Violent Cell Phone Thefts on the Rise

[maiforpeace]

Why Won't US Cell Phone Companies Stop Cell Phone Theft?

Police say there’s a simple way they could halt epidemic of often violent crime

By Jeff Rossen and Avni Patel
TODAY
updated 3/22/2012 7:46:12 AM ET

Violent robberies of iPhones and other smartphones: Authorities say there’s a solution, but the wireless companies won’t do their part to help. TODAY National Investigative Correspondent Jeff Rossen reports.

Police say it is an epidemic across the country and only getting worse: Tens of thousands of smartphones stolen every year. And yes, it gets violent: Many victims are beaten, bruised and hospitalized. Authorities say there’s an easy fix, a way to stop these criminals in their tracks right now. But, they say, the wireless companies are blocking it — to protect their profits.

Washington, D.C., police chief Cathy Lanier sees it every day: “It’s a huge business, huge business. The after-market resale of these phones ... the profit that they're making is just driving this whole problem.”

And, she said, the wireless industry is putting its own profit over your safety, allowing stolen phones to be reactivated later with a different phone number. Yes, that’s right: In most cases, black market buyers or the thieves themselves can still buy service on that stolen phone.

Police chief Cathy Lanier’s message for the wireless industry: “Shame on you. This is something that is fixable. Why wouldn't you in the name of customer service and safety want to protect your customer? It's not just about profit.”

Now nearly 70 big-city police chiefs are banding together, sending a letter to federal authorities saying that there’s an easy solution — a fix that would cut these violent robberies.

Here’s how it works: Every cell phone has its own unique ID, or fingerprint. Once the phone is reported stolen, it would be blacklisted in the U.S. Wireless companies from Verizon to AT&T, T-Mobile to Sprint, would all share information, banning service on that stolen phone on all carriers forever.

“It becomes a brick,” Lanier told us. “It’s useless, so there‘s no profit anymore — and when you take that profit away, then there's no motivation to stick a gun in somebody's face and take their phone.”

But, police say, the wireless companies won’t do it. We reached out to the wireless giants. Sprint said it’s open to discussion. The others simply directed us to an industry spokesman, so that’s where we went.

Rossen put the question to John Walls, vice president, public affairs, for CTIA — The Wireless Association, the trade group for the wireless telecommunications industry in the U.S.: “I'm not an expert in technology, but when I look at a list of nearly 70 major police department chiefs who say, ‘This is the solution; this would cut crime,' I as the consumer say to myself, 'Why not just try it?’ ”

“We want to make sure that whatever we put in place works and it's effective and and it is comprehensive,” Walls said.

“Well, they’re the crime experts,” I said.

“They might be the crime experts, but there's this considerable technical expertise and recognition on the industry side of the fence,” Walls said. “It’s just not that simple.”

But the technology already exists. They’ve been doing it in the U.K. for a decade, and in Australia, too, where authorities say it’s working; smartphone robberies are down. The industry’s response: Let’s wait: It won’t work here until every country joins in. “Let's make sure we get, for example, Mexican service providers, Central American, South Americatodayn, African, Chinese,” Walls said.

“Why not start with the U.S.?” Rossen asked. “Why not take the first step here?”

“Because I think the larger problem, the bigger problem is overseas,” Walls said.

But police say Americans will keep getting beaten and robbed as long as the wireless industry continues to drag its feet.
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When the wireless industry says, ‘Look, we don't think it's going to work’: What's your response to that?” Rossen asked police chief Cathy Lanier.

“I've got police chiefs all the across the country that say it will,” she said. “There are lives at stake here. You know, this is a deadly situation. It needs to be rectified, and it needs to be rectified immediately.”

[laklak]

I honestly do not understand these companies - they're also the ones lobbying against texting while driving laws.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Where does one buy a violent cellphone?

[MrJonno]

Pretty sure its still a major problem in the UK even through these phones can be blocked. They can be unblocked but its a criminal offence to do so and probably requires technically skills beyond your average muggers skills making it easier to target those who do so. Typically many people carry more valuables on them person that the entire contents of their house that could easily be moved

I think Americans have the best method to avoid this never walk anywhere!

[Atheist-Lite]

Pretty sure its still a major problem in the UK even through these phones can be blocked. They can be unblocked but its a criminal offence to do so and probably requires technically skills beyond your average muggers skills making it easier to target those who do so. Typically many people carry more valuables on them person that the entire contents of their house that could easily be moved

I think Americans have the best method to avoid this never walk anywhere!

Things will get worse as the cost of gas goes up...

[Robert_S]

I have a stupid phone and no contract.

I go no-contract out of principle and every time I have room in my budget for a smart phone, I find there's something else I want more.

[Faithfree]

Smart phones have an in-built GPS which determines position to an accuracy of 10 metres or less. It should be technologically trivial to devise a program by which the police can determine the exact location of a stolen smart phone provided that it is switched on and in a location that can receive a GPS signal. In fact I'd be certain such a program has already been devised, just not widely implemented for some reason.

[maiforpeace]

Smart phones have an in-built GPS which determines position to an accuracy of 10 metres or less. It should be technologically trivial to devise a program by which the police can determine the exact location of a stolen smart phone provided that it is switched on and in a location that can receive a GPS signal. In fact I'd be certain such a program has already been devised, just not widely implemented for some reason.

Well that's the big question that they pose in the piece. Apparently they're already using this the UK - I'd be interested to hear how it's working there.

Right now it's these US service providers that are hemming and hawing about it - claiming they want to see how it works in other countries first. What a joke - it's not the phone that has the real value, even expensive I phones lose their value after enough service. Here in the US, the copycat non-iphone have no value at all if you buy a long contract, and that's how most of them are sold. Not only that, after two years the phone will be obsolete anyway so you have to maximize the contract time you can get out of it.

So, for the providers, god forbid those phones would have few months interruption in service, which is what I expect happens when you put a phone entirely out of service (which is what you'd have to do with a stolen phone) when they can sign up any phone immediately as long as it's operational.

[Coito ergo sum]

It is probably a question of incurring liability and the cost/expense of creating a complex system. A lot of people buy used phones to save money. Whatever system is created would have to distinguish between a stolen phone and a second-hand phone. Not impossible, but there is no uniform, national system that the cell phone company can tap into to know which phones have been reported stolen and which are just second hand phones. When a police officer takes a report of a stolen or lost phone, they don't note any information that is then reported to the cell phone company. The customer himself has to do that.

Then there is a situation where a phone is thought to be lost or stolen, but is later recovered. Customers may not report that they found the phone later, having already obtained a new phone. Someone else seeks to activate it, and suddenly someone is trying to activate a stolen phone that really isn't stolen.

There already is an easy way for people to take care of their phones. Download the app which let's you deactivate the phone from an app, and/or make the phone make a screeching loud noise, or that "find my phone" feature that PDA phones have. You know where it is.

Anyway - whatever they do is not going really help in the end, because the thing that identifies the phone can just be swapped out. So, even if your phone gets stolen, whoever steals it will take out the sim card and other stuff, and they'll wipe the identifying stuff clean. Then all you have is a phone. What are we going to do? Kill the secondary market for phones?

[Drewish]

Pointless solution. Give me a couple of hours and I'll unbrick that phone no problem. Take that couple hundred you were gonna blow on a smart phone and get a hand gun. problem solved

[Atheist-Lite]

Going back to the old mugging culture as the economy falters it isn't worth having anything portable and expensive with you..outside of 'respectable' areas. Save money - buy a cheap mobile phone that is used for talking to people. Emails and other stuff can wait until you get to your workplace or home. Buy something called a 'paperback book' if you are bored....

[Robert_S]

Going back to the old mugging culture as the economy falters it isn't worth having anything portable and expensive with you..outside of 'respectable' areas. Save money - buy a cheap mobile phone that is used for talking to people. Emails and other stuff can wait until you get to your workplace or home. Buy something called a 'paperback book' if you are bored....

Support you local used book store!

[Ronja]

I can't believe that crap "need to wait for the rest of the world" - the system for blocking the IMEI code for a stolen phone is alive and well in Finland, Sweden, and most of Europe, and has been as long as I can remember (and I was studying Internet and mobile phone technology already in the 1990s).

For those who understand Finnish or Swedish (or can stand Google translate's "English"), here are links to verify my claim:
http://www.elisa.fi/asiakaspalvelu/699. ... atoaminen/
http://www.sonera.net/haunter/asiakaspa ... ietaa.html
http://www.polisen.se/sv/Utsatt-for-bro ... iltelefon/

[Tyrannical]

I'm surprised phone companies don't already do this since blacklisting stolen serial numbers is not new. Try and register a stolen vehicle when the VIN number is reported stolen Black listing is easy, removing the block once something is recovered can be tricky

Do cell phones identify their serial number over the wireless network? If so how hard is that to spoof?

[FBM]

Where does one buy a violent cellphone?

More to the point, why would one want to steal one? You see a cell phone beating the shit outta its owner and think, "I want that!"?