 Reviews:
 ·Frontier Communi..
| confiscate stolen goods? Were I the manager of a retail outlet I would not expect nor require my employees to "confiscate" a device from someone whom has already displayed a willingness to violate the law. Asking AT&T to blacklist stolen devices is reasonable. Asking them to seize stolen devices at the risk of a violent encounter with the would-be thief is not. | |
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 | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? Well I guess you as a manager might as well sit at the front door behind bullet proof glass and only allow customers to enter the locked and armed guarded door after they have been strip searched and put through an xray machine.
All for the safety of you and your employees right? | |
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| |  crazediamondMaybe you shouldn't be so proud?Premium
join:2002-01-19
Atlanta, GA | Re: confiscate stolen goods? wow... just wow... | |
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 ·Insight Communic..
| Re: confiscate stolen goods? This would actually be really simple to confiscate. Just walk back to the back room to get another sim or battery, as this one "isn't working" and while back there call the cops. Boom, your in a secure back room and the police are on their way. The "thief" will either catch on and leave before the police show up, or will get arrested. I've had store reps have to go to the back room while activating a phone purchased on ebay or just upgrading a phone purchased in store that it wouldn't be THAT strange that the rep was going to the back room, esp if the person sees outer reps going in and out of there for other normal reasons. | |
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| | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? Unless your the only person working there and their is no other customers in the store, that doesn't reduce the risk. | |
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| | | | | said by MovieLover76:Wow that is an absurd overreach, their is a huge difference between any of what you said and confronting someone to confiscate their device, when I worked retail we were never supposed to try to confiscate something we believed to be stolen it's too risky, even if we know for a fact somewhat was or had stolen something, even the manager did not confront them they called the cops, it's common sense not to confront thieves yourself.
Do you mean that you guys didn't want to get knifed or shot? | |
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| | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? Nope not worth it, I have this thing with death, it's not me. | |
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| |  cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:7 | said by Skippy25:only allow customers to enter the locked and armed guarded door after they have been strip searched and put through an xray machine. AT&T stores are at airports now? | |
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| | | I guess discreetly contacting the police while allow the thief to think you are activating the phone is out of the question?
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I do not, have not, and will not work for AT&T/Comcast/Verizon/Charter or similar sized company. | |
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| | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by battleop:I guess discreetly contacting the police while allow the thief to think you are activating the phone is out of the question?
Many police departments wouldn't even send an officer out. | |
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| | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? And many would. | |
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| | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? I think police have higher priorities than stolen cell phones. | |
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| | | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? Right because stopping a thief who may have used violent means to get the device is bad. Yeah I see that as a good reason to not send a cop.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
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| | | | | |  kataanRIP my love.Premium
join:2003-04-22
Greenacres, WA | Re: confiscate stolen goods? My Sharif's department does not see it as a stopping a violent crime or a potential violent cram. It a property crime and they no longer have the time, money, or manpower to handle most if any property crime. | |
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| | | | | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? And that is the major issue as to why this type of crime is getting bad. Because they just don't care and it's not high enough value for them, sickening that our society is coming to that point.
I have been in other countries where it is common and the cops don't bother with it. And those are countries that we consider to be 3rd world. Guess the train that we are taking to the bottom has just a few stops and not a one has anyone pulling the brakes to help stop it eh.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
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| | | | | | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by BosstonesOwn:And that is the major issue as to why this type of crime is getting bad. Because they just don't care and it's not high enough value for them, sickening that our society is coming to that point.
I have been in other countries where it is common and the cops don't bother with it. And those are countries that we consider to be 3rd world. Guess the train that we are taking to the bottom has just a few stops and not a one has anyone pulling the brakes to help stop it eh.
If an employee gets killed for refusing to activate a stolen phone, the police might actually take notice. Otherwise, they couldn't care less. | |
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| | | | | | |  jtudorXm 60's On 6 FreakPremium,MVM
join:2002-12-07
Morganton, NC | If your sheriff's department is doing this in fact, then they are shirking on their legal responsibilities. I don't know of any legal precedent that allows law enforcement agencies to decide which laws they decide to enforce and which ones they do not. That is almost a prescription for anarchy. I'm not saying it does not happen, just that is should not happen and it is very wrong when it does.
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Best of luck
"Do, or Do not, there is no try!" Yoda
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| | | | | | | | Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
| Re: confiscate stolen goods? They don't outright ignore crimes; it's a simple matter of allocating limited resources. If you have a stretch of highway with a large number of accidents due to speeders would you rather have a LEO there or in the AT&T store? Would you rather have him on patrol in a dangerous neighborhood or in the AT&T store? Should a detective work on the home invasion last week or investigate the alleged theft of a cell phone?
The police agencies where I'm from would only dispatch over a cell phone on a slow day and we don't have many of those here. If you want them to have enough resources to go after petty thefts like this then don't whine the next time your local government seeks to increase your property taxes. | |
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| | | | |  exocet_cmI am the law - Judge DreddPremium
join:2003-03-23
New Orleans, LA
kudos:2 | said by openupshop:I think police have higher priorities than stolen cell phones.
Not in New Orleans. Phone snatchings are robberies like any other robbery.
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"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons..." - T.S Eliot
"I have often regretted my speech, never my silence." - Publilius Syrus
Ma blog: »www.johndball.com | |
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| | | | | | | | Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by exocet_cm:Not in New Orleans. Phone snatchings are robberies like any other robbery.
Baltimore City Police will fuss about having to file a report. | |
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| | | | | | |  AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ
kudos:1 | Re: confiscate stolen goods? filing a report negativly impacts crime statistics,
catching an iPhone thief improves serious crime stats. | |
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| | | | | Honestly, I've been in this situation and the cops pretty much just said sorry, even though we had fairly solid evidence (text messages) of who had either performed the theft or bought the stolen goods. While I'll agree that it probably depends on the police department, in my case, my particular cop told me...file an insurance claim.
Having been in this situation as well, it was no problem going on line, reporting the phone as stolen and freezing the service for that phone with AT&T although I still had to pay monthly base charges. Since I reported it fairly quickly, they also removed charges for all texts that were sent that I questioned. I did have to buy a new phone. Insurance is my friend, I guess.
Not trying to be a fan boy here, but I'm not really sure what else they could have done. I was responsible for the phone, not them. It would be cool if they didn't charge you service fees until you had the new phone, but other than that? Seems more like the police who aren't taking the correct responsibility. JMO. | |
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| | |  badcat
join:2000-10-18
Glastonbury, CT | Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by MovieLover76:All you have to do is explain that the device is listed as stolen and they have to either talk to the person/business they purchased it from or explain to them they have to try to work it out by calling a 1-800 number.
In the long run it doesn't matter if you get the device back you simply need remove the incentive for people to steal cell phones.
Sorry to the people who got their phone stolen, but even Verizon doesn't confiscate the device, they just won't activate it.
Agreed. Just getting AT&T to stop activating the phones should be enough. Tell the person that the phone is in a stolen phone database and therefore we are unable to activate it. I don't blame anyone for not wanted to attempt a confiscation. That could get ugly, fast.
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"The stars are matter, we're matter, but it doesn't matter." | |
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| axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC | I agree, AT&T isn't a law enforcement or judicial body. A judge should be deciding who is a thief, who is a pirate, who should be refused network access.
Recovering stolen phones isn't their job, but I think cutting them off at the request of the victim would be a consumer friendly policy. If they can detect illegal tethering, I think they can handle this. | |
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|  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by Crookshanks: Asking them to seize stolen devices at the risk of a violent encounter with the would-be thief is not.
Agreed. But I find this funny too... could you imagine if AT&T did this? We'd be seeing headlines like "THE DEATH STAR STOLE MY IPHONE!"
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"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
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|  Oh_NoTrogglus normalus
join:2011-05-21
Chicago, IL | They should confiscate the phones.
But if you are so damn scared then you take the customers information try and activate it, then after they leave give the information to the police. | |
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| | Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
2 edits | Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by Oh_No:if you are so damn scared then you take the customers information try and activate it, then after they leave give the information to the police.
It's not about being "so damn scared". It's about risk vs. reward. Do you seriously think that a lousy stinking smart phone is worth the risk of a physical confrontation in the middle of an AT&T store? Do you honestly believe that AT&T trains its employees to handle such a contingency and pays them a sufficient wage to compensate them for the risks they'd be assuming? What about the other customers in the store? Do you suppose one of them might sue AT&T if he gets injured in a tussle over a smart phone? With that in mind do you really think AT&T's lawyers would condone a policy of seizing stolen devices?
There's a reason why bank tellers are taught to GIVE UP THE MONEY even though it's worth far more than a smart phone. I've got self-defense training and a concealed carry license and I'm STILL not willing to risk an altercation over something as trivial as a phone. It simply isn't worth it.
I do concur that they should attempt to obtain relevant information to pass along to the police but that's the extent of their civic responsibility. They certainly aren't obligated to do anything that puts their customers or employees in harms way. | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Re: confiscate stolen goods? Big 4 cellphone shops already have security guards. The customers wouldnt be more violent if confronted over the phone being stolen than they naturally are. | |
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·Frontier Communi..
| Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by patcat88:Big 4 cellphone shops already have security guards.
Maybe in New York City that's the case but I can assure you it's the exception and not the rule. I've been in Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile stores all over Upstate New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania and I've never seen a security guard.
In any case, even with a security guard it's still not worth the risk. Private security guards are not peace officers. They have the same arrest powers as you or I, e.g., citizens arrest. Would you be willing to put your livelihood and freedom on the line to arrest someone merely for the possession of an allegedly stolen cell phone? I doubt it. Short of arresting them how are you going to take the phone if they refuse to hand it over? Pepper spray them? Pull a firearm? Good luck with that.
Asking a private enterprise to confront people over allegedly stolen property is absurd. You don't even know that the person is guilty of anything other than possession; they could simply have bought the phone on eBay and themselves been the victim of a crime. | |
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| | | | | | I've never seen a security guard in a Verizon store, it's a unnecessary risk for something as trivial as a smartphone | |
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| | | | | | said by patcat88:Big 4 cellphone shops already have security guards. The customers wouldnt be more violent if confronted over the phone being stolen than they naturally are.
I have never seen a security guard in any AT&T store that I have ever been in. | |
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| | | | |  Anonymous_AnonymousPremium
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1
kudos:2
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: confiscate stolen goods? said by dslfan90 :said by patcat88:Big 4 cellphone shops already have security guards. The customers wouldnt be more violent if confronted over the phone being stolen than they naturally are.
I have never seen a security guard in any AT&T store that I have ever been in. In the mall they do
aka mall cops (sheriffs) | |
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| | | | | They actually donate activate the phone. They just issue a new SIM. What's the big deal about using a new SIM? They've been doing it for YEARS along with TMO.
But as far as taking the phones is just plan stupid. You do realize ATT could still be sued for this right? They're NOT the law. The same as you can sue Wal-Mart for stopping you in their store asking for proof of purchase. They can NOT due it, and thus is kidnapping and they can be used. | |
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| | | | JoelC707Premium
join:2002-07-09
West Point, GA
kudos:5 | Re: confiscate stolen goods? That works for phones that still use SIM cards. It doesn't work for other phones though. | |
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| | | said by Crookshanks:Were I the manager of a retail outlet I would not expect nor require my employees to "confiscate" a device from someone whom has already displayed a willingness to violate the law. And that's what makes you the man you are!
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"Thanks for the dance... and cut yourself a slice'a throat! "
- Curly (HOI POLLOI, 1935) | |
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| JoelC707Premium
join:2002-07-09
West Point, GA
kudos:5 | There's no way you could confiscate a stolen phone. I realize if you actually were the one who stole the phone then yeah you're gonna know it but otherwise you might not even know it's stolen until you go to activate it.
Ebay is a perfect example of this. I've seen many phone listings with "BAD ESN". It could be they just didn't pay their bill and it's blacklisted but maybe it's stolen? Of course I'd never buy one of those such phones but what if the seller doesn't mention anything of the phone's status?
Personally I've gotten in the habit of asking for the ESN before buying so I can go have it checked at the local store. If the seller won't provide that data then I don't buy. And ironically I got in this habit thanks to an ebay seller so you can't tell me the sellers won't provide it. Some might not but they don't have anything to lose. | |
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|  NickDPremium
join:2000-11-17
Princeton Junction, NJ
·Comcast
| All the cellular companies should have a policy that retail stores are required to confiscate a phone that is reported as stolen, with no exceptions. If the person bought the phone used on eBay or Craigslist, they can show proof of the transaction. Or better yet, let people search the IMEI database to see if a phone is stolen (a database search would also require the URL of the listing for the phone) and a credit card number (that won't be charged) so that thieves can't search it anonymously.
If they get the cell phone thieves off the streets and in jail, that will reduce other crimes too, since cell phone thieves are likely to commit other crimes. It should be possible to have an area-wide map showing the locations of every phone reported stolen to the police. That way, when the police aren't busy, they can proactively go after a stolen phone near their location. Thieves would be less likely to steal phones knowing that they can be arrested at any minute when they least expect it. And the police will have better things to do at 5 in the morning than eat donuts when there isn't much crime actively going on. | |
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|  tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI | Why not determine if the phone is "blacklisted", take down the customers information, hand them back the phone and tell them that phone was reported stolen and you can't activate it. If it's a customer who was duped into buying a hot phone, shame on them. If you do not turn in the information on said customer to the police, shame on you. I feel telco's have an obligation to it's customers to do everything possible to stop this crap should go further then just lip service. They can lock phones. They just don't want to loose an "account".  | |
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| | Seriously speaking... There is no ethics in business. That's just the way it is. | |
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|  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: Seriously speaking... AT&T has a company culture where a willingness to look the other way for profits is sewn onto their skin. If Verizon and Sprint weren't helping to prevent crime by blocking stolen phones, then AT&T wouldn't look so bad. | |
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| | | Heck, AT&T wouldn't look as bad if they weren't charging customers for the replacement phones to be honest. Heck, in reality that's actually a brilliant business plan. | |
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| | | | Re: Seriously speaking... You don't have to buy the replacement from them. I didn't when mine was stolen. Overstock was my friend.
That said...there goes unlocked phones on ebay. If you can't prove that you are the original purchaser...
But doesn't really matter to me, I avoid ebay like the plague. It's going to matter to a lot of other people though, I have a hunch. | |
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| | | Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
| Re: Seriously speaking... said by Boxer Person:That said...there goes unlocked phones on ebay. If you can't prove that you are the original purchaser... You don't have to prove anything. Give the would-be buyer the IMEI number and let him call AT&T to verify for himself that the phone isn't stolen. Verizon is willing to do this for second-hand CDMA phones with the ESN; don't see why AT&T would be unwilling to do so for GSM/UTMS/LTE phones with IMEIs. | |
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| | Well APple does the same thing. They only aid in remotely erasing and tracking phone but that's it. But try won't implement any mechanism that makes phone or iPod unusable after reporting.
It's same thing with other retailers | |
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| Reviews:
·Comcast
| Re: Well (Sprint Guilty, Too) said by chgo_man99:Apple does the same thing. They only aid in remotely erasing and tracking phone but that's it. But try won't implement any mechanism that makes phone or iPod unusable after reporting.
It's same thing with other retailers
You're right, Apple WON'T do anything about it! They don't even offer theft coverage in their protection plan. In October we bought our son an iPhone through Sprint. Sprint or Apple did not offer any theft coverage whatsoever. Three days later, the phone was stolen. Sprint told us the only way we could track it down was to keep it active on the account, or have the police dept. send their Legal Dept. a legal document (search order I'm thinking). Meanwhile, we couldn't use another phone on that account, otherwise we would have to disable the iPhone for tracking purposes. Yes, we did have the "Find My iPhone" app on the phone, but the first thing the thief did was disable that.
I can see that Apple or Sprint didn't offer the theft coverage because they want you to fork over more money for unsubsidized iPhone. Sorry Apple, I won't EVER get another iPhone!! | |
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| | Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·Mediacom
 ·T-Mobile US
| Re: Well (Sprint Guilty, Too) Have u purchased it on Amex card? The basic blue has coverage on lost/stolen electronics. There is a time limit . They will ask for all details date time of incident, product description and police report.
As for warranty there are third party providers that cover more than what apple protection plans cover. And they offer it for iPhone.
And yeah apple may expect that the "victim" will pay full replacement fee. They will also make money on thief since he will be buying accessories. Accessories are expensive and big cash cow too. | |
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 BlitzenZeusBurnt Out CynicPremium
join:2000-01-13
kudos:2
·Frontier FiOS
| Corporate greed They've had the capability to do this for a long time, on every call the imei is read along with other information, and the imei isn't even the key component of the call, the data on the sim card is. The account show a history of the phones used on the account, every imei, and in their detailed call logs only available to them the imei is recorded for every call. The term re-activating here is incorrect since people can move a sim card between phones easily, and no activation is required.
This information needs to be shared with at least T-Mobile, and when appropriate companies like Apple. If Apple receives a stolen phone claimed it's no longer working since they will do Apple store repairs/exchanges, and they attempt to exchange it they are enabling people to steal phones. Do this the market will fall out of stolen gsm phones on big carriers, and the police could actually recover them. The accounts hold their names, addresses, and if they had a contract account at any point in time, their social security number. Of course if the same person recovered their stolen phone there would be no incident unless they still claimed it stolen, and committed insurance fraud. If you received an refurb iphone from apple flagged as stolen then Apple already assisted in the replacement of a stolen phone.
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I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent out necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G. | |
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|  cchhat01Dr. Zoidberg
join:2001-05-01
Elmhurst, NY
·RCN CABLE
·Earthlink Cable ..
| Re: Corporate greed I completely agree with you on this. However, the central database of reported phones shouldn't be limited to just AT&T and T-Mobile. There needs to be a mechanism that the IMEI number can be blacklisted and un-blacklisted by the person who maintains ownership (similar to a VIN number for a car) and also be represented globally. This database needs to be centralized. One global body that overlooks IMEI number validity. This will infact reduce GSM Phones theft around the world.
Implement this and phone theft problems are solved.
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"Look at me, I'm Dr. Zoidberg, homeowner." | |
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Reviews:
 ·ooma
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FiOS
| iphone thefts now you kow why criminals were targeting Iphones for theft rather than a crappy Blackberry.. don't just blame AT&T, now Verizon and Sprint have Iphones in their lineup as well, no dobut these carriers allowed REPORTED STOLEN PHONES to be re-used on their networks as well.
carry an Apple logo, get mugged.. great turn of events.. might I suggest the thugs smack these victims upside the head for being targets in the firstplace. :-> | |
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See 6 replies to this post |
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 IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
·Comcast
·Verizon Broadban..
| Apple should be sued as well Theives get ahold of stolen iPhones and take them to Apple when they don't work and Apple refuses to return them to the rightful owner. I'd sue them if they did that to me as its illegal in Massachusetts (and most other states) to be in possession of stolen property. And it's a criminal offense and not a civil offense. | |
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| | Astonishing My wife mentioned something about stolen "smart" phones not long ago, and I, assuming, confidently told her "Can't imagine why anybody would steal a smart phone. Or any wireless phone, for that matter. All the victim need do is report to their provider the phone was stolen and it'll never get activated. Wouldn't be very useful to the thief."
It never would have occurred to me in a million years that wireless providers wouldn't do that.
Why, with the life experiences I've had, new examples of human greed, stupidity, apathy, laziness, etc. continue to surprise me, I honestly do not know. | |
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TheMGPremium
join:2007-09-04
Canada
kudos:1 | Blacklist/ban. Phones that have been reported stolen should be blacklisted on a national database and banned from being used on ANY carrier's network. Any carrier that activates a phone that is on this database would face fines.
This would greatly discourage cellphone theft, as the thieves would be stuck with a useless phone once the owner reports it stolen.
In an ideal world that's how it should be. | |
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 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Complicit since they won't brick & ban stolen phones. They go for the profits.
What do you think would happen to a regular citizen if they knowingly traded in stolen goods?
Yep. Yet AT&T and T-Mobile can do this without penalty.
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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| | Suing businesses cuz of theft is a bit much I agree with the author of the article that att does look bad versus the other carriers, but to sue is ridiculous. You bought the product, you're responsible for it. If someone steals it, call the police. No business will confiscate. Expecting them to do such is ridiculous. Businesses can refuse service and thats it. Simple as that. I would be so angry if someone took my property because someone mistyped my imei in the database. | |
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| | 2 Cents Few things:
I've never seen a security guard in any of the cellular stores, ever.
Confiscating a phone is a ridulous idea. Retail employees are not heroes, should the employees get information to aid in stopping these people? Yes. Should they try to stop them themselves? No. Aside from law enforcement, I can't think of any job where you are trained to take something from someone. And often times someone acquired the phone from someone else, not knowing it was stolen.
Measures should be in place to prevent phone theft, the big companies have had the capability to do it and simply haven't due to laziness. Putting employees on the front line is absolutely NOT the solution. It will lead to unhappy customers in situations where they have uknowingly bought a stolen device, and damaged property, injuries, lawsuits, and possibly deaths when a criminal is confronted.
In some areas contacting the police with the suspect in the store may work, but in many it simply won't, the police will often brush it off because truthfully, they have more important things to worry about than rushing down for a stolen phone. | |
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| | They should. I actually work in their call center and it always made me so pissed about how we don't do anything. You know blackberry actually will block imei and pins of stolen devices if you call them. I used to help customers do it until an email went out telling us to stop because of an ATT policy. | |
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| | Oh yes they can I just wanted to comment to you about this story. ATT does absolutely have the ability to disable stolen phones from its network. It however can not prevent them from being unlocked and used on another carrier. When I was an employee there we got inbound calls with phones that were marked as in a "POSA Hotline" state. This is when the phone's IMEI number was not marked as sold from inventory. Within 15 minutes of use on the network the system would know and all calls from the device would route to customer service. We had a special place to transfer them to investigate the phone. So yeah ATT doesn't want to be bothered with YOUR stolen phone. | |
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| | AT&T help with tracking stolen phone Recently someone "found" my adult son's phone where he had allegedly dropped it at his work. They called me the next morning, making sure I knew they had multiple offers to buy the phone (Galaxy S II). I played stupid and nice so he might leave the phone on which he did the first day. Even though son had not installed Where's My Droid, I called AT&T and asked about tracking. Since I am the Primary Account Holder, after a short bit of "encouragement", rep suggested activating Family Map (free for the 1st month).
Because he was willing to suggest that and tell me how, we were able to track the thief all day, every few minutes. We learned where he worked, what he did by the pattern of activity, and where he lived within feet. After he set times to return the phone (for a reward) and no showed several times, I visited and called his company, they viewed son's company video, Id'd the thief (who had been on his shift with them when he took the phone), and had another driver hand deliver phone back to my son.
What were the odds after a week had the AT&T customer service rep not helped? Reading this, I hope he didn't get in trouble. But there are times they do help with tracking. | |
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| | Confiscation is nonsense....... Yes, it would be way over the top to ask store employees to participate physically in addressing theft. They are sales people - not law enforcers - and are only trained to function within that scope.
When a legitimate consumer calls AT&T about a new or existing account, it is standard practice for them to acquire information from the caller for security reasons. Why is it such a big deal to include IMEI information to ensure that part of the security issue?
I worked 12 years at a cellular company and I know all too well how it used to be, when trying to activate a new phone. You needed the sim card number, as well as the IMEI number. You either had a match or you didn't. Having said that, all that should be required of a store(salesman) employee is that they kindly inform the customer if the two do not match. There's no need for them to wrestle the suspect to the ground trying to confiscate the phone. That's just ridicules.
They should have enough of the customer's information to direct the proper authorities appropriately if that's an option the store or law enforcement wishes to pursue. | |
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5 steps to make massive amounts of money for the CEO.