Legality of Buying a Stolen Phone???

ash333

Hi everyone:
I have been offered a Nokia 6600 for about £50, with a cracked facia, which one can buy on ebay for about a fiver. It may be stolen as the guy only has the phone and the charger, which is a little unusual for a phone of its age. about 6 months. Can I get done for buying it if it ever were to be found on me?

Cheers
Ash

falcon21

I'm not sure these are very convincing reasons for it being stolen. To me, the cracked fascia may be reason enough for many people to legitimately sell a 6 month old mobile. Also, quite a few people get rid of boxes straight away (my girlfriend is always nagging me to get rid of boxes for things, whereas I want to keep them cause I know they will command a higher price if I have to re-sell).

Besides, I'm pretty sure the first route for stolen mobiles is being flogged in the pub. Ebay is far more traceable through IP addresses and credit card details, etc., although I'm guessing its unlikely the police would go to this much bother for a stolen mobile.

You don't seem that concerned about the moral dimensions of buying stolen goods, only the legal ones! My judgement is your unlikely to see any comeback, even if it is stolen. However, if it is stolen, it may have been barred from use and the thief is using Ebay because in the pub you'd be able to see it was barred!

falcon21

Sorry, misread your post and thought you were buying on Ebay.

Why not ask the seller?

p4psb

If any item of property has been reported stolen, and it is found on anyone, regardless of whether they stole it or not, the person can get arrested for 'Handling Stolen Goods'. Even if the person does not know it was previously stolen, they can be charged by the police.

ash333

Cheers for that everyone. The guy has apparently sold it although he said he would hold it. However, he says he can get hold of another one, which sounds pretty suspicious. I really don't think its worth the hassle, as if it is stolen, as p4psb says I would be responsible even if I hadent known.

Cheers and thanks for all your help.

Steve_xx

If you buy an item which later turns out to be stolen, then you will have no legal title to it and you would have to return it to its rightful owner. You may loose any monies you paid for it if you cannot trace the person who sold it to you.

If you bought it knowing that it was stolen then you could be arrested and possibly charged for "handling" stolen goods. If you bought it off e-Bay in innocence, then you could not be charged as such. However, if the rightful owner came forward then you would still have to return the goods to him since you have no legal title to them. And, you would still be left with the problem of redress to the person you bought it from in order to recover monies paid.

jf2404

I think i'm right in saying if a phone is stolen and the phone is reported stolen the IMEI is blocked so when someone puts a sim in and searches for a network, it registers as active and is blocked. So i don't think it would work anyway.


http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs2/hs_safesecure6.html
"If your phone is stolen, report your phone number and IMEI number to your network operator (or call 08701 123 123) and to the police. Your phone number can be blocked, just like a stolen credit card. Once blocked, it cannot be used again."

So once it's black listed and blocked, it is just a brick, only usefull for people to try and sell on ebay for £50 lol.

Woby_Tide

jf2404 wrote:

I think i'm right in saying if a phone is stolen and the phone is reported stolen the IMEI is blocked so when someone puts a sim in and searches for a network, it registers as active and is blocked. So i don't think it would work anyway.


http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs2/hs_safesecure6.html
"If your phone is stolen, report your phone number and IMEI number to your network operator (or call 08701 123 123) and to the police. Your phone number can be blocked, just like a stolen credit card. Once blocked, it cannot be used again."

So once it's black listed and blocked, it is just a brick, only usefull for people to try and sell on ebay for £50 lol.

unless you sell it abroad where the IMEI block isn't active, but that opens up a whole host of problems if you want to try and risk selling a phone abroad on ebay