Why do people steal phones in this day and age?

[smile72]

Very easy answer: People are ASSHOLES!
Edit: This is my scientific explanation as I have had a phone stolen before when I lived in America...although it was a worthless piece of garbage. My answer still stands.

 

[Deleted-355425]

I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.

So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?

Welcome to the real world my friend, it wont ever change. Dont want your stuff stolen? Dont flaunt it in public.

 

[330]

Welcome to the real world my friend, it wont ever change. Dont want your stuff stolen? Dont flaunt it in public.

It's thanks to people like you with this shitty way of thinking that we will never get rid of petty thieves.

 

[ThoD]

I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.

So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?

If you leave your expensive devices lying around and they get stolen, it's ENTIRELY your fault for not taking proper care of them. What you are saying is basically that everyone should be good and law abiding, despite that going completely against human nature.

 

[spotanjo3]

About two months ago my friend was in China and her phone got stolen. The other week my friend's phone got stolen in Australia. One of my friends warned me to be careful with my phone in China or it might get stolen. I ignored this warning thinking that having a passcode on my phone makes it useless to a thief and the fact it can be tracked makes it worse than useless. I got lucky.

These days any phone worth having will use a passcode or fingerprint or facial recognition software to unlock the phone. All phones worth having can also be tracked by the user.

I've come up with two possible reasons why someone might steal a phone despite this.

-Throw away the phone and use the sim card to commit other crimes
-The user was recorded entering the passcode before the phone was stolen

Are these reasons above just bullshit I've made up or are they valid? Are there other reasons I haven't thought of?

You are asking why ?! Huh ? What do you think ?

 

[Axido]

This. The latest iPhone security chips are tiny, but with a precision soldering equipment, it's a joke to do.

But you'd need someone who can do tiny soldering. Those guys ain't cheap.

 

[Deleted-355425]

It's thanks to people like you with this shitty way of thinking that we will never get rid of petty thieves.

My shitty way of thinking? I'm to blame? what are you even talking about?

 

[Clydefrosch]

You sure they didn't just leave their phone somewhere and someone took it?
Like, whenever I see a phone sitting on a chair in a train, if I'm honest, I'm tempted to take it with me and keep it, instead of bringing it to the info stand on my station.

Why do people steal or take phones?
Mainly for money. Most phones can be reset by professionals I'd guess.
And some random student could be duped into buying it just like that and end up with a stolen phone and -200 bucks.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Most thieves are just going to flip the stolen phone ASAP. They steal it and sell it as quickly as possible, they don't necessarily care if the tracking is enabled etc as they likely won't be the ones caught red handed with the stolen phone. Usually the poor sap that unknowingly buys a stolen phone will have it by then, meaning the thief got their money for drugs or whatever without any consequences that they have to deal with. This I believe is the most common occurrence...

Mostly right, but why do you think thiefs steal for drugs?
Most crime still happens to finance basic needs like food and shelter

 

[Byokugen]

Or to sell the phone

 

[2Hack]

It's thanks to people like you with this shitty way of thinking that we will never get rid of petty thieves.

looooooooooool did you ever think it was possible to remove thieves from society? also this isn't victim blaming. It's like, getting pissed when someone steals your car but you left the windows rolled down and doors unlocked.

I don't believe carrying it around with you all the time will solve the epidemic but it is the main preventative measure. That goes for anything of value in your life; take care of it.

 

[Deleted-355425]

looooooooooool did you ever think it was possible to remove thieves from society? also this isn't victim blaming. It's like, getting pissed when someone steals your car but you left the windows rolled down and doors unlocked.

I don't believe carrying it around with you all the time will solve the epidemic but it is the main preventative measure. That goes for anything of value in your life; take care of it.

I know right! Did you know that back in the Victorian times if you left your front door unlocked and you got robbed the home owner who had the responsibility to lock up was punished? Bring that back i say lol.

 

[330]

So much salt generated by your replies. They who defend the thief are one themselves

 

[Jayro]

I can't believe that people still try to justify thieves in 2018. It's like saying that women deserve to be raped should they go around with certain clothes.

So yes, people do have the right to leave their phones on the table without anybody taking it. And they also have the right to seek help if something like this happens without getting judged. My MacBook doesn't have a Kensington lock (thanks Apple) but I still need to take it with me everywhere. Do you somehow think that I deserve to have my stuff stolen just because I'm forced to use it a lot outside my home?

Not at all, but if you don't take the proper steps to make sure it's secured, then that's on you if it does get stolen. When I was younger, I left stuff laying around and 100% of the time it was stolen and gone for good. It was a hard lesson learned. Hell, just last year I left my New 3DS XL on a table in the break room of my work for 20 minutes before I realize I hadn't put it in my locker. I went back to the break room, and it was gone. Normally people don't steal from each other at my work, were all like family there, but at that particular time we had a bunch of new people, so it was probably one of them. But I never saw it again, and it was MY FAULT for leaving it out to be taken. A little accountability goes a long way.

 

[Quantumcat]

As was drilled into me when I was learning to ride my motorcycle, "doesn't matter who is right or wrong, you're the one who ends up dead" (i.e. you shouldn't assume drivers are going to follow the road rules, so be alert and take preventative measures to make sure you don't suffer when they do something stupid).

Regardless of whether it would be better if there were no thieves, in the real world there are and if you don't want your stuff stolen you have to take preventative measures. It's called having an inner locus of control (which applies to the rest of life, too) and people are generally happier when they have this mindset: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400410701842029?journalCode=hcrj20

You can only control what you do, not what other people do.

 

[gamesquest1]

yeah I know a few people who know people and they are were targeting Samsung phones primarily because they are worth more in parts, this is kinda why its so hard to compete repairing phones when the little back ally shops are buying stolen galaxy S8's for £80 so they get the replacement screens much cheaper than legit repair shops (a replacement galaxy s8 lcd is about £170 normally and even then its usually a refurbished screen with sub standard glass), I heard these shops have now started putting out requests with the dodgy shady types who go targeting people for the iPhone X handsets because the screens are very expensive for replacements

honestly apple sticking to LCD over oled up until the iphone x made stealing iPhones unattractive as cheap replacements were always easy to get, I do feel manufacturers need to try make replacements available for cheaper to disincentive thefts....although I guess its not really in their interests, but yeah icloud/google activation was a really important step which did
disincentivize most uninformed thieves

 

[wormdood]

So much salt generated by your replies. They who defend the thief are one themselves

its not salt its common sense if you leave your phone unattended in a public place someone will take it. you are quick to brand the one who took it as a thief but if the thief left it there (wherever he found it) then the next guy who comes along would take it . . . and instead of being "the thief" the thief would then be the fool who in a sense gave away the winning ticket in a lottery in exchange for what . . . ? . . . karma . . . ?

its life you loose things you find things . . .

 

[2Hack]

yeah I know a few people who know people and they are were targeting Samsung phones primarily because they are worth more in parts, this is kinda why its so hard to compete repairing phones when the little back ally shops are buying stolen galaxy S8's for £80 so they get the replacement screens much cheaper than legit repair shops (a replacement galaxy s8 lcd is about £170 normally and even then its usually a refurbished screen with sub standard glass), I heard these shops have now started putting out requests with the dodgy shady types who go targeting people for the iPhone X handsets because the screens are very expensive for replacements

honestly apple sticking to LCD over oled up until the iphone x made stealing iPhones unattractive as cheap replacements were always easy to get, I do feel manufacturers need to try make replacements available for cheaper to disincentive thefts....although I guess its not really in their interests, but yeah icloud/google activation was a really important step which did
disincentivize most uninformed thieves

back ally repair shops and legit repair shops do not even compete with each other. The market for each is completely different. Back ally shops tend to have the customers that are too cheap to pay for the legit repair either way. legit ones are more for those who want a good repair that wont void warranty or ruin their phone, esp avoiding compromised quality in cheap/used parts. Of course you'll get a few frugal customers caught in the crossfire, but not enough to justify cutting profits to catch those customers.

 

[gamesquest1]

back ally repair shops and legit repair shops do not even compete with each other. The market for each is completely different. Back ally shops tend to have the customers that are too cheap to pay for the legit repair either way. legit ones are more for those who want a good repair that wont void warranty or ruin their phone, esp avoiding compromised quality in cheap/used parts. Of course you'll get a few frugal customers caught in the crossfire, but not enough to justify cutting profits to catch those customers.

ok my point is that if replacement parts aren't worth hundreds of pounds it will be less likely for the professional thieves to go targeting people, I guess at the least if manufacturers want to try prevent the issue maybe marry stock screens to the handset so the majority of screens worth huge sums are suddenly useless to back alley repair shops, sure its something manufacturers would have to look into but after hearing someone saying how shops put bounties on specific phones and gangs go out spotting people to grab them doing nothing is putting their customers at risk

there has been a rise of moped gangs in the uk stealing phones from people, this often involves people mounting the pavement on a moped putting pedestrians at risk because they know these phones are now worth a substantial value even when scrapped as parts

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-choice-scooters-acid-attacks-phone-robberies

 

[ThoD]

yeah I know a few people who know people and they are were targeting Samsung phones primarily because they are worth more in parts, this is kinda why its so hard to compete repairing phones when the little back ally shops are buying stolen galaxy S8's for £80 so they get the replacement screens much cheaper than legit repair shops (a replacement galaxy s8 lcd is about £170 normally and even then its usually a refurbished screen with sub standard glass), I heard these shops have now started putting out requests with the dodgy shady types who go targeting people for the iPhone X handsets because the screens are very expensive for replacements

honestly apple sticking to LCD over oled up until the iphone x made stealing iPhones unattractive as cheap replacements were always easy to get, I do feel manufacturers need to try make replacements available for cheaper to disincentive thefts....although I guess its not really in their interests, but yeah icloud/google activation was a really important step which did
disincentivize most uninformed thieves

Do you understand how bulk purchases directly from manufacturers work? Just because having a screen replaced costs like 200$, doesn't mean they buy the screen that high. With direct bulk supply repair shops, especially bigger ones with a whole chain, get them very cheap. It's similar to how computer parts are supplied by the manufacturer, with those costing around 200$ to buy retail, only costing about 40$ or so. Back alley shops though aren't reliable companies, so they can't deal with the manufacturer legally, reason they resort to stolen things for repairs or sales.

 

[Kioku]

Do you understand how bulk purchases directly from manufacturers work? Just because having a screen replaced costs like 200$, doesn't mean they buy the screen that high. With direct bulk supply repair shops, especially bigger ones with a whole chain, get them very cheap. It's similar to how computer parts are supplied by the manufacturer, with those costing around 200$ to buy retail, only costing about 40$ or so. Back alley shops though aren't reliable companies, so they can't deal with the manufacturer legally, reason they resort to stolen things for repairs or sales.

It's hilarious how much overhead these repair shops have for things like screen repair.