# Why do people steal phones in this day and age?



## Deleted User (Jan 21, 2018)

About two months ago my friend was in China and her phone got stolen. The other week my friend's phone got stolen in Australia. One of my friends warned me to be careful with my phone in China or it might get stolen. I ignored this warning thinking that having a passcode on my phone makes it useless to a thief and the fact it can be tracked makes it worse than useless. I got lucky.

These days any phone worth having will use a passcode or fingerprint or facial recognition software to unlock the phone. All phones worth having can also be tracked by the user.

I've come up with two possible reasons why someone might steal a phone despite this.

-Throw away the phone and use the sim card to commit other crimes
-The user was recorded entering the passcode before the phone was stolen

Are these reasons above just bullshit I've made up or are they valid? Are there other reasons I haven't thought of?


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## ThoD (Jan 21, 2018)

leafeon34 said:


> About two months ago my friend was in China and her phone got stolen. The other week my friend's phone got stolen in Australia. One of my friends warned me to be careful with my phone in China or it might get stolen. I ignored this warning thinking that having a passcode on my phone makes it useless to a thief and the fact it can be tracked makes it worse than useless. I got lucky.
> 
> These days any phone worth having will use a passcode or fingerprint or facial recognition software to unlock the phone. All phones worth having can also be tracked by the user.
> 
> ...


Tracking can be disabled and if you have the tools, you can easily unlock any phone too, so with that in mind, they steal the phone, disable tracking or whatever (which btw only works if they leave it on) and break the lock (with special circuit boards that go as cheap as 2$), then they disable any locks completely and sell it.


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## Minox (Jan 21, 2018)

Used for replacement parts


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## ThoD (Jan 21, 2018)

Minox said:


> Used for replacement parts


That too, although phones nowadays are a pain to disassemble properly...


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## DinohScene (Jan 21, 2018)

Why do phones get stolen you ask?
Well, how do junkies get money to get dope?
They steal phones/items and or panhandle.

Also, phones get nicked, disassembled and sold as spare parts.


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## 330 (Jan 21, 2018)

Good luck getting the police to help you when your phone got stolen and you have the exact position of the thief.


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 21, 2018)

When phones are worth £1000+ of course they are going to be stolen, they are small and easy to pick up and conceal.


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## Jayro (Jan 21, 2018)

My quesion is, why do people leave their $800 phones laying around to be stolen? If my phone isn't charging by my bed, it's in my hand, or pocket. I don't set it down for anything. Nada. Why do people pretend to live in a world without desperate thieves?


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Jan 21, 2018)

Most thieves are just going to flip the stolen phone ASAP. They steal it and sell it as quickly as possible, they don't necessarily care if the tracking is enabled etc as they likely won't be the ones caught red handed with the stolen phone. Usually the poor sap that unknowingly buys a stolen phone will have it by then, meaning the thief got their money for drugs or whatever without any consequences that they have to deal with. This I believe is the most common occurrence...


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 21, 2018)

Jayro said:


> My quesion is, why do people leave their $800 phones laying around to be stolen? If my phone isn't charging by my bed, it's in my hand, or pocket. I don't set it down for anything. Nada. Why do people pretend to live in a world without desperate thieves?


Pickpockets are a thing. 


ThoD said:


> Tracking can be disabled and if you have the tools, you can easily unlock any phone too, so with that in mind, they steal the phone, disable tracking or whatever (which btw only works if they leave it on) and break the lock (with special circuit boards that go as cheap as 2$), then they disable any locks completely and sell it.


Not newer iPhones. If they're protected with an iCloud account it's completely impossible to unlock them without social engineering.


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## ThoD (Jan 21, 2018)

The Real Jdbye said:


> Pickpockets are a thing.
> 
> Not newer iPhones. If they're protected with an iCloud account it's completely impossible to unlock them without social engineering.


You do understand that all it takes is to open it up and replace a few CMDs, right? Sure, they can be hard to find depending on the model, but not impossible, especially if you got a whole racket going on...


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 21, 2018)

ThoD said:


> You do understand that all it takes is to open it up and replace a few CMDs, right? Sure, they can be hard to find depending on the model, but not impossible, especially if you got a whole racket going on...


I looked into this before in an attempt to help someone, it's not possible to unlock iCloud without the password or recovery info.
What do you mean "replace some CMDs", I'm pretty sure that's not how electronics work.


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## DinohScene (Jan 21, 2018)

The Real Jdbye said:


> I looked into this before in an attempt to help someone, it's not possible to unlock iCloud without the password or recovery info.
> What do you mean "replace some CMDs", I'm pretty sure that's not how electronics work.



Replace the flash chips n what not.
The mainboard likely gets send to China where they desolder the info bearing chips and solder in new ones.
Reprogram it and it gets thrown back into sales.


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## ThoD (Jan 21, 2018)

DinohScene said:


> Replace the flash chips n what not.
> The mainboard likely gets send to China where they desolder the info bearing chips and solder in new ones.
> Reprogram it and it gets thrown back into sales.


This. The latest iPhone security chips are tiny, but with a precision soldering equipment, it's a joke to do.


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 21, 2018)

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/man-arrested-after-53-mobile-11550879

lol read that shit.


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## leon315 (Jan 21, 2018)

Tc, I was in China so many times and my wallet and phones are always with me, I think that's all your fault by not paying full attention to it


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 21, 2018)

ThoD said:


> This. The latest iPhone security chips are tiny, but with a precision soldering equipment, it's a joke to do.




i know someone who can perform tiny soldering.


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 21, 2018)

DinohScene said:


> Replace the flash chips n what not.
> The mainboard likely gets send to China where they desolder the info bearing chips and solder in new ones.
> Reprogram it and it gets thrown back into sales.


Oh, that would obviously work. Not something most thieves are going to bother with though I think.


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## ThoD (Jan 21, 2018)

mech said:


> i know someone who can perform tiny soldering.


If you can solder without mistakes, all you need to do is use a needle tip soldering iron and you are good to go, just careful not to overheat the parts next to the ones you are modifying. 340C heat should be just about right.


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## 330 (Jan 21, 2018)

Jayro said:


> My quesion is, why do people leave their $800 phones laying around to be stolen? If my phone isn't charging by my bed, it's in my hand, or pocket. I don't set it down for anything. Nada. Why do people pretend to live in a world without desperate thieves?


I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.

So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?


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## smile72 (Jan 21, 2018)

Very easy answer: People are ASSHOLES! 
Edit: This is my scientific explanation as I have had a phone stolen before when I lived in America...although it was a worthless piece of garbage. My answer still stands.


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 21, 2018)

330 said:


> I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.
> 
> So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?




Welcome to the real world my friend, it wont ever change. Dont want your stuff stolen? Dont flaunt it in public.


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## 330 (Jan 21, 2018)

mech said:


> Welcome to the real world my friend, it wont ever change. Dont want your stuff stolen? Dont flaunt it in public.


It's thanks to people like you with this shitty way of thinking that we will never get rid of petty thieves.


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## ThoD (Jan 21, 2018)

330 said:


> I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.
> 
> So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?


If you leave your expensive devices lying around and they get stolen, it's ENTIRELY your fault for not taking proper care of them. What you are saying is basically that everyone should be good and law abiding, despite that going completely against human nature.


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## spotanjo3 (Jan 21, 2018)

leafeon34 said:


> About two months ago my friend was in China and her phone got stolen. The other week my friend's phone got stolen in Australia. One of my friends warned me to be careful with my phone in China or it might get stolen. I ignored this warning thinking that having a passcode on my phone makes it useless to a thief and the fact it can be tracked makes it worse than useless. I got lucky.
> 
> These days any phone worth having will use a passcode or fingerprint or facial recognition software to unlock the phone. All phones worth having can also be tracked by the user.
> 
> ...



You are asking why ?! Huh ? What do you think ?


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## Axido (Jan 21, 2018)

ThoD said:


> This. The latest iPhone security chips are tiny, but with a precision soldering equipment, it's a joke to do.



But you'd need someone who can do tiny soldering. Those guys ain't cheap.


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 21, 2018)

330 said:


> It's thanks to people like you with this shitty way of thinking that we will never get rid of petty thieves.



My shitty way of thinking? I'm to blame? what are you even talking about?


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## Clydefrosch (Jan 21, 2018)

You sure they didn't just leave their phone somewhere and someone took it?
Like, whenever I see a phone sitting on a chair in a train, if I'm honest, I'm tempted to take it with me and keep it, instead of bringing it to the info stand on my station.

Why do people steal or take phones?
Mainly for money. Most phones can be reset by professionals I'd guess.
And some random student could be duped into buying it just like that and end up with a stolen phone and -200 bucks.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



TeamScriptKiddies said:


> Most thieves are just going to flip the stolen phone ASAP. They steal it and sell it as quickly as possible, they don't necessarily care if the tracking is enabled etc as they likely won't be the ones caught red handed with the stolen phone. Usually the poor sap that unknowingly buys a stolen phone will have it by then, meaning the thief got their money for drugs or whatever without any consequences that they have to deal with. This I believe is the most common occurrence...


Mostly right, but why do you think thiefs steal for drugs?
Most crime still happens to finance basic needs like food and shelter


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## Byokugen (Jan 21, 2018)

Or to sell the phone


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## 2Hack (Jan 21, 2018)

330 said:


> It's thanks to people like you with this shitty way of thinking that we will never get rid of petty thieves.


looooooooooool did you ever think it was possible to remove thieves from society? also this isn't victim blaming. It's like, getting pissed when someone steals your car but you left the windows rolled down and doors unlocked. 

I don't believe carrying it around with you all the time will solve the epidemic but it is the main preventative measure. That goes for anything of value in your life; take care of it.


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 21, 2018)

2Hack said:


> looooooooooool did you ever think it was possible to remove thieves from society? also this isn't victim blaming. It's like, getting pissed when someone steals your car but you left the windows rolled down and doors unlocked.
> 
> I don't believe carrying it around with you all the time will solve the epidemic but it is the main preventative measure. That goes for anything of value in your life; take care of it.




I know right! Did you know that back in the Victorian times if you left your front door unlocked and you got robbed the home owner who had the responsibility to lock up was punished? Bring that back i say lol.


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## 330 (Jan 21, 2018)

So much salt generated by your replies. They who defend the thief are one themselves


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## Jayro (Jan 21, 2018)

330 said:


> I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.
> 
> So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?


Not at all, but if you don't take the proper steps to make sure it's secured, then that's on you if it does get stolen. When I was younger, I left stuff laying around and 100% of the time it was stolen and gone for good. It was a hard lesson learned. Hell, just last year I left my New 3DS XL on a table in the break room of my work for 20 minutes before I realize I hadn't put it in my locker. I went back to the break room, and it was gone. Normally people don't steal from each other at my work, were all like family there, but at that particular time we had a bunch of new people, so it was probably one of them. But I never saw it again, and it was _MY FAULT_ for leaving it out to be taken. A little accountability goes a long way.


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## Quantumcat (Jan 21, 2018)

As was drilled into me when I was learning to ride my motorcycle, "doesn't matter who is right or wrong, you're the one who ends up dead" (i.e. you shouldn't assume drivers are going to follow the road rules, so be alert and take preventative measures to make sure you don't suffer when they do something stupid).

Regardless of whether it would be better if there were no thieves, in the real world there are and if you don't want your stuff stolen you have to take preventative measures. It's called having an inner locus of control (which applies to the rest of life, too) and people are generally happier when they have this mindset: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400410701842029?journalCode=hcrj20

You can only control what you do, not what other people do.


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## gamesquest1 (Jan 21, 2018)

yeah I know a few people who know people and they are were targeting Samsung phones primarily because they are worth more in parts, this is kinda why its so hard to compete repairing phones when the little back ally shops are buying stolen galaxy S8's for £80 so they get the replacement screens much cheaper than legit repair shops (a replacement galaxy s8 lcd is about £170 normally and even then its usually a refurbished screen with sub standard glass), I heard these shops have now started putting out requests with the dodgy shady types who go targeting people for the iPhone X handsets because the screens are very expensive for replacements

honestly apple sticking to LCD over oled up until the iphone x made stealing iPhones unattractive as cheap replacements were always easy to get, I do feel manufacturers need to try make replacements available for cheaper to disincentive thefts....although I guess its not really in their interests, but yeah icloud/google activation was a really important step which did
disincentivize most uninformed thieves


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## wormdood (Jan 21, 2018)

330 said:


> So much salt generated by your replies. They who defend the thief are one themselves


its not salt its common sense if you leave your phone unattended in a public place someone will take it.  you are quick to brand the one who took it as a thief but if the thief left it there (wherever he found it) then the next guy who comes along would take it . . . and instead of being "the thief" the thief would then be the fool who in a sense gave away the winning ticket in a lottery in exchange for what . . . ? . . . karma . . . ?

its life you loose things you find things . . .


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## 2Hack (Jan 21, 2018)

gamesquest1 said:


> yeah I know a few people who know people and they are were targeting Samsung phones primarily because they are worth more in parts, this is kinda why its so hard to compete repairing phones when the little back ally shops are buying stolen galaxy S8's for £80 so they get the replacement screens much cheaper than legit repair shops (a replacement galaxy s8 lcd is about £170 normally and even then its usually a refurbished screen with sub standard glass), I heard these shops have now started putting out requests with the dodgy shady types who go targeting people for the iPhone X handsets because the screens are very expensive for replacements
> 
> honestly apple sticking to LCD over oled up until the iphone x made stealing iPhones unattractive as cheap replacements were always easy to get, I do feel manufacturers need to try make replacements available for cheaper to disincentive thefts....although I guess its not really in their interests, but yeah icloud/google activation was a really important step which did
> disincentivize most uninformed thieves


back ally repair shops and legit repair shops do not even compete with each other. The market for each is completely different. Back ally shops tend to have the customers that are too cheap to pay for the legit repair either way. legit ones are more for those who want a good repair that wont void warranty or ruin their phone, esp avoiding compromised quality in cheap/used parts. Of course you'll get a few frugal customers caught in the crossfire, but not enough to justify cutting profits to catch those customers.


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## gamesquest1 (Jan 22, 2018)

2Hack said:


> back ally repair shops and legit repair shops do not even compete with each other. The market for each is completely different. Back ally shops tend to have the customers that are too cheap to pay for the legit repair either way. legit ones are more for those who want a good repair that wont void warranty or ruin their phone, esp avoiding compromised quality in cheap/used parts. Of course you'll get a few frugal customers caught in the crossfire, but not enough to justify cutting profits to catch those customers.


ok my point is that if replacement parts aren't worth hundreds of pounds it will be less likely for the professional thieves to go targeting people, I guess at the least if manufacturers want to try prevent the issue maybe marry stock screens to the handset so the majority of screens worth huge sums are suddenly useless to back alley repair shops, sure its something manufacturers would have to look into but after hearing someone saying how shops put bounties on specific phones and gangs go out spotting people to grab them doing nothing is putting their customers at risk

there has been a rise of moped gangs in the uk stealing phones from people, this often involves people mounting the pavement on a moped putting pedestrians at risk because they know these phones are now worth a substantial value even when scrapped as parts

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-choice-scooters-acid-attacks-phone-robberies


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## ThoD (Jan 22, 2018)

gamesquest1 said:


> yeah I know a few people who know people and they are were targeting Samsung phones primarily because they are worth more in parts, this is kinda why its so hard to compete repairing phones when the little back ally shops are buying stolen galaxy S8's for £80 so they get the replacement screens much cheaper than legit repair shops (a replacement galaxy s8 lcd is about £170 normally and even then its usually a refurbished screen with sub standard glass), I heard these shops have now started putting out requests with the dodgy shady types who go targeting people for the iPhone X handsets because the screens are very expensive for replacements
> 
> honestly apple sticking to LCD over oled up until the iphone x made stealing iPhones unattractive as cheap replacements were always easy to get, I do feel manufacturers need to try make replacements available for cheaper to disincentive thefts....although I guess its not really in their interests, but yeah icloud/google activation was a really important step which did
> disincentivize most uninformed thieves


Do you understand how bulk purchases directly from manufacturers work? Just because having a screen replaced costs like 200$, doesn't mean they buy the screen that high. With direct bulk supply repair shops, especially bigger ones with a whole chain, get them very cheap. It's similar to how computer parts are supplied by the manufacturer, with those costing around 200$ to buy retail, only costing about 40$ or so. Back alley shops though aren't reliable companies, so they can't deal with the manufacturer legally, reason they resort to stolen things for repairs or sales.


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## Kioku_Dreams (Jan 22, 2018)

ThoD said:


> Do you understand how bulk purchases directly from manufacturers work? Just because having a screen replaced costs like 200$, doesn't mean they buy the screen that high. With direct bulk supply repair shops, especially bigger ones with a whole chain, get them very cheap. It's similar to how computer parts are supplied by the manufacturer, with those costing around 200$ to buy retail, only costing about 40$ or so. Back alley shops though aren't reliable companies, so they can't deal with the manufacturer legally, reason they resort to stolen things for repairs or sales.


It's hilarious how much overhead these repair shops have for things like screen repair.


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## _Chaz_ (Jan 22, 2018)

Same reasons anything gets stolen:
Either they want it, or can sell it to someone who does.

Simple.


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## ThoD (Jan 22, 2018)

Memoir said:


> It's hilarious how much overhead these repair shops have for things like screen repair.


I know As someone who works in a similar field I know from experience that if you play your hands right and make people believe it actually costs that much, you will make a fortune of those suckers!


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## iMythD (Jan 23, 2018)

Crimes goes down with intelligence and knowledge. Mostly.
People who are stealing these phones have no idea about activations locks etc. They see something shiny, and think they can make money from it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Jayro said:


> My quesion is, why do people leave their $800 phones laying around to be stolen? If my phone isn't charging by my bed, it's in my hand, or pocket. I don't set it down for anything. Nada. Why do people pretend to live in a world without desperate thieves?


You musn't have ever been to Japan. People leave their belongings on tables to reserve spots, crime is next to non existant and your more than likely to get any misplaced belongings back.


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## Deleted-355425 (Jan 23, 2018)

iMythD said:


> Crimes goes down with intelligence and knowledge. Mostly.
> People who are stealing these phones have no idea about activations locks etc. They see something shiny, and think they can make money from it.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> ...



Don’t they like hang you if you break the law over there though? Lol.


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## iMythD (Jan 23, 2018)

mech said:


> Don’t they like hang you if you break the law over there though? Lol.


Mmm.. not quite, no. Their prison system is horrendous, you basically aren't a person while you're inside. Beatings, and dehumanization. No one want's that for a quick buck.


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## ThoD (Jan 23, 2018)

iMythD said:


> Crimes goes down with intelligence and knowledge. Mostly.
> People who are stealing these phones have no idea about activations locks etc. They see something shiny, and think they can make money from it.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> ...


Crime actually goes UP the more intelligent and knowledgeable people are! Smarter people will still commit crimes all the time, but in a well orchestrated way that lets them avoid all repercussions. The smarter people are, the more complicated crimes become and the harder it becomes to prevent it.

You clearly haven't been to Japan either. Sure, it's very unlikely that your belongings will get stolen, but not impossible. Even here people reserve spots by leaving their belongings, but that only happens in public areas where it would be obvious if someone tried to steal something. Go somewhere where not that many people are present and everyone keeps on to their stuff all the time.



mech said:


> Don’t they like hang you if you break the law over there though? Lol.


Japan uses the death penalty ONLY for cases of murder, so stealing and all other stuff simply get you fines or jailtime.



iMythD said:


> Mmm.. not quite, no. Their prison system is horrendous, you basically aren't a person while you're inside. Beatings, and dehumanization. No one want's that for a quick buck.


You are confusing Japan with Korea/China. Japan's prison system is actually pretty civil, although, by law, prisoners get stripped of almost all their human rights while in jail, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily mistreated. There are many bad cases, but overall it's just like in most countries and at least they don't have to fear when picking up the soap in the shower, unlike a certain other country...


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## iMythD (Jan 23, 2018)

ThoD said:


> You clearly haven't been to Japan either. Sure, it's very unlikely that your belongings will get stolen, but not impossible. Even here people reserve spots by leaving their belongings, but that only happens in public areas where it would be obvious if someone tried to steal something. Go somewhere where not that many people are present and everyone keeps on to their stuff all the time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I have been to Japan for a Month total, multiple trips and I have seen firsthand how trusting and safe this country is. I have seen a lady get off a train and leave something behind and multiple people quickly jumped into action to make sure it got back to her. I wouldn't ever be afraid of my phone being stolen in Japan. 
Also, going to prison would be an unimaginable social stigma for most people.


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## ThoD (Jan 23, 2018)

iMythD said:


> I have been to Japan for a Month total, multiple trips and I have seen firsthand how trusting and safe this country is. I have seen a lady get off a train and leave something behind and multiple people quickly jumped into action to make sure it got back to her. I wouldn't ever be afraid of my phone being stolen in Japan.
> Also, going to prison would be an unimaginable social stigma for most people.


I have been to Japan for about half a year total, 3 trips, and I can tell you that such things happen most of the time, but it doesn't mean that there aren't pickpockets or things like that. The example you gave happens here all the time too. If there are people around that aren't shady, then it's probably safe, but if it's in a place where there are only a few people and there's a shady/questionable person in there too, it's risky. As for the prison thing, it's not a stigma for most people, it's a stigma for ALL people and not even just social, as going to jail makes you much less likely to find a decent job, to get permissions from governments (eg: to go abroad even if for a visit), etc..


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## MaverickWellington (Jan 24, 2018)

leafeon34 said:


> About two months ago my friend was in China and her phone got stolen. The other week my friend's phone got stolen in Australia. One of my friends warned me to be careful with my phone in China or it might get stolen. I ignored this warning thinking that having a passcode on my phone makes it useless to a thief and the fact it can be tracked makes it worse than useless. I got lucky.
> 
> These days any phone worth having will use a passcode or fingerprint or facial recognition software to unlock the phone. All phones worth having can also be tracked by the user.
> 
> ...


Some people are stupid, desperate, kleptomaniacs, or a combination of the three.


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Jan 24, 2018)

Clydefrosch said:


> You sure they didn't just leave their phone somewhere and someone took it?
> Like, whenever I see a phone sitting on a chair in a train, if I'm honest, I'm tempted to take it with me and keep it, instead of bringing it to the info stand on my station.
> 
> Why do people steal or take phones?
> ...



That's often how it starts, however it can quickly escalate to much darker things. Good people get hooked on drugs too (believe me I lost a friend/coworker to an overdose), certain drugs you try once and you're hooked. Not to mention, lets say you're just smoking pot occasionally (no big deal, honestly in moderation, its harmless), however if you're buying it off the street, because you live in a place where its illegal, it could easily be laced with a much harder drug such as coke, opiates or god knows what else. You smoke laced pot and now you're hooked on something far worse, it can become a slippery slope from there if the individual doesn't seek help right away and try to nip it in the bud. Addiction is a progressive disease if it isn't dealt with early on, its gets worse and worse as time goes on. Before you know it, good people start stealing to fund their habits, even from their own friends and family....


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## Anunnymous (Jan 24, 2018)

I think everyone missed the most obvious.  Anyone who steals something, is already dishonest. They don't care if they sell a locked or broken phone to someone. They make the price appealing so the transaction goes quickly and smooth. Thief is gone before the victim has any idea. Happens all the time. 

Your common thief isn't taking the phone apart to sell for parts. Your common thief isn't swapping chips to bypass locks. You guys give the common thief too much credit. It's not some kind of underground cell phone theft ring.


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## sarkwalvein (Jan 24, 2018)

ThoD said:


> You are confusing Japan with Korea/China. Japan's prison system is actually pretty civil, although, by law, prisoners get stripped of almost all their human rights while in jail, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily mistreated. There are many bad cases, but overall it's just like in most countries and _*at least they don't have to fear when picking up the soap in the shower*_, unlike a certain other country...


True, due to the stupendous health system it would be very rare for them to get an STD in such a case....... /s?


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## FAST6191 (Jan 24, 2018)

Anunnymous said:


> I think everyone missed the most obvious.  Anyone who steals something, is already dishonest. They don't care if they sell a locked or broken phone to someone. They make the price appealing so the transaction goes quickly and smooth. Thief is gone before the victim has any idea. Happens all the time.
> 
> Your common thief isn't taking the phone apart to sell for parts. Your common thief isn't swapping chips to bypass locks. You guys give the common thief too much credit. It's not some kind of underground cell phone theft ring.


I don't know if I can get there. A lot of security is about "keeping honest people honest".

I agree your common thief is likely not a technical wizard*, however the guy running the dodgy phone repair shop might be able to do more.
Light fingered person flogs it to them for a pittance (or indeed it + 5 others for a fairly decent return on 5 hours work), they use their skills to parts harvest or restore to working order, or indeed possibly shelve for later exploits. Proper rings are not what they used to be.

In a particularly amusing case the thief of someone I know's phone contacted them (after the one that lost it sent a message to the thing asking for it to be returned) and asked for the unlock code "to verify it was them".

*choice video for those which never saw it


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## AmandaRose (Jan 24, 2018)

Memoir said:


> It's hilarious how much overhead these repair shops have for things like screen repair.


Yep i droped my Huawei P9 and broke the glass cover that is on the back where the camera is. All my local repair shops quoted me round about 45 to 50 pounds to fix it. Instead i bought the official replacement part for 1.50 pounds and fitted it in under 2 minutes. Phone repair shops prices are beyond a joke.


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## sarkwalvein (Jan 24, 2018)

Marko76 said:


> Yep i droped my Huawei P9 and broke the glass cover that is on the back where the camera is. All my local repair shops quoted me round about 45 to 50 pounds to fix it. Instead i bought the official replacement part for 1.50 pounds and fitted it in under 2 minutes. Phone repair shops prices are beyond a joke.


I agree.

Yet I think it's a hassle that you have to get the tools to disassemble it, learn how to change the part and do it yourself, all ends up being quite simple yet a waste of time in general when you are doing it only once.

It is like you would have to install an oven, knead your bread dough and bake it because the bakeries want to sell a piece of bread for $100. Well, a piece of bread is perhaps less than $1 and it is way harder to produce than a phone part is to replace.

Phone repair shops could stop being so fucking greedy and ask for a reasonable price, not 100 times what it would cost to do it yourself, specially when it is so easy to do. IMHO.


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## TotalInsanity4 (Jan 24, 2018)

ThoD said:


> I know As someone who works in a similar field I know from experience that if you play your hands right and make people believe it actually costs that much, you will make a fortune of those suckers!


American healthcare in a nutshell


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## FAST6191 (Jan 24, 2018)

Marko76 said:


> Yep i droped my Huawei P9 and broke the glass cover that is on the back where the camera is. All my local repair shops quoted me round about 45 to 50 pounds to fix it. Instead i bought the official replacement part for 1.50 pounds and fitted it in under 2 minutes. Phone repair shops prices are beyond a joke.



I don't know how many of them would have known offhand what it entailed and might have just had a basic price, or the price similar to what someone's insurance excess would have cost, to do it.

I have never really dealt with such people (don't own a phone/tablet and anybody which breaks theirs usually taps me to fix it) but seeing where they operate, how they operate (try spilling some of their "secrets" online some time), and the sorts of things they stock I don't doubt many are fly by night types, your experiences there might not have been the strongest example of that though.
...
I am sort of reminded of old TV repair shops in some cases (some have a genuine love of electronics, many more are people which learned a fairly basic skill and are wringing it for all it is worth). Might have to look into that. Will also look forward to phones being acceptable quality at disposable prices again, indeed with the cheapness of some tablets we might almost be there already.


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## Deleted User (Aug 22, 2018)

DinohScene said:


> Replace the flash chips n what not.
> The mainboard likely gets send to China where they desolder the info bearing chips and solder in new ones.
> Reprogram it and it gets thrown back into sales.


What exactly are these info bearing chips? Is it a chip containing the phone's IMEI number?


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## ThoD (Aug 22, 2018)

leafeon34 said:


> What exactly are these info bearing chips? Is it a chip containing the phone's IMEI number?


If you are familiar with the 3DS scene, it's very much like what the NAND is. It's not an actual NAND, rather a chip containing thousands of logic gates and it keeps anything related to OS, hardware drivers, etc.. If it's encrypted, even hardmodding won't help you, so they just replace the chip entirely, reprogram it and resell the device, much simpler, mass produced chips and semi/fully-automated process so they are making quite a lot.

However, most important to ask here is, what's with the sudden half-necro? I had even forgotten this thread existed


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## Deleted User (Aug 22, 2018)

ThoD said:


> However, most important to ask here is, what's with the sudden half-necro? I had even forgotten this thread existed


A question that came to my mind shortly after learning about IMEI numbers.


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## matias3ds (Aug 22, 2018)

Here they stole your phones and exchange it fro drugs the people that has low incomes ,, is sad you never feel secure .


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## GrimyHR (Oct 14, 2018)

if you want your phone stolen, come to dublin


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## dAVID_ (Oct 14, 2018)

They mainly do it to sell them at stores, or dismantle them and sell the parts.


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