Bricket Wood Neighbourhood Watch News item

18 Dec 2003
The epidemic of mobile telephone handset thefts

There are around 51 million people using mobiles in Britain and almost 200 are stolen in England and Wales each day, mostly from within London. Many of these are exported to Africa, Asia and Europe. Immigration, Customs and Excise, police officers and industry experts are being brought together in a £1m National Mobile Phone Crime Unit. Senior police officers are hoping that it will make a significant impact on the UK's robbery problem. Now that more than 70% of the world's mobile phone handsets use GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), they can 'roam' on on networks in other countries, but this also means that handsets stolen in the UK can be used on these compatible networks. Mobile operators can now block a stolen handset to prevent it being used on networks in Britain. There are also tough penalties for criminals who re-programme handsets, but the police believe that the majority of handsets stolen in Britain are being exported. This is because handsets that are taken abroad do not need to be re-programmed. Network operators in Britain subsidise handsets for people who sign a contract with their network, whereas users abroad have to pay up to £800 for their handset, but the calls are less expensive. You should make a note of your handset IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), which is its serial number. This is normally printed on a label in the battery compartment, and it should match the electronic version stored within the handset. To display te IMEI on screen, you can key #06#. This can be done even without a working SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card. To block a lost or stolen mobile handset call: 08701 123 123*

18 Dec 2003

The epidemic of mobile telephone handset thefts

There are around 51 million people using mobiles in Britain and almost 200 are stolen in England and Wales each day, mostly from within London. Many of these are exported to Africa, Asia and Europe.

Immigration, Customs and Excise, police officers and industry experts are being brought together in a £1m National Mobile Phone Crime Unit.

Senior police officers are hoping that it will make a significant impact on the UK's robbery problem.

Now that more than 70% of the world's mobile phone handsets use GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), they can 'roam' on on networks in other countries, but this also means that handsets stolen in the UK can be used on these compatible networks.

Mobile operators can now block a stolen handset to prevent it being used on networks in Britain.

There are also tough penalties for criminals who re-programme handsets, but the police believe that the majority of handsets stolen in Britain are being exported. This is because handsets that are taken abroad do not need to be re-programmed.

Network operators in Britain subsidise handsets for people who sign a contract with their network, whereas users abroad have to pay up to £800 for their handset, but the calls are less expensive.

You should make a note of your handset IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), which is its serial number. This is normally printed on a label in the battery compartment, and it should match the electronic version stored within the handset.

To display te IMEI on screen, you can key *#06#. This can be done even without a working SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card.

To block a lost or stolen mobile handset call: 08701 123 123