Blocking a lost/stolen mobile 'phone

D

Dr Moriarty

Guest
A friend at work has lost (or more likely had nicked) her nice new cameraphone :(

I know she can ring her provider (Vodafone, I think) and have her billpaid a/c closed, but am I right in telling her that she can also give them the IMEI no. and that they'll be able to block the 'phone from being used on any network? (so that whoever has it can't just stick a new SIM card into it...)

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Dr. M.
 
Yes this can be done, but as of now all 3 mobile providers do no provide this service!!
 
Our unregistered contributor is right. The colleague in question contacted Vodafone and they not only closed her a/c immediately, but also said that they would add the IMEI number of her 'phone to a national register of blocked IMEI numbers and that within a day or two the 'phone would become unusable on any Irish network.

Nice to know.

I did a bit of googling on this, and it appears that the thief — presuming there is one — would have to be fairly tech-savvy, and in possession of illegal IMEI-changing soft/hardware, to make the 'phone usable again in this country. That said, there's nothing to stop them flogging the 'phone overseas, via eBay or whatever... :( Apparently most countries have their own national list, but there's no "joined-up" international register as of yet...

Dr. M.
 
> I did a bit of googling on this, and it appears that the thief — presuming there is one — would have to be fairly tech-savvy, and in possession of illegal IMEI-changing soft/hardware, to make the 'phone usable again in this country.

Ever wonder why you see so many potentially dodgy flyers/stickers/websites advertising phone unlocking services? Not sure if these can circumvent the IMEI issue though but I suspect that they probably can!
 
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