From next Friday 26 September, all mobile operators will be required to permanently block smartphones which have been declared stolen, as long as the owner has declared to company the device's unique IMEI number.
The measure was imposed by the National Telecommunications and Post Commission in order to prevent thefts and sell them on the black market.
In practice, however, the IMEI number can be changed illegally (instructions can be found easily on the Internet), so the device can be re-operated.
For this reason, the apactivation with base IMEI was deemed ineffective in the US.
From 2015, a different practice will be applied in the USA, as the mobile phones of most major manufacturers (Apple, Google, HTC, Huawei, Motorola, Microsoft/Nokia και Samsung) θα προσφέρουν ειδική λειτουργία αχρήστευσης των κλεμμένων συσκευών.
The process in Greece
A prerequisite for putting a cellphone into the blacklist is to notify the device's IMEI code of the subscriber to its provider. The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code contains information about the manufacturer and model of the device.
Since the mobile is blacklisted with the prohibited IMEI numbers, its use is theoretically impossible even with the use of a SIM card by another mobile operator
Each subscriber can find the IMEI code:
- In the package of the device
- Pressing * # 06 # on the device
- With the specific application of the device
In order to block the device, subscribers must initially declare the theft to the police and then send a written request to the provider to turn off the device, attaching the proof of the theft statement.
Any company that disables the stolen devices of its subscribers at the same time assumes responsibility for informing other mobile phone companies, which have to disable stolen devices on their own networks.
Note that the deactivation request is declined if the requested IMEI code is invalid in accordance with the relevant international specifications or has not been assigned by the manufacturer to the device to uniquely identify it.
