Holiday PSA: Keep your cell phones in a location that isn’t easily accessible to theft when you are out in crowded places (e.g., Merrimack Outlet Mall). Theft increases during the holidays.

Submitted by Siesonn t3_z6yj9p in newhampshire

My friend and I were holiday shopping at the Merrimack outlets on Saturday. From the last time she used her phone to the time, she realized it was missing was about 20 minutes. We were in one store that entire time. I tried calling her phone to locate it and the call went directly to voicemail. We are not sure if it was lifted from the front pocket of her purse or if she dropped it and it was taken. We were able to track the location of the stolen phone. It was moving around the outlets for a while, then made a stop in Salem NH, and ultimately ended up in the Bronx NY where it has been since Saturday night.

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occasional_cynic t1_iy3q9s3 wrote

File a report with the Merrimack police, then call the cell phone company to report it stolen. The providers use a centralized theft database. They will make sure it cannot be activated on any network.

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Siesonn OP t1_iy3qzlv wrote

We called her service and had the phone disabled. We weren't sure if filing a report would be worth it because the phone is in NY now and we were not sure what the police would be able to do for a stolen phone.

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Timzawesome t1_iy3wgyw wrote

Report it stolen. It will be blacklisted, and the phone cannot be activated (making it worthless) in many countries including the US. If Activation Lock (google or icloud) is enabled, the phone will be pretty much useless aside from spare parts for thieves.

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Siesonn OP t1_iy4397o wrote

We went right to Verizon and she was able to have the phone wiped clean and have it listed so that it can't be activated by anyone.

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Less_Cryptographer86 t1_iy4ngxn wrote

Can they tell if it hadn’t already been activated by someone?

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Siesonn OP t1_iy4q4k7 wrote

I'm not sure. We called Verizon customer service to have the phone shut down as soon as she realized it was stolen. Then we went to the Verizon store and they confirmed that the phone was shut down and could not be activated again. We were told that the most it would be good for is if someone used it for parts.

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Fluid_Kale_5599 t1_iy627rp wrote

>the phone cannot be activated (making it worthless)

It's not worthless to the thief if they can sell it to some unsuspecting idiot that isn't aware the IMEI is blocked. Which is exactly what will happen.

They'll put it on Craigslist, meet somebody in a parking lot, show them that the phone boots into Android/iOS and get paid cash for it. Buyer won't realize it's IMEI blocked until they put a SIM in it. And now the thief has fucked two people over.

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sweetnsalty24 t1_iy41oga wrote

Same goes for shopping carts in grocery stores. I notice people leaving their wallets and purses in the front seat of their cart and then have their backs turned or walk away from the cart. Easy pickings!

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ForklkftJones t1_iy48zyu wrote

Those are some traveling ass thieves. It takes all my energy to drive to NY, I can't imagine stealing in the morning, shopping in the afternoon, and then driving 4-5 hours away that same day. Hopefully she'll get her phone back.

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Siesonn OP t1_iy4i7vd wrote

I worked retail for many years and the holidays are peak theft time. I'm sure they are professionals that were stealing from stores as well as individuals and then driving to NY to offload/sell what they stole. I'm sure she will never see that phone again but we did learn a valuable lesson.

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schoolbusserman t1_iy4w1hu wrote

people are such losers sorry that happened

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Fluid_Kale_5599 t1_iy61j89 wrote

>people are such losers

Don't allow one very specific demographic that engages in this behavior constantly to cause you to lose faith in all of humanity

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occasional_cynic t1_iy5lri7 wrote

They are probably just shoppers coming to New Hampshire to avoid sales tax and just sorry phone that was easy. Pickings. It happens

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zetterbeauty t1_iy4s379 wrote

Have your friend report it as stolen to their cell phone carrier. If the IMEI is activated on a new line, it should get flagged as stolen property.

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Fluid_Kale_5599 t1_iy61beg wrote

Only if they try to activate it on the same carrier in many cases. And even then you can only do it if you bought it through the carrier. This applies to Android only.

iPhone is easier as Apple will lock the device itself.

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nhhandyman t1_iy54shk wrote

Lots of out of state plates at the outlet mall in Merrimack on Friday.

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RetroIsBack t1_iy70nis wrote

Well did they break into your car or did she put it down somewhere.

I hope its locked.

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LordMongrove t1_iy4eufn wrote

20 minutes to realize your phone is missing? Are you a boomer or something?

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Fluid_Kale_5599 t1_iy66k9q wrote

Boomers are on their phones every 10 seconds, so definitely not a boomer

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