In the 'burns my biscuits' category...

[tugrik]

All phones have one or more electronic serial numbers. One in the phone itself, one in the SIM, and sometimes more. While you can swap out the SIM it's usually not possible (at least without major hardware) to change the ones built into the phone itself.

So... you'd think if that phone got stolen and you had that number -- and the phone company had that number -- you could get the phone marked as 'stolen' so nobody else could activate it. When the thief (or the poor sot the thief sold the phone to) goes to a GSM carrier and tries to get service, the company would refuse because the phone is stolen property. Sure, you may not be able to recover it. But if nothing else you could have that tiny bit of satisfaction that the stolen phone is a useless brick and the boggy bastards who took it would get no joy from it.

That's not the case, though -- at least not with any major US carrier. Especially not with AT&T. The most they will do is lock your account so that calls can't be made. If the phone has already been replaced (which most mobile professionals will do on the day the other phone is stolen, so they can stay in contact with work) then they won't do a dang thing. Your phone is lost or stolen? You have the ESNs written down? We have them in our records? Whelp, not a thing we can do! Ayuk!

The reason why is pretty obvious. A functional, ready-to-go phone out in the wild -- even if it's in the hands of a thief -- is potential revenue to AT&T. Want an account on that stolen phone? Sure, here you go! Heck, we'll give you special discounts for being a first-time-customer! You think it might have been stolen and you want to check? Never you mind, here's a contract and we'll waive the sign up fee...

No, I'm not bitter, why do you ask? :) And no, my current phone wasn't stolen. My older 3G was... right on the day I bought the 3Gs. I was going to give it to a relative as a gift. It took them this long (what, three weeks?) for their third tier support to finally get back to me and re-re-reconfirm that they can't or won't do squat. I drove this issue as far up the chain as I could and they're finally telling me to go away.

Here's to hoping that whoever sniped the thing drops it and breaks it into little pieces just when they need it most. *tail-lashes angrily*

Comments

[megadog.livejournal.com]

Do you not have the "Vulcan Neck-Pinch-of-Death" option?

The BlackBerries we support have the ability to be sent a 'Nuke Packet' if they are stolen - this renders them useless - deleting all stored data (which is really rather important in a corporate setting). You can't then re-activate them without going through BlackBerry - and once a particular device has been killed they will ask some seriously-searching questions before it gets reactivated.

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

Nope. The iPhone only has a 'remote wipe' option. That was done before I lost connectivity to the phone, so at least I know my data was off of it. When my service swapped to the new phone the old one 'deactivated' so that no calls can be made... but nothing stops (and in fact AT&T encourages) the person who 'acquired' the phone from starting up new service on it.

[megadog.livejournal.com]

This is one of the reasons I don't consider the iPhone to be 'business ready' and so do not allow them on any of he corporate networks we run.

[http://users.livejournal.com/krin_o_o_/]

Isn't this aiding and abetting in the criminal conversion of stolen material?

[zeeth_kyrah]

No kidding. I'd love to know if there are any court cases on this matter.

[snowwolf42.livejournal.com]

As much as I dislike saying it, but there ought to be a law... If a business has the ability to find a stolen item, they should be required to do everything they can to do so.

Heck, I'd bet some hungry-for-attention DA might be persuaded to find some application of the law on abetting criminal actions.

I wonder if there's anything identifiable in the headers sent to a website from a phone that could be used to track it down... Get the website analysis of devices used or something. Just a thought.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I won't go that far. But I do agree that if a network is capable of blocking stolen property from being used, it should do so. That ATT counts on the business of criminals, if you can prove that, makes them culpable.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I wonder if a lawyer and mentioning the "Aiding and abetting criminals" might change their minds. Then again, they'd just as likely simply lie and say that the phones had been deactivated - after all, how will you prove otherwise?

[jeran.livejournal.com]

Handle them like the cops handle pawn shops: every now and then one of those customers trying to pawn something of questionable provenance will be a cop, and if the right questions aren't asked and the right report made to the police the pawn shop'll find itself without a business license.

[barberio.livejournal.com]

Seconded. If you want to really make a point, report the theft as a crime. Report that AT&T know the location of the phone, and are unwilling to assist in recovery of your stolen property. Make sure to note the full value of the item as the paid price plus the 'lease purchase' of your first years line rental.

[jeran.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I wonder if any of the laws governing pawn shops might apply? It'd be the same kind of situation: the cel-phone company's not asking too many questions about where those phones come from doesn't make them a fence for stolen property, but it certainly makes it easier for the thieves to dispose of stolen goods.

[zorinlynx.livejournal.com]

I'm sick and tired of AT&T and their shady practices. They keep buying up other telecoms (including Bellsouth, making me a customer of theirs (DSL) without my even WANTING to be one) and are probably bigger today than they were when the government broke them up in 1984.

What the hell is the deal? Where's the outrage that there was back in the early 80s that led to them being broken up? There should have been a case in the courts the *instant* they tried to buy up one of their former subsidiaries. Doesn't the '84 decision hold any meaning?

My disdain for them is bad enough that I really liked the iPhone, yet never bought one because I didn't want to be an AT&T customer. I'm happy today with my Palm Pre, but look how long I had to wait for something similar to the iPhone to come out on another carrier. Ugh.

Apple should tell AT&T to shove it and open the phone to other carriers.

Sorry for ranting; you just touched a nerve. I hate that damn company.

[jeran.livejournal.com]

AT&T's not even AT&T anymore. SBC bought them years ago, scrapped everything but the brand and tried to hide their own scuzzy reputation behind a shiny-new logo so people wouldn't realize who they were dealing with.

[coyoteseven.livejournal.com]

And SBC was itself a Baby Bell.

Of course no one batted an eye when Exxon and Mobil merged. Imagine if they gobbled up Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP, and re-rechristened themselves Standard Oil. Hmm...

[barberio.livejournal.com]

Remember the end of Terminator. Where the good guys crash a truck filled with Liquid Nitrogen into the T-1000, freeze it, then smash it into bits? But then the thing just melts and reforms to continue it's Evil Rampage?

That's AT&T.

[alohawolf.livejournal.com]

Old AT&T was not really evil, SBC is evil, SBC is the New AT&T

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Ever thought of punching the number up of the stolen phone, and tracking it down with the GPS features? Might be fun to see where it is, and go take it back. :3 Provided of course the system works and whatnot.

[gatcat.livejournal.com]

Same issue with an iPod. My 4Runner was broken into 18 months ago and the only thing taken was an iPod. Called Apple to report the theft, and they basically told me to buy a new one. You know they have the technology to cripple unauthorized use...if they would choose to offer the service.

If such a program existed, I'd pay theft insurance to Apple even if I knew I wouldn't get the iPod back...it would be worth it for the privilege of giving the finger to a thief, and the mere existence of such a program would be a powerful theft deterrent on its own.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Phone companies are evil, and mobile phone companies doubly so - that's one reason why I've only got a cheap 10 EUR mobile and a prepaid SIM card with no contract.

[http://users.livejournal.com/krin_o_o_/]

I think the best approach would be to address this to APPLE.

They need a 'kill switch' hard-coded into the O/S and firmware upgrades of THEIR iPhone and iPod products.

AT&T isn't gonna do JACK.

But once it is widely circulated and accepted that APPLE is letting people reactivate stolen iPhones... They'll have to address the problem. Even if it isn't "technically" true.


- krin

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

This is kind of old but might give you a starting point:

If you guys want your complaints heard, you have to contact Cingular's
Office of the President. They don't make it easy to find their number,
or even to know they exist, so when a customer has gone through the
hoops to reach them, they tend to take their complaints a bit more
seriously, because you're obviously angry enough to have tracked them
down.

Cingular's Corporate Office phone number is 404-236-6000. If you ask
the operator to transfer you to the Office of the President, they will,
and then you can register your complaint. They'll take your complaint
and have a case worker get back to you within 24-48 hours (which they
do).

When you call that number above and ask to be transfered, they'll give
you the Office of the President designated for West Coast customers.
People on the East Coast who want to contact the Office of the
President can call 877-850-0761. That is a direct line to the East
Coast Office of the President.

File a police report

[ideaphile.livejournal.com]

It's your property, and someone took it.

. png

[altivo.livejournal.com]

This is the sort of thing that the FCC, FTC, or state utility agencies could in fact regulate and require of carriers. But they won't do it unless they get pressure from cell phone users to force it out of them. Lacking that, they are just toadies for the profitmaking approach.

[cuprohastes.livejournal.com]

I think Vodafone offer to remote nuke phones using the IME, or they did at least once while I was with them.