Phones Stolen In UK Riots Are Being Blacklisted

Mobile phones stolen during the recent rioting and looting across England are being blacklisted by networks making them unusable in the UK.

Mobile phone shops - and sports clothing stores - were among the main targets of looters.

MacWorld reports that networks are in the process of logging the unique IMEI numbers of each device adding them to the Equipment Identity Record, which will stop them working with any SIM card.

The networks will in turn add their EIR list to the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), a central database of IMEI numbers accessible by all major networks. That will turn off their use on any UK network within 48 hours.

At this point, the easiest route is to attempt to sell the handsets on the black market to unsuspecting members of the public unaware how easily stolen sets can be blocked.

Anyone using a stolen but unblocked handset with a registered contract SIM will also be at risk of leading police straight to their house. PAYG SIMs can’t be traced in this way, but can be blocked from the network.

Of course, the blocked devices could be hacked, assigned a false IMEI and sold on to developing countries where some smaller networks may let them work. But for this to work, they'd need to be passed on to organised criminal gangs specialising in this illegal trade and the looters would get only a tiny fraction of the devices' retail value.

(Source: MacWorld)


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