Brown to Announce Plan to Combat Cell Phone Theft
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will outline a plan to combat cell phone theft during a press event at the Youngstown Police Department today.
Brown, D-Ohio, be joined by Youngstown City Police Capt. Jason Simon, commander of the services division, and Cassie Mosure-Oles, a recent YSU graduate who had her phone stolen while cheerleading a Penguins game at YSU’s Beeghly Center. Cell phone thefts are on the rise and a stolen iPhone can cost up to $849 to replace, according to the Pew Research Center.
Criminals often target cell phones because they can easily be resold on the black market. Currently, most carriers only deactivate a stolen cell phone’s SIM card rather than the entire phone. While carriers have agreed to work with the Federal Communications Commission to set up a database of unique cell phone identification numbers to allow stolen cell phones to be entirely deactivated, some criminals are tampering with those unique identifiers -- known as International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers -- to avoid detection.
Brown will announce legislation that would impose criminal penalties for tampering with cell phone IMEIs.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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