imei tracking?

[Guest meshio]

hello i went into CPW today, regarding my fone being lost/stolen.. and got told that it is possible to find out where about it is roughly.. by the networks releasing the imei and what mobile number the phone is being used to..?

is that correct?

example:

my c500 is lost/stolen

someone else sticks sim card in and makes a fone call

orange can trace that down, give police details :D and mesh gets his fone back?

that ring any bells?

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Yes it is possible as we showed when the star prize of the MoDaCo meet was stolen last year.

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=227175&hl=

[Guest Tech]

I laughed when you guys caught the thief and the convo you had :D - thief of the week? lol

Edited September 6, 2006 by Tech

[Guest meshio]

I laughed when you guys caught the thief and the convo you had :D - thief of the week? lol

lol.. sounds hillarius, sick that sum1 would steal a phone - that would end up useless...

so it is possible, so how comes that police / network don't provide this service when losing phones.. wouldnt it be alot easier to actually do this instead of handing out new phones to people who have insurance, and for those that don't "me" being lost..

lesson learned: buy insurance

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Networks in the UK automatically block a phone's IMEI when it is reported Lost, this stops the phone being used unless the IMEI is then changed.

Changing the IMEI can lead to 5yrs in jail even owning the software is an offence.

[Guest Ingvarr]

Networks in the UK automatically block a phone's IMEI when it is reported Lost, this stops the phone being used unless the IMEI is then changed.

Thats why international black market of stolen phones is flourishing.

Unless there will be global database of stolen IMEIs, blocking will be of no use... :D

[Guest alphabet123]

Here's the thing.... Our military/government uses cell phones to create an ad hoc network, which is dome via the same device in your phone that uses the IMEI number for tracking purposes. They can actually listen to your surroundings even when you have it turned off, even when your battery is removed. they use this tehnology in Iraq to remove HVT's (High Value targets), and they can actually send airstrikes to the location of that phone/mobile device. So, there is already a registry of all the IMEI numbers in the world, and if a phone is stolen it can be tracked much easier than most people think. Triangulation is not necessary, unless you are working off of a timestamp. also, with this ad hoc network, it is possible to access cell phone services for free; and, since there is no actual law against it and the phone comes with that technology, it is possible and legal to access that network. Additionally, it is possible to disable the IMEI tracking device in your phone, but that takes a pretty high amount of circuitry knowledge and most phones are designed so that the part of the circuit that includes the tracking device is necessary for any other phone functions.