Blocking A Stolen Mobile Phone

Kimberley

If a phone is blocked by the phone company will someone be able to have it unblocked in one of these shops that unblock phones to any network?

The reason I ask is because my daughter had her phone stolen in a club last night. She phoned 02 and they put a block on it. Is it now useless to whoever has it?

spannerzone

There's two elements - They probably only blocked the SIM card so it can't make or receive calls, you can get the actual phone blocked / barred /blacklisted but you'd most likely need to give them the IMEI (serial number) of the phone for them to do that.

So, the SIM can't be unblocked other than by the network provider under your request, so no call charges or bills should appear on her account. Someone could probably insert their own SIM and use the phone unless it's barred/blacklisted

Kimberley

Ah ok i'll get her to do that tomorrow. I don't understand why 02 didn't ask her for the IMEI number of the phone whilst on the phone.

jaydeeuk1

Also whilst phone may be blocked in this country (and also parts of EU) the phone will still work in parts of asia, russia etc and vice versa. People known to steal from one region and swap/sell to another therefore giving stolen phones value.

macman

If it's a contract phone, the network should have the IMEI number on file?
Your daughter will be liable for any usage from when it was stolen to when she reported it stolen, so I hope she had it PIN-locked?

Lifeforms

There are two types of pin locking, a phone lock, and a sim lock. Most people only lock the phone. You really need to employ both locks, as the sim, with out a lock on it, can just be put in another phone and thus used after such things as theft. By locking both (and actually using them!) you cover both sides. Therefore the phone, unless you are daft and use factory, or similar pin (9999,6666,0000,1234 etc), and also the sim together (again daft/factory etc) or alone cannot be used. This also means using a sensible setting on the lock (lock after 5 mins, or auto lock on standby etc).

split_second

o2 block the last recorded imei automatically, if your daughter phoned o2 straight away the phone is all but useless.

average nightclub scrote would half expect phone to go useless, they will probably try and use it, realise its basically a brick and try and sell it on to a shop or ebay.

a bar is worldwide, you can bar your phone in the back of beyond and its useless here, the phones that are sent abroad are the cheap ones, buy a phone for £10, send it abroad for the same amount, our phones are very cheap compared to some countries.

imei bars can be removed, but
1. its illegal
2. it is very difficult unless someone had the right (highly illegal) equipment

i worked in the mobile industry for nearly a decade before leaving about a year ago

macman

The real issue is the thousands in charges that can (and often are) racked up in international calls between theft and reporting. Besides that, the value of the handset (even if it's an iPhone 5) pales into insignificance.
Anyone with a valuable smartphone would have it insured anyway, unless they're daft or cash-rich.

Lifeforms

Most people should use sim locking as well, but rarely do. Same as insurance, especially when you get a rather raw deal on mobile phones, and their ability to actually cover what you think they will. Water damage, theft in a non-violent way and loss by other means.It's a Russian roulette with mobile phone insurance.

shaun_from_Africa

a bar is worldwide, you can bar your phone in the back of beyond and its useless here,

I buy phones that are stolen/recovered and unclaimed lost property and the majority of these have been barred and won't work in the EU. However they still work perfectly well in Africa which is where I sell them on.
This is true of cheapies as well as modern smart phones.

My current phone that I am using in Africa is an HTC One that was purchased from an auction and was barred when I obtained it (very cheaply).

elsien

So what does sim locking actually do? I have an iphone I was given and I noticed the sim lock on it, but wasn't entirely sure what it was for. Plus is there any other way of stopping someone racking up massive charges if your phone is lost or stolen, other than reporting it asap?
Thanks.
(With apologies to OP for hopping on to your thread.)