Inside the Stolen Smartphone Black Market In London 109
First time accepted submitter WebAgeCaveman (3615807) writes in with news about just how big the stolen smartphone black market is. "A black market of shops and traders willing to deal in stolen smartphones has been exposed by a BBC London undercover investigation.
Intelligence was received that some shops across a swathe of east London were happy to buy phones from thieves.
Two traders were filmed buying Samsung S3 and iPhone 4 devices from a researcher posing as a thief - despite him making it clear they were stolen.
The shops involved have declined to comment."
LOL ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think much has changed since Dickens to be honest.
The specifics change, but human nature doesn't.
Re:Changing IMEI is illegal (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Changing IMEI is illegal (Score:4, Insightful)
It would be trivial for manufacturers to make the IMEI absolutely unchangeable using fuse bits. The fact that they have not suggests that they see widespread phone theft as an overall benefit for them, which makes sense -- it drives sales of new phones among those able to afford them.
Enforcement of those laws would help, but enforcement of such things is always expensive and imperfect. Simpler and more effective to mandate that manufacturers make IMEIs absolutely unchangeable.
Re:Why can't US "journalists" do this? (Score:4, Insightful)
Unfortunately, that's always the end result of having ads pay for journalism. At some point, there's always a conflict. And money will always will.