easy question for you pro's

[ukmdb]

I everyone, i hope this is not to much of a silly question for my first post.

I lost my nokia 3650 at a Mc donalds.
rang the isurance up and made the claim.
I have now found the phone. It was in a bag.

My m8 said dont switch it on and take the sim card out then get a new sim. and wait for the new phone.
While i have been tempted, I have been reading up on a few things.

Phones can be tracked by an IMEI no.
Is this no. stored on the phone its self or on the sim card.

If my m8 did put a different sim card in it, will it still be tracked.
and can they then block the phone.

Thanks for any help.

PS
Should i keep stump or ring up and tell them i found it.

[Gee]

The phone will get blocked.

Here are few things you can do

1 ring Insurance up and tell them you have found it (best thing to do because the chances are they won't honour your claim due to Neglect)

2 Sell you phone to someone over seas (will work over seas)

3 Change Imei and keep it (not recomended Carrys prison sentence & or unlimited fine in some countries if you get cought)

4 If in Uk give it to one of your friends and tell them to hand it to the police. Police will give him reciept after few weeks if now one comes forward your friend can claim it then ring the netwoks who should unbar it because police have been involved (risky)

[bobl]

EDIT: While typing the person above posted! But do read this carefully as it does try and list all options, plus point out problems of changing IMEI.

OOoh, tough call. I'd point out a few things, but I won't answer the question, since it's your call.

1) If you do not tell your insurance company you have now found the phone, that's fraud I believe.

2) The IMEI is stored on the phone, and you can't change it. Well, it's possible, but it's not worth it unless you're VERY good at soldering. (It's a dct4 phone, it has a 1 time write chip in it with the IMEI...older dct3 phones such as the 3310 can have their IMEI changed with extreme ease.)

3) The IMEI cannot be "tracked", but the insurance company may contact the network you are on (I presume you have to tell them your network), and report it as "stolen" so it becomes blacklisted. The network however knows when your IMEI logs on to their network, so in that sense it could be tracked.

Once it is blacklisted, you can't do much except change your IMEI, which you can't really do. I suppose you can sell it to another country without blacklisting...

So you've got a few options:

1) Do nothing, burn the phone and pretend you never found it.
2) Say nothing, keep the phone and wait for your new phone to arrive. Turn on the phone, see if it picks up network. If it does, you may wish to use it, but at your own risk of course.
3) Call your insurance company and ask for advice. They'll probably tell you to return the phone (which you'll end up paying probably...).

Out of those three options...it's worth considering option 1, maybe not burn the phone but just leave it...progress to option 2 if you feel risky :)

Well, that's me done typing...somebody better thank me :D

Cheers

Bob

[ukmdb]

You guys are fast thanks.

OK, I will let them know i have now found it, after all i dont want them to send me a recon.

My m8 was thinking that he would then buy it off me to use.
But if it gets blocked or traced then it is not worth it.

Thanks All.

[fixmup]

The phone will get blocked.

Here are few things you can do

1 ring Insurance up and tell them you have found it (best thing to do because the chances are they won't honour your claim due to Neglect)

2 Sell you phone to someone over seas (will work over seas)

3 Change Imei and keep it (not recomended Carrys prison sentence & or unlimited fine in some countries if you get cought)

4 If in Uk give it to one of your friends and tell them to hand it to the police. Police will give him reciept after few weeks if now one comes forward your friend can claim it then ring the netwoks who should unbar it because police have been involved (risky)
Hey Gee- in most cases of phone loss,only the network that is involved in the loss blocks the imei, so by changing sim to another network undoes the block.I have seen this done many times.Dont use the original sim from before or you are really askin' for trouble then however,as the alarm bells in the network start a' ringin' .This applies to Oz ,so what about where you are from, are the rules a bit different, as this could mean that your technology is comin my way soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-o
Stay cool 8-)

[Gee]

Hey fixmup
Well in the UK if you loose you phone that is on O2, O2 will block the phone, Yes the phone will work on the other networks for a while, but when O2 pass on there blacklisted Imei's to the rest of the network it wont work on rest. Hope this answers your question.