiting changing of IMEI codes. The amount of cellphone thefts in Australia is lesser then in UK only by 100 000 a year.

In the conclusion I'd like to say that nobody is protected against cellphone theft. Don't yell at your relatives if their cellphone was stolen. It will be a lesson for them. The most important is to prevent it from happening again.

Another advice from one of our readers based on his own experience

If you find a lost cell phone, as I did few months back, use the redial list and call the first number in the list and ask him or her to notify the owner of the mobile that it was lost and tell him or her where to pick it up from. This technique worked great with me.

If your mobile gets stolen or lost, if a good person has it, he will call you or redial or use number from your phonebook to contact you, this happened to a friend of mine. The phone was recovered. In this case I suggest not to use the PIN Code or block your SIM immediately that will prohibit this good person from getting your info and contacting you. If it was stolen and a theif has it he or she will might call home or someone, you can contact your service provider for the call history after the mobile was stolen and probably catch the theif. You can also dial your number and the theif might answer it (a fool that is) and it may help you determine who the hell it is. PIN Code and blocked SIM are useless here as well. The only useful code that will make it hard for a devil mind to use the phone is Prevent New SIM Phone Code, but it is still not fool proof.

1. Don't use PIN code or block SIM immediately unless you would prefer lost or stolen mobile rather than calls made from your cell phone.

2. Use that Prevent New SIM Phone Code feature in your mobile that will restrict the theif from using it himself or selling it in the market for good profit.

3. Other than all this you should be a damn lucky guy to have lost and found your mobile (I lost and found my mobile 3 times).

Eldar Murtazin (eldar@mobile-review.com)
Translated by Maria Sennikova(maria@mobile-review.com)

Published — 30 October 2002

Renewed — 4 November 2002

Have something to add?! Write us... eldar@mobile-review.com

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