4 ms·

Worth also reporting the IMEI as stolen here: https://www.imei.info/news/report-imei-number-lost-or-stolen/ https://www.imei.info/news/report-imei-number-lost-o

Worth also reporting the IMEI as stolen here: https://www.imei.info/news/report-imei-number-lost-or-stolen/ https://www.imei.info/news/report-imei-number-lost-or-stolen... If they do bypass the activation lock and resell it, anyone buying a second hand device or parts can check it and the seller reported to local law enforcement for selling stolen goods.

mytailorisrich 4y ago
Blocking via EMEI should be routine as soon as reported stolen to police and network. In fact, I think this is why organised operations quickly ship stolen phones abroad: the EMEI may be blocked and tracked in UK/EU but it won't be in China...
- MaxBarraclough 4y ago
  Blocking the IMEI presumably greatly reduces the value of the stolen phone, at least.
  - from 4y ago
    UAE China Russia India and almost all of Africa are not in GSMA blacklist program which means the phones still work there (and iPhones sell for a premium in some of those places as well). Find my iPhone lock is very effective in making it less profitable unless they are able to phish the password out of you.
- Oxidation 4y ago
  One also wonders where all the cheap "refurbished" phones come from on eBay. Are they actually legit (assuming a big seller, not a 20-star account), or are they "laundered" stolen phones? A lot of them have Chinese ROMs, are they the reverse: stolen in China and sold abroad? Or just arbitrage of regional pricing?
  - kotaKat 4y ago
    One note with WiFi only Apple equipment (mainly iPads here); there are ways to use diagnostic cables and software to 'rewrite' the device serial numbers to 'bypass' activation lock. It requires a 'clean' serial, WiFi MAC, and Bluetooth MAC, the three things a WiFi only device uses to authenticate to Apple during setup. iPhones and other cellular connected devices? Nah, not gonna happen, though there are weird jailbreak-esque 'bypasses' that will get the phone past setup, albeit still 'locked' when you reset.
  - barbacoa 4y ago
    I'm sure ebay has their fair share of stolen goods. A lot of what you see sold as refurbished are returns and trade-ins. When you return an item for example, to Amazon, they don't restock it. Instead they throw it in a bin and auction it off by the pallet to second hand resellers.
- DangitBobby 4y ago
  I wonder why the Chinese government doesn't force carriers to block stolen EMEIs.
  - mytailorisrich 4y ago
    I don't know if they do, but that's not the point. The point is I'm reasonably sure that there isn't a global database of stolen phones.
    - from 4y ago
      There is and it is called the GSMA blacklist but as you would expect none of the countries these phones end up in participate in that database.
  - from 4y ago
    Why would they? This is just one of the many ways they take advantage of everyone else. Most phone snatchings aren’t happening in China so this is an easy way to reduce their import bill for phones.
  - robjan 4y ago
    The final destination is unlikely China. Usually these phones are then transported to Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong or Guangzhou and from there flown back in a suitcase to various countries in Africa. https://www.ft.com/content/4609e212-eb64-11dd-bb6e-0000779fd2ac https://www.ft.com/content/4609e212-eb64-11dd-bb6e-0000779fd...
fomine3 4y ago
I wonder how they validate the reported IMEI was legitimately owned by reporter.

mytailorisrich 4y ago

Blocking via EMEI should be routine as soon as reported stolen to police and network. In fact, I think this is why organised operations quickly ship stolen phones abroad: the EMEI may be blocked and tracked in UK/EU but it won't be in China...

MaxBarraclough 4y ago
Blocking the IMEI presumably greatly reduces the value of the stolen phone, at least.
- from 4y ago
  UAE China Russia India and almost all of Africa are not in GSMA blacklist program which means the phones still work there (and iPhones sell for a premium in some of those places as well). Find my iPhone lock is very effective in making it less profitable unless they are able to phish the password out of you.
Oxidation 4y ago
One also wonders where all the cheap "refurbished" phones come from on eBay. Are they actually legit (assuming a big seller, not a 20-star account), or are they "laundered" stolen phones? A lot of them have Chinese ROMs, are they the reverse: stolen in China and sold abroad? Or just arbitrage of regional pricing?
- kotaKat 4y ago
  One note with WiFi only Apple equipment (mainly iPads here); there are ways to use diagnostic cables and software to 'rewrite' the device serial numbers to 'bypass' activation lock. It requires a 'clean' serial, WiFi MAC, and Bluetooth MAC, the three things a WiFi only device uses to authenticate to Apple during setup. iPhones and other cellular connected devices? Nah, not gonna happen, though there are weird jailbreak-esque 'bypasses' that will get the phone past setup, albeit still 'locked' when you reset.
- barbacoa 4y ago
  I'm sure ebay has their fair share of stolen goods. A lot of what you see sold as refurbished are returns and trade-ins. When you return an item for example, to Amazon, they don't restock it. Instead they throw it in a bin and auction it off by the pallet to second hand resellers.
DangitBobby 4y ago
I wonder why the Chinese government doesn't force carriers to block stolen EMEIs.
- mytailorisrich 4y ago
  I don't know if they do, but that's not the point. The point is I'm reasonably sure that there isn't a global database of stolen phones.
  - from 4y ago
    There is and it is called the GSMA blacklist but as you would expect none of the countries these phones end up in participate in that database.
- from 4y ago
  Why would they? This is just one of the many ways they take advantage of everyone else. Most phone snatchings aren’t happening in China so this is an easy way to reduce their import bill for phones.
- robjan 4y ago
  The final destination is unlikely China. Usually these phones are then transported to Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong or Guangzhou and from there flown back in a suitcase to various countries in Africa. https://www.ft.com/content/4609e212-eb64-11dd-bb6e-0000779fd2ac https://www.ft.com/content/4609e212-eb64-11dd-bb6e-0000779fd...

fomine3 4y ago

I wonder how they validate the reported IMEI was legitimately owned by reporter.