How IMEI Helps Track and Identify Lost Or Stolen iPhones

What is IMEI and why does it matter?   

Around 96% of Americans own some kind of cell phone. And, today, 81% of this group owns a smartphone, a significant increase from just 35% ownership in Pew Research Center’s first smartphone ownership survey in 2011. In fact, 45% or over 100 million of all smartphone users in the U.S. are iPhone users. In this article, we are going to explore how IMEI can protect iPhone and other smartphone users.

From a global perspective, there are 3.5 billion smartphone users in the world today, with almost every third person worldwide owning one.

Moreover, the 18-29 age group has 94% ownership of smartphones. As entrepreneur and writer Margaret Heffernan, said, “The cell phone has become the adult’s transitional object, replacing the toddler’s teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging.” Gen Zers, in fact, were mostly in kindergarten, when Apple launched the first iPhone.

The influence of the iPhone goes so deep with Gen Zers, that a study by Pew Research Center found  45% of teens today admit to using the Internet “almost constantly”, and about 9 in 10 teens use the internet on their phones multiple times a day. Apple reported that the average iPhone user unlocked their phone 80 times a day.

With this kind of constant and absorbed use of the smartphone, it is not surprising that mobile phone users fall prey to phone thieves. Mobile phone carriers are, thus, facing a global crime wave of stolen, fraudulently gotten, bought-but-not-activated, and activated-but-not-used, smartphones, which is costing them billions of dollars in revenue, every year.

According to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), an organization representing the interests of mobile network operators worldwide, over 4 million pre-paid devices worth over $900 million, are trafficked every year; the impact becomes more significant when post-paid devices are added. It is an issue not discussed often, but which affects carriers and subscribers alike. Verizon recently reported that this issue affects about 7,000 customers  every month.

Moreover, according to Quinn Shamblin, Boston University’s executive director of information security, cell phones are stolen more for their resale value, than for personal or financial information stored in them. CBS recently reported that in the black-market, iPhones fetch up to $200 a phone.  

Therefore, it is unfortunate that not every owner of an iPhone understands about the existence of the iPhoneIMEI or the International Mobile Equipment Identity of the iPhone, which is a unique 15-digit number assigned to every GSM phone, and can be viewed as the phone’s social security number or its fingerprint.

Every iPhone connected to a cellular network has a unique iPhoneIMEI number, which is separate from the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or the new generation SIM card, the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) number, linked to a removable card in the iPhone.

What this means is the iPhoneIMEI can be used to track or locate a specific device, whatever the card installed in it. For instance, even if a person’s iPhone is stolen and the SIM card is removed, the relevant mobile provider can still block access of the stolen phone to the network, using the iPhoneIMEI, which is designed to reveal to manufacturers or service providers, a wealth of information from a quick lookup.

The serial number which is located within the “About” data of a smartphone, helps the owner understand:

• where the phone was manufactured,
• whether it has warranty and,
• if handed over to a watch repairer, can verify that the same phone is returned after repair.

Like the serial number, the iPhoneIMEI too focuses on being able to identify a mobile device, but more than that, the IMEI offers a level of protection if the device is stolen or lost.

It is, in fact, similar to a VIN on a car, giving detailed information regarding the device and its history, but also, if it has been reported stolen and needs to be reported to the authorities.

With the iPhoneIMEI only identifying the device, and not the subscriber, subscriber identification happens through transmitting the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), which is stored on a SIM card, and can be transferred to any handset.

Among several ways that subscribers can check iPhone IMEI number, the easiest and fastest way is to dial *#06# on the iPhone, and the IMEI number will appear on the screen.

IMEI numbers are mostly so important because they help track down and secure lost or stolen phones, and with every connection the iPhone makes, the IMEI number is shared with the provider, which is critical for several reasons. First, it helps locate the phone and guide it to the local connections so the one can connect to a nearby tower, which, in turn, makes locating it easy.  Ultimately, a nationwide database allows providers to verify if an iPhone is blacklisted, which happens if it is flagged as lost or stolen.

Therefore, it is essential that iPhone users and providers have their specific IMEI numbers written down, for if subscribers lose their phones or are robbed, they can make sure a thief cannot make or receive calls, or connect online through a cellular network, with a fresh SIM card.  

About 90% of U.S. iPhone theft victims try to recover their lost phones. Younger victims often turn to technology, using apps to try locate their phone, lock the phone remotely, and wipe the data remotely. Just 10% of Americans chose not to do anything to recover their phone; 45% of them say they were unaware anything could be done, while 43% say they didn’t know what to do; 40% say they were unaware their device had an IMEI.

Conclusion

Nevertheless, many countries acknowledge that IMEI is helpful in reducing the effect of mobile phone thefts. And, as more subscribers understand how the IMEI can mitigate their iPhone theft, they can smile as they outsmart the thief. As William Shakespeare once said, “The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.”