Lock somebody elses handset?

scope

I recently sold a pay as you go simcard w/credit on ebay, however, it never made it to the buyer (or so he says).. On making some enquiries to T-mobile it appears all the credit had been used a few days after I posted the card, so somebody has got hold of it and made the calls.. Anyway, in the end the guy @ T-mobile found the ID of the handset being used to make the phone calls, and on my request locked the handset from being used in Europe..

Can providers do such a thing? and does it actually work? I'd love for the thiefs handset to be locked, makes it worth loosing the credit.

reehsetin

thats all they can do lock the handset from being used in europe (bar the imei), can still be used everywhere else cant stop that
they can
change the imei but this is illegal

scope

Thanks.. Not being able to use in Europe is good enough for me.. I hope he had a brand new iphone.

random456

Unfortunately, even if the phone imei is barred/blocked it can still be used-although illegal, plenty of stalls/people can unbar an imei by changing it, rendering the block useless as the imei that was formerly blocked has been changed. They do this with cables, and although illegal, happens on a regular basis

Sid_Harper

This is quite interesting. Surely it's illegal for them to block someone's phone since that phone has not been reported stolen, irrespective of using a lost/stolen SIM card, which for all you know, could have been delivered to the wrong person and they're using it unaware it was meant for you!

[I know they probably deserve it, etc, etc - I'm just thinking about the legality of them doing this!]

alnsv1000s

Thats what I would have thought. They can block the Sim but not the handset.

I have had a few instances where my customers have had their handsets blocks by mistake. Someone entering the wrong number etc.

A nightmare to sort out.

lawbunny

Sid_Harper wrote: »

This is quite interesting. Surely it's illegal for them to block someone's phone since that phone has not been reported stolen, irrespective of using a lost/stolen SIM card, which for all you know, could have been delivered to the wrong person and they're using it unaware it was meant for you!

[I know they probably deserve it, etc, etc - I'm just thinking about the legality of them doing this!]

Well yes. But not in these circumstances, as the intended recipient has said that the phone never arrived. Therefore, I am assuming that the seller had to refund the money paid, and so is technically still the owner. The seller has reported that this handset has effectively been lost/stolen.

ianonline

lawbunny wrote: »

Well yes. But not in these circumstances, as the intended recipient has said that the phone never arrived.

What phone? There was no phone - just a simcard that went missing / stolen. :wall:

That's the whole point the OP is making - if someone uses a stolen sim in their own (presumably legit) phone, can the network still block that phone (ie effectively penalising the phone owner for using a stolen sim). I'm also dubious about the legality of this and whether the networks have such authority. :think:

It's a bit like someone watching a pirate DVD, and the film company coming round to your house and confiscating your DVD player (or otherwise rendering it unusable) as punishment for being a naughty boy/girl - they just wouldn't have that authority. All they could do is prosecute you for copyright infringement.

So in the case of the stolen sim, I would assume the only recourse would be to track down the stolen sim, then you'd need to prove who stole it and who used the credit on it in order to press charges - obviously this could be difficult and therefore not worth the time and effort.

Ian :cool:

scope

Yes there was no phone involved, just a Pay as you go simcard (with some credit on it)..Perhaps the operator @ t-mobile took pity and put the IMEI through as a stolen phone instead? (I chose stolen phone in the phone menu) I didnt really expect them to block the handset, but I asked him to double check, that it was the handset that was blocked, and not the SIM, to which he replied yes.

I had to provide him with a 6 digit code that could be used to unlock the phone at a later stage,but needless to say I did not make a note of the code.

System

well done, serves the thief right!

:rotfl:

lawbunny

Sorry, was late at night and my head wasn't working!!!

Hmm... this does raise an interesting point as obviously it is not actually the OP's handset. However, it makes me wonder how often I have blocked an imei for a customer when it is not actually their handset... if it shows on the account records then we can block it.