Thefts of mobile phones go up
Nov 19, 2003
Less than a decade since they were introduced in the country, mobile phone handsets remain the most stolen single item in Uganda today
By John Kamya
Less than a decade since they were introduced in the country, mobile phone handsets remain the most stolen single item in Uganda today.
While addressing journalists last week, the regional CID Officer in charge of Kampala extra, Moses Sakira expressed concern over the increasing cases of mobile phone thefts and warned the public to put extra care on the safety of their phones.
Between September 1 and November 15, 2003 for example, 574 cases of mobile phone theft were reported to Central Police Station alone, at an average of 53 cases per week. An almost similar number of cases get reported to other stations around Kampala, and in the countryside.
According to Sakira, most stolen phones are being sold in Kampala, both to individuals and to dealers. There are just too many fake dealers in town specialised in used handsets that provide a ready market for those who steal them. Such dealers have no licence from any authority.
What is more worrying is the law rate of recovery of the stolen sets. “Our recovery rate stands at 30%. Even these are recovered after a very long time. After theft, thieves first keep the phones for a long time before re-introducing them to the market. This hinders our efforts for quick recovery,†said Sakira.
Police recovery efforts are further hampered by the fact that most people do not keep details of their handsets. It is advisable that on top of the telephone line number you have, you keep the receipt on which you purchased the line and the phone, the SIM pack and the box of the phone.
However, the most important thing to keep is the serial number of your handset, also known as the IMEI number. This number can be found on the purchase receipts or on a sticker at the inside back of your handset after removing the battery.
However, in case you cannot find it in any of those places, you can retrieve it from your phone and view it on the screen by pressing the following buttons: ‘star’, ‘harsh’, ‘06’ and ‘harsh’ (*#06#).
A 15 digits serial number will display itself. It is this number that confirms true ownership of the phone. It is also the number that the service provider blocks to incapacitate the handset in case it is stolen. You are therefore advised to note it down and keep it safely.
“However, we have discovered that there are some unscrupulous computer technicians who have got the software to change the serial number of handsetsâ€, said Sakira. This enables the thugs to sell the stolen phones because now the serial number will be different.
Changing the serial number also enables the handset to be used again even when the service provider had blocked it. “We are warning all people who are engaging in this unscrupulous act to stop forthwith before we pounce on themâ€, he warned.
Less than a decade since they were introduced in the country, mobile phone handsets remain the most stolen single item in Uganda today.
While addressing journalists last week, the regional CID Officer in charge of Kampala extra, Moses Sakira expressed concern over the increasing cases of mobile phone thefts and warned the public to put extra care on the safety of their phones.
Between September 1 and November 15, 2003 for example, 574 cases of mobile phone theft were reported to Central Police Station alone, at an average of 53 cases per week. An almost similar number of cases get reported to other stations around Kampala, and in the countryside.
According to Sakira, most stolen phones are being sold in Kampala, both to individuals and to dealers. There are just too many fake dealers in town specialised in used handsets that provide a ready market for those who steal them. Such dealers have no licence from any authority.
What is more worrying is the law rate of recovery of the stolen sets. “Our recovery rate stands at 30%. Even these are recovered after a very long time. After theft, thieves first keep the phones for a long time before re-introducing them to the market. This hinders our efforts for quick recovery,†said Sakira.
Police recovery efforts are further hampered by the fact that most people do not keep details of their handsets. It is advisable that on top of the telephone line number you have, you keep the receipt on which you purchased the line and the phone, the SIM pack and the box of the phone.
However, the most important thing to keep is the serial number of your handset, also known as the IMEI number. This number can be found on the purchase receipts or on a sticker at the inside back of your handset after removing the battery.
However, in case you cannot find it in any of those places, you can retrieve it from your phone and view it on the screen by pressing the following buttons: ‘star’, ‘harsh’, ‘06’ and ‘harsh’ (*#06#).
A 15 digits serial number will display itself. It is this number that confirms true ownership of the phone. It is also the number that the service provider blocks to incapacitate the handset in case it is stolen. You are therefore advised to note it down and keep it safely.
“However, we have discovered that there are some unscrupulous computer technicians who have got the software to change the serial number of handsetsâ€, said Sakira. This enables the thugs to sell the stolen phones because now the serial number will be different.
Changing the serial number also enables the handset to be used again even when the service provider had blocked it. “We are warning all people who are engaging in this unscrupulous act to stop forthwith before we pounce on themâ€, he warned.