Forum Discussion
Telus no longer Blacklists Stole Phone IMEI numbers
So kids phone got stolen today at knifepoint and multiple attempts to contact Telus to report the phone as stolen has resulted in nothing but them tying to sell me an Avanti service for $8 to protect...
I sure hope so....but when I log into the MyTelus app either on my phone or from a webpage it no longer shows the device/plan under my account. Again asking Telus why that is I get a big fat I don't know from them. I went into a store and they said it is still under my account but honestly at this point I don't trust them considering suspending the service should not have hidden or removed it from my account......so your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not the plan is actually suspended.
At best all I could do at this time is log into the AppleID and issue an erase for the device next time it is online. At the time of writing this that hasn't happened.
I don't think that blacklisting has worked (really forever in my opinion) - its too easy to subvert and is too much of a penalty on legitimate phone buying/selling transactions) and as far as I know it is no longer used by an major provider. Bottom line is that the phone vendor has to brick it to be an effective deterrent to theft. They are not going to really do that given the number of phones that they sell every year and how difficult it is to determine the "true" current owner. Even with AppleID think what trouble Apple would get into if they bricked your phone if your Apple ID was "stolen" and the phone was reported as stolen using this ID but actually you still were in possession of you phone. All that can be done is suspension of the SIM and have a SECURE password. Wiping of the phone is based on the thief being dumb enough to start up the phone in anything but flight mode.
- Personally, I think blacklisting works for the most part. The main drawback is trying to rove a device from the blacklist when it is put on there wrongfully or a rep taking the stolen device report mistypes the IMEI.
When a device is blacklisted by a Canadian carrier, that device is also blacklisted across all US carriers, some South American carriers, and some EU carriers. Stolen devices are usually either sold to overseas buys in countries that do not share blacklist information or are used for parts in repair shops.
Anything that helpsncombat the massive amounts of cellphone thefts each year, is a step in the right direction. These devices can be very expensive! Rewarding criminals by making it easier for them to use stolen devices does not benefit anyone but the criminals.
Yes, I contacted *611 3 times with no help. As my initial post stated one agent would do nothing, the next agent told me to go to apple and the 3rd agent wanted to sell me the Avanti monthly service.
Since I couldn't get Telus to blacklist the IMEI number and can't find information on their site to do so I am cancelling that account/subsription with them to move him to a cheaper service. At least there I can expect to get no help but from a company like Telus at their premium rates I expect way more. I will slowly start transitioning out accounts/subscriptions as they come due.
As for the comment of using social media to try and get help does that not just show how bad their customer service is if I can contact them 3 times directly (*611) plus go into a local store and not have anyone willing to help. I'm sorry but resorting to social media to get technical support for a paid for service is completely unacceptable.- You should be able to disable the device in the Apple Account associated with the device. Telus should also blacklist the device, which will apply to all North American carriers, some South American carriers, and a few in Europe as well. Most stolen devices end up on Asia though, where blacklists from North American carriers are not shared.
Blacklisting doesn't work and I would be surprised is any carrier actually provides it as a solution anymore. It is more of a placebo solution to make the customer "feel good" - like those pedestrian buttons to control traffic lights that are not actually connected to anything. There is also no "disabling" by vendors - too many phones and too many arguments about who the current legitimate owner is. The most that Apple will do is "cause the phone to wipe/reset itself" if the thief is that dumb as to start the phone and open the OS without first going to flight mode (hiding it from cellular and wifi signals). Of course if he can't boot the OS (no apple id) then they have to use other tricks to install a new OS version; but as you say if they go to countries that do not support international intellectual property rights then it is game over and the phone will be reborn as a "renewed" phone on some online seller.
El-EricCommunity Manager
Hi Willpoz - I do find it strange that the agent you spoke to would not mark the device as lost/stolen. I'll send you a message to get more details
You mean cancelling the sim? There is no "mark" on the device - the "mark" is on the Sim or e-sim portion of the device but even this "mark" is actually done on the service provider server not the device.
