As a potentially lucrative item, a mobile phone is an attractive target to a thief. The articles below are just a selection from local and international media. To find out just how widespread this problem is becoming and what the authorities are doing (or not doing) about it, read on...
LOCALLY
"Teen phone robbers put away despite lawyer's plea"
SCMP 8th September 2006
A judge yesterday passed custodial sentences on three members of a teenage gang who robbed three fellow teenagers of their mobile phones on the streets of Kowloon and Kwai Chung...click here to read more.
"Mobile phone users urged to take some simple security precautions" -
SCMP 6th September 2006
Unlike computer users, security awareness among mobile phone owners has not kept up with the increasing technological sophistication of their devices, critics say...click here to read more.
"Crimes show worrying trend" SCMP 18th July 2006
Macau IS thinking about revising the city's laws on juvenile delinquency because of changing crime patterns among teenagers. Adolescent crime has been on the rise in recent years and has become more violent and organised in nature, according to sociologist Penny Chan Yan-yan.... Many of these cases are organised and the offenders are more aggressive," she said. "They often target same-age or younger students, trying to seize their money or mobile phones."... click here to read more.
"Block Our Stolen Phones, Say Mobile Users"
S@P article April 2006
How many mobile phones have you lost or had stolen? When we asked this question to various groups we were hard pushed to find anyone who had not lost a device. Answers ranged from "I´m on my third this year" to "I can´t seem to go a month without having to buy a new phone". Does this sound familiar?... click here to read more.
"The number is up for mobile phone thieves"
SCMP 7th March 2006
Every year thousands of phones lost on Hong Kong´s public transport system are destroyed or auctioned for charity. But a local security company says it has come up with a system to keep stolen and lost phones off the black-market and make their theft pointless... click here to read more.
"Truck hijackers flee with 1,800 mobile phones"
SCMP 2006
A gang hijacked a truck and escaped with$1.8 million worth of Samsung mobile phones in Kwai Chung... click here to read more
"Mobile Phone Theft in Yau Tsim District"
Police Bulletin 1999
Police today urged people frequenting games centres to exercise care with their mobile phones particularly when approached by strangers asking to borrow their phones... click here to read more
INTERNATIONALLY
"1 in 6 addicted to mobiles"
The Sun Newspaper, Uk. 14th September 2006
One in six students are addicted to their mobile phones showing symptoms usually associated with serial gamblers. A study of 100 undergraduates today shows many felt so attached to their handsets they became restless or irritable when they tried to cut down...to read more click here...
"Cellphone thefts fall for first time in three years"
The Straits Times (Singapore) 25th July 2006
Mobile phone thefts were down 20 per cent in the first six months of this year - the first time in three years the number has dropped. Between January and last month, 1,962 handsets were stolen; over the same period last year, the figure was 2,423. click here to read more.
"Cops: Robbers in Makati busy from noon to 4 p.m. "
The Philippine Inquirer
MAKATI RESIDENTS should be more careful when they go out on the streets from noon to late afternoon. According to the police, thieves in the city usually strike between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. , based on a crime incidence analysis for the first half of the 2006..... Makati City Police's officer in charge, Superintendent Felipe Napoles, said most of the incidents involved cell phone snatching... click here to read more.
"Phone Theft: Is Your Handset at Risk?"
CNET Asia Reviews ( Singapore ) 5 th June 2006
Phone theft is on the rise. Whether it's in India or in Singapore , the number of mobile phones being reportedly stolen has been steadily rising over the past few years. In fact, recent figures released by an insurance company in the UK showed that two million handsets are stolen every year, out of 37 million mobile users in the country. That's about one mobile nipped per 12 seconds, with an increase seen in "phone jacking" where mobiles are snatched off owners on the streets. That's still not as bad. In Karachi , Pakistan , 17,021 handsets were reported stolen in the first four months of 2006. That works out to 141 handsets swiped every day. ... click here to read more.
"Cell phone block to curb bombers"
link to Agence France-Presse In Bangkok – March 2006
Unregistered mobile phones will stop working in Thailand´s insurgency-plagued southernmost provinces by mid November – part of efforts to curb bomb attacks triggered by cell phones... click here to read more.
"A cell phone nicked every two hours"
The Straits Times, Singapore – 12th February 2006
Strict watch on second - hand shops has forced thieves to sell them on online auction sites now. H ere is the news on your mobile: A phone is being pinched, snatched or forced from its owner every two hours...to read more click here...
"Tackling menace"
The Straits Times, Singapore – 12th February 2006
Blocking phones: Forty cell phone operators worldwide keep a database of stolen phone serial numbers and can block the phone from being used. None of these include Singapore telcos though...to read more click here...
"Making Mobiles Mugger Proof"
BBC News January 2002
On New Year's Day in London, a 19-year-old was shot in the head by a mugger who wanted her mobile phone. A few days later, three boys, aged 10, 12 and 16, were held up by a gunman and forced to hand over a mobile....click here to read more.
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