NO matter what we do, they find a way around it

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Recently, we talked about saving your IMEI number, the suposedly "secret" one on your cell phone as a way to identify your phone and also to block the use of that phone by a thief or the SOB idiot that found it in the parking lot and decided it was too nice to return to owner...

Anyway, in today's Listin Diario there is this article on how the local INDOTEL and some other agency have found at least 14 places where cell phones are
"Laundered", for want of a better word.

La Rep?blica - Allanan cuatro tiendas que "blanqueaban" celulares

So, the thing to so is install a tiny piece of C-4 near the earpiece so that when someone who is not you tried to use it, it blows their heads off!!

HB (I wish)
 

socuban

New member
Nov 24, 2002
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So, the thing to so is install a tiny piece of C-4 near the earpiece so that when someone who is not you tried to use it, it blows their heads off!!
HB (I wish)

LOL, with a remote trigger, of course. I just acquired one of those "indestructible" Sonim phones. Hopefully the ugly looks will be a deterrent to those who would otherwise try to make it theirs.
 
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ExtremeR

Silver
Mar 22, 2006
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LOL, with a remote trigger, of course. I just acquired one of those "indestructible" Sonim phones. Hopefully the ugly looks will be a deterrent to those who would otherwise try to make it theirs.

Sadly they solve that problem the worst way possible, by shooting the owner...People are terrified of hanging out with Alcatel cellphones for the same reason.
 

AZB

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
12,290
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These shop that modify cell phone serial numbers and unblock them are almost in every neighborhood in DR for many years. These tigres are not the inventors of these hacks, they just read the hackers forums from usa and europe and then implement the same tricks here to dominican cells.
AZB
 

SteveS

Member
Apr 15, 2008
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Saying all that, A friend of mine who had her purse snatched by an armed guy on a moto two weeks ago was reunited with her phone on friday by the PN.

The saving grace for her was that it was a Blackberry that got snatched, and they have an individual PIN, similar to the IMEI, and was traced back when it was activated on the network.

She had to go face the guy with it at the PN to see if he was the thief, however he was the unsuspecting one who bought it for 11k pesos on emarket, less than 24 hrs after it was snatched.

Surely he should have been a little suspicious, meeting in Plaza Central (near all the booths that unlock the phones), and being given a motorola charger for it...

Don't get me wrong, it took the girl a lot of pushing to get it back, but given she works for Claro she knew it wasn't that difficult to do......

Unfortunately, IMEIs are too easy to wipe and change, even if they are blocked by the networks. Good to see they're actually doing something about it, even if it is like trying to empty the Caribbean Sea with a teaspoon.....
 

socuban

New member
Nov 24, 2002
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It appears that sometimes they don't even need the physical cell phone to rip you off;

I was reviewing my non DR cell phone bill (AT&T) and found 89 calls made there while on my last visit:surprised

I had turned it on three times to check voicemails in a three week period. The rest of the time, I would use my Claro prepaid cell phone.

Oh well, AT&T can bill that back to where ever the calls originated from..........
 

Beads

Bronze
May 21, 2006
607
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Saying all that, A friend of mine who had her purse snatched by an armed guy on a moto two weeks ago was reunited with her phone on friday by the PN.

The saving grace for her was that it was a Blackberry that got snatched, and they have an individual PIN, similar to the IMEI, and was traced back when it was activated on the network.

She had to go face the guy with it at the PN to see if he was the thief, however he was the unsuspecting one who bought it for 11k pesos on emarket, less than 24 hrs after it was snatched.

Surely he should have been a little suspicious, meeting in Plaza Central (near all the booths that unlock the phones), and being given a motorola charger for it...

Don't get me wrong, it took the girl a lot of pushing to get it back, but given she works for Claro she knew it wasn't that difficult to do......

Unfortunately, IMEIs are too easy to wipe and change, even if they are blocked by the networks. Good to see they're actually doing something about it, even if it is like trying to empty the Caribbean Sea with a teaspoon.....


damn 11k RD for a stolen blackberry? I guess I see why they change the IMEI numbers.