Mobile Phone Reprogramming: Its Extent and Prevention

Reprogramming involves hacking the software of a mobile phone to change its identity. A handset's international mobile equipment identity number (equivalent to a car's vehicle identification number) is altered to enable illegal re-sale, thus facilitating theft and robbery of mobiles. The extent of the problem has not been adequately measured and so this study presents two approaches. The first was an on-street survey of owners that examined their mobile phones. The second was an examination of mobile phones in lost property offices. A conservative estimate is that 5% of the sample of mobiles were stolen or reprogrammed. Studies with larger representative samples are needed but, if representative, this suggests that millions of stolen/reprogrammed mobiles are in circulation in the UK. Possibilities for policing and prevention are discussed.