Seeing an increase in thefts of expensive Apple iPhones and iPads in the city, New York Police Department (NYPD) has created a separate team to track the stolen Apple devices.
Expensive Apple products are increasingly becoming easy targets for street-smart thieves who are trying to make a fast buck. Such thefts have become a disturbing trend in the Big Apple.
"We're looking for ways to find individuals who have stolen Apple products and return the products to their original owners," said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne, reported New York Post.
The NYPD is using IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) numbers to track stolen goods. In one of the Apple iPad case, NYPD traced the stolen iPad to a far-off island country, Dominic Republic, in the Atlantic Ocean. Police were successful in recovering the device.
In another case, NYPD held a man suspected of selling stolen iPads at a city bus stop by tracking them with the help of Apple Inc.
"We staked out the bus stop, ID'd the suspect and arrested him. We recovered the iPad," said Browne and also noted that the 74 percent of all stolen Apple devices resurfaced within the five wards of the city, reported the news agency.
It's no different in India too; all major metros across the country witness mobile phone thefts, especially smartphones which fetch more money in black markets.
Consumers can recover their smartphones by following a few simple steps:
- Once the smartphone is stolen, contact your service provider to deactivate your number.
- Register a complaint at the nearest police station where your smartphone was lost.
- Mention the IMEI number of the device in the complaint. This will help both network providers to permanently block the smartphone and also help police to track the stolen device even if the thief uses a different SIM on your smartphone.
- To avoid data loss if the smartphone gets lost, users can download anti-theft smartphone apps available in Google Now and Apple app store to remotely deactivate the smartphone.
