# A visit from the police..



## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

What a pleasant day it is for me today..besides being stressed out to the max from school, I got a visit from the police who wants to take my phone away. A few weeks ago I bought a phone off of Craigslist and it turns out the guy sold me a stolen phone. Ironic thing is that I did a bunch of research on things to check before buying a used phone and it all passed the test. Apparently the IMEI code on the phone means nothing according the police. There's no way to check and see if the phone is stolen with any code printed on the phone (though the policeman did say there will be a law set out soon for that).

The only history I had with contacting the seller was via text and I deleted everything on my old phone so that was gone. I had to call Rogers who refused to give me my text message history (said it was policy) until I told him what happened and that it was for the police. He said the police usually have their own way of getting numbers but he'll make an exception. So luckily I got the number and now it's up to the police to hunt this guy down and hopefully I can get my $180 back.

I found out this guy just posted a new ad for another phone, most likely stolen too. So on my hunt for another phone, I'll make sure to verify it with the police first to see if it's stolen or not. This is the guy who sold me my Galaxy S2: FS: IPHONE 4S 16GB

Just wanted to let others out there be aware of this. Verify with the police first.

Now..who wants to sell me a Galaxy S2 LTE? 

Update: The police just told me they found the guy and will try to get my money back tomorrow.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

yuck, that sucks! What a pain. Sorry to hear about your predicament.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

The old stage good luck saying "Break a leg" comes to mind


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

That sucks but atleast they found the guy and may get your cash back, it's a shame you can't trust anyone anymore. Good luck with a new phone.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm glad that the police got the guy.

A warning about phones getting stolen: A couple of weeks ago my sister had her iPhone sitting on the table at a pub in Burnaby. Some guy grabbed her iPhone and ran out the front door of the pub. It happened so fast that her & her friends couldn't catch the guy. I bet that her phone probably wound up being for sale on Craigslist.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

I am glad that they got the guy, and hopefully u will get your money back. I read it on news online about iphones been stolen a lot right now


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

How did they know you have bought a stolen phone?


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

They can track from satellite . Anyone who thinks they can keep switching phones to not get caught doing illegal business...think again. They are high tech and can get transmissions straight to the person whether numbers are changed or phones etc. 
hope you get your money back.


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

My wife's friend had her iPhone stollen but thanks to the "track my iPhone" app I got it back for her the next day


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

The phone was stolen from a girl's gym locker at Gladstone Secondary. I met up with the guy at Nanaimo station which coincidentally is where the school is. I'm guessing the girl had her phone reported stolen and they tracked the IMEI number to me when I inserted my sim card which activated the phone. The police showed up at my house but I wasn't home so they called my phone and met up with me to talk.



Fish rookie said:


> How did they know you have bought a stolen phone?


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Could it be the phone in the ad I posted above? I got this phone just 2 weeks ago and he has already stolen another phone and posted another ad yesterday. Seems like a weekly job for this guy..

If your sister reports the phone, she can have it blacklisted and hopefully the thief will be caught like in my case.



Pamela said:


> I'm glad that the police got the guy.
> 
> A warning about phones getting stolen: A couple of weeks ago my sister had her iPhone sitting on the table at a pub in Burnaby. Some guy grabbed her iPhone and ran out the front door of the pub. It happened so fast that her & her friends couldn't catch the guy. I bet that her phone probably wound up being for sale on Craigslist.


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks. This is a kid too in highschool, how sad.



Vancitycam said:


> That sucks but atleast they found the guy and may get your cash back, it's a shame you can't trust anyone anymore. Good luck with a new phone.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Nicole said:


> Thanks. This is a kid too in highschool, how sad.


He must b from that high school, he checks who has that type of phone and then steals it; real sad


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

I have been told that if you call the phone company in which the phone is locked to they can tell you if the phone has been reported stolen or not by giving them the serial # on the phone. I buy all my phones from the phone company because you never know what you are getting off a classified site. Hope you get your money back. Hard lesson to learn for sure. Great they got the guy hope they can charge with something the courts will sentence him for.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

*Lol!!!*

Ya right! he will probably get a slap on the wrist and be sent on his way to do it again. Our justice system just sucks, the police do their job catching these low life forms and the courts are so backed up that these idiots usually get off far too easy. It a no win situation unless there is some major changes in this country.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

The Guy said:


> Ya right! he will probably get a slap on the wrist and be sent on his way to do it again. Our justice system just sucks, the police do their job catching these low life forms and the courts are so backed up that these idiots usually get off far too easy. It a no win situation unless there is some major changes in this country.


I think the same


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

The Guy said:


> Ya right! he will probably get a slap on the wrist and be sent on his way to do it again. Our justice system just sucks, the police do their job catching these low life forms and the courts are so backed up that these idiots usually get off far too easy. It a no win situation unless there is some major changes in this country.


Definitely, especially since he's a minor. People my age can get away with anything without proper punishment.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

We once caught a young offender who tried to break into my friend's car and the officer told us we were better off taking out back and teaching him a lesson rather than call the police since the courts wouldn't do anything about him. He was right. 3 of us wasted a day to go to court, he plead guilty & I bumped into him at the local library less than 2 weeks later. He probably got off with a warning, if that.

Glad they caught your thief. I've bought 2 new phones off CL & been lucky both times.

Anthony


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Only time justice gets served is if you take them out back, or the police dog gets them.

Last time I noticed someone in a neighbours yard I called the cops, dog tracked him down and took him down. He had like 4 or 5 charges against him including vandalism for breaking peoples fences while running. Officer told me likely he'd be back out on the street in the morning and would get a slap on the wrist as the two houses he was seen in the yards he didn't actually break into, was only casing them out when he was spotted so everything was a minor charge.


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## Straghtguy (Nov 10, 2012)

Wow, what a pain. Good luck in your search for a new phone!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

What about tablets? If they are stolen can it be traced the same way?
For iphone off cl, what is the best way to check then?


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

The phone carriers used to be able to blacklist ESN's (electronic serial numbers) which are unique to every phone in the world. The phone, locked or unlocked, is effectively dead once it tries to get on to a network. They have chosen not to do this anymore in the past few years. Probably due to lack of cooperation between carriers, especially now that there are so many carriers. Used to be just Cantel (rogers) and Telus. Back then, there were no stolen phones for sale.


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

ESN still exists but for the states such as Verizon. Basically if the owner has some trouble with the company like not paying the bills, the company will deactivate the phone. The IMEI code we have here just tells you the model of the phone and specs, but nothing about it being stolen or not.



tony1928 said:


> The phone carriers used to be able to blacklist ESN's (electronic serial numbers) which are unique to every phone in the world. The phone, locked or unlocked, is effectively dead once it tries to get on to a network. They have chosen not to do this anymore in the past few years. Probably due to lack of cooperation between carriers, especially now that there are so many carriers. Used to be just Cantel (rogers) and Telus. Back then, there were no stolen phones for sale.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nicole said:


> ESN still exists but for the states such as Verizon. Basically if the owner has some trouble with the company like not paying the bills, the company will deactivate the phone. The IMEI code we have here just tells you the model of the phone and specs, but nothing about it being stolen or not.


Seems like such a simple and effective way to stop these types of thefts.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

All wifi enabled devices have a unique\serialized wlan number as well that they could use when wi-fi is in use, but less likely to be able to track a single user down as effecticely

There is however a front and back-end GPS function. You can't disable to back-end GPS, they claim it's for 911 calls.


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Just met with the police. Got my money back. I asked what happened to the kid and the policeman said he couldn't charge the kid because there was no evidence, but the kid did get kicked out of school. Oh well..at least I got my money back.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

Great news for you!

He doesn't need school anyway, he has a life of crime ahead of him! (I can't believe that they think kicking him out of school is suitable punishment!)


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Nicole said:


> Just met with the police. Got my money back. I asked what happened to the kid and the policeman said he couldn't charge the kid because there was no evidence, but the kid did get kicked out of school. Oh well..at least I got my money back.


I dont get it...how come they have no envidence when they clearly knew that the phone he sold to you aas stolen and he also admitted to selling stolen phone by refunding your money.
On the other hand, if there was no envidence what did the school base their decision on when they kicked him out?
Glad you get your money back...
wonder what would happen if he said he cannot pay you back?


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

I don't think the fact he paid her back is an admission of guilt. He could easily say he bought it off someone, then decided he did not need it and sold it to her. And that he is refunding the money out of the goodness of his heart. Total [email protected], but possible, thus making him the victim. As to why the school kicked him out, he has probably been caught doing it before, so they know he is guilty, but don't have to prove it in court.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Yes, you are right. That is probably what he said. 
O well...


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Yep that's right. The policeman said I could've chosen to sell the phone to someone else and then the buyer would point the finger at me afterwards..does that mean I stole it? No. He did say he believes the kid stole it but once again no proof. The kid had another ad up selling an iPhone which I told the police about and the phone got taken back, but still, not evidence. The kid got kicked out because he was already causing trouble at school according to the police.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Glad that at least u got your money back, to bad they will let this kid get away with it..thats why there is so much crime


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

That succckkkksssssssss. Open a glass of wine. :thumbup:

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

Claudia said:


> Glad that at least u got your money back, to bad they will let this kid get away with it..thats why there is so much crime


Crime has been on the decline for the last 20 years, don't believe the conservative government hype.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

dZilla said:


> Crime has been on the decline for the last 20 years, don't believe the conservative government hype.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2


Or maybe look at the crime stats would be better. Crime overall might be going down, but that doesn't mean all types of crime are going down, in fact there are certain types of crime that are continually growing while others are declining as well as new types of crime like technology crime and so on that didn't exist as they did 20 years ago.

Also usually they base those "stats" on a per capita basis when they state them. It doesn't mean they are actually going down, it just means that there are more people alive compared to amount of the crime being committed. ie say 10 years ago there was 50,000 people and there was 1 of x crime committed per 10000 people so 5 counts of it, now there is .5 of x crime committed per 10,000 people with 500,000 as population making 25 counts of the same crime. Sure as a percentage based on population it has gone down, but that just means that the amount of people who are law abiding based on that type of crime has risen compared to those who are committing the crime.


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