It's rare to get a such a concise answer to an IT question.Bless you! So the anti-theft deterrent is the owner maintaining records of the device's IMEI code, no matter which service provider(s) the device owner chooses to select.Correct?
On the flip side, can service providers also detect the IMEI codes of devices that fraudulently access their wireless business services?
Because I was recently made aware of an “app” that allowed any laptop to become a “wireless hotspot”.
That seemed to me to be theft of services, since while it was proposed as an emergency “work around” for a sudden loss of local wireless Internet access due to unexplained equipment failure,it occurred to me that it could easily be used to get “free service forever” on somebody else’s dime.
Your wireless provider will keep a record of your IMEI. When you go to the store, and buy a new phone under contract, they update their records with the new phone. If you instead buy a phone from a friend and add it to you contract, part of the registration process involves them updating this information as they add it to your account.
If you want your own, most phones have the IMEI recorded on the phone behind the battery. If you have AT&T or T Mobile, you can also type *#06# and the phone will display it for you.
A service provider can only know if a device is fraudulently accessing the network if they know it is stolen. Which is why it is vital to call them if you suspect it has been. Your phone authenticates with the network many, many times a day. One of the pieces of authentication is your IMEI. Basically, your phone says “I am XXX”. The network looks up the IMEI (amongst other things), runs that IMEI against a database to make sure it’s valid and not stolen, then allows you service if everything checks out.
By reporting the stolen phone to your provider, they will add your phone to the database tagging it as bad. So a thief takes your phone, you report it, they add it to the database. The next time the thief tries to turn the phone on, travels, or even a certain time passes; the phone will attempt to authenticate again. Since the phone is now tagged as “bad”, authentication will fail. Common sense translation: it stops working.
Although computers are a little different, the same concept applies. To keep things simple, networks maintain who “you” are the same way through equipment identifiers. So if someone steals it, simply report the device as stolen.