In the Name of Stolen Phones, Do We Lose Options?

[poofyhairguy]

Over the next six months, each of the four operators is expected to put in place a program to disable phones reported as stolen and within 18 months the FCC plans to help merge them into a central database in order to prevent a phone from being used on another carrier’s network.

Maybe I am paranoid, but couldn't this same database keep you from doing something like using an old AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile?

http://www.macworld.com/article/116..._catch_up_to_rest_of_world.html#lsrc.rss_main

 

[lothar]

How will this stop someone from selling their own phone on Craiglist and reporting it to AT&T or Verizon as stolen?
This is a good idea to do in theory, but there are also many questions that needs to be answered about it.

 

[Red Storm]

How will this stop someone from selling their own phone on Craiglist and reporting it to AT&T or Verizon as stolen?
This is a good idea to do in theory, but there are also many questions that needs to be answered about it.

Yeah I'd like to know about this as well. While it's no trouble for me selling phones as I always do the transaction in a Verizon store and stick with the buyer until the phone is activated, this makes me much more wary of buying phones from strangers. Will need to hear more.

 

[sgrinavi]

How will this stop someone from selling their own phone on Craiglist and reporting it to AT&T or Verizon as stolen?
This is a good idea to do in theory, but there are also many questions that needs to be answered about it.

People that want to be dick-heads will always figure out a way....

 

[kaerflog]

How will this stop someone from selling their own phone on Craiglist and reporting it to AT&T or Verizon as stolen?
This is a good idea to do in theory, but there are also many questions that needs to be answered about it.

YUP. Agreed.
Never lost a phone in my life.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

D:
there goes reselling a phone

 

[gorcorps]

How will this stop someone from selling their own phone on Craiglist and reporting it to AT&T or Verizon as stolen?
This is a good idea to do in theory, but there are also many questions that needs to be answered about it.

Well... what's stopping people from doing that now?

And what benefit does the seller have reporting it stolen if he already sold it? Just to be a dick?

 

[kaerflog]

Well... what's stopping people from doing that now?

And what benefit does the seller have reporting it stolen if he already sold it? Just to be a dick?

Well, you can do that on CDMA phones but you can't do that on GSM phones.
WHich is ATT and Tmobile phones.

 

[alent1234]

How will this stop someone from selling their own phone on Craiglist and reporting it to AT&T or Verizon as stolen?
This is a good idea to do in theory, but there are also many questions that needs to be answered about it.

you will have to file a police report under penalty of perjury?

 

[gsaldivar]

you will have to file a police report under penalty of perjury?

That will deter honest people from filing false reports quite nicely.

Thieves...? Not so much.

 

[lothar]

you will have to file a police report under penalty of perjury?

I've never officially declared a phone as lost or stolen, so I have no idea.
Is that the current procedure for reporting lost/stolen phones today, or are you merely offering a possible solution to this coundrum?

Also, this thing they're suggesting better be reversible.
There was a time my battery died after I refused to charge it for 3 days. I couldn't find it until I cleaned my room two days later.

This other time, the phone grew legs and walked out of my pocket and somehow managed to get itself under my driver seat.

 

[QueBert]

Well... what's stopping people from doing that now?

And what benefit does the seller have reporting it stolen if he already sold it? Just to be a dick?

I sell you a phone, lets say for $250 and 15 days later I report it stolen. So I pay the $59 or whatever the deductible is for a replacement. Now I have a new phone and a few hundred bucks in my pocket. You could file a police report when you found out what I did, but I could easily just deny selling it to you, and since the transaction was in cash it would be wash for the buyer I'm sure.

Would be doubly easy for the seller to pull of if they used a throw away pre paid phone for the CL contact info, and met the person in a neutral location. There would be zero to tie the seller to actually selling the phone.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I sell you a phone, lets say for $250 and 15 days later I report it stolen. So I pay the $59 or whatever the deductible is for a replacement. Now I have a new phone and a few hundred bucks in my pocket. You could file a police report when you found out what I did, but I could easily just deny selling it to you, and since the transaction was in cash it would be wash for the buyer I'm sure.

Would be doubly easy for the seller to pull of if they used a throw away pre paid phone for the CL contact info, and met the person in a neutral location. There would be zero to tie the seller to actually selling the phone.

dick move.

 

[Dulanic]

For thieves this doesn't matter. Oh what's that... blacklisted ESN? Let's go ahead and change that ESN....