Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR The BBC reports that one iPhone user tracking their stolen phone last Christmas got the ball rolling on a bust that took down a massive smuggling ring.
Suspects were arrested with over 2,000 stolen phones in their possession.
The group is believed to be responsible for shipping over 40,000 phones a year out of the UK.
How far would you go to get a stolen phone back? When someone makes off with your beloved handset, tools like Google’s Find Hub and Apple Find My can empower us to track our hardware, but what do you do next? Lock down your data, sure (if not full-on erase everything), but what then? Just give all your info to the police and hope for the best? You might not have a lot of faith that reports like that can actually go anywhere, but today we’re hearing about a major police action in the UK that broke up a phone-smuggling ring, and it all got started by tracking one stolen phone.
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This all began last Christmas Eve (which just sounds like the worst time of year to have your phone stolen) according to a report by the BBC. Our unlucky iPhone owner was able to follow their phone with Find My, and passing that tracking data onto authorities led to the discovery of that phone among a shipment of 894 others — presumably, stolen as well — waiting to be sent off to Hong Kong.
That recovery provided enough evidence to identify two suspects. When later apprehended in their vehicle, the men were caught transporting dozens of phones wrapped up in aluminum foil — likely an attempt to prevent exactly the kind of tracking that we just saw. Those arrests ultimately led to some 16 others, as well as the recovery of over 2,000 phones.
The group is believed to be responsible for smuggling up to 40% of London’s stolen phones out of the country — some 40,000 in just a year — but with demand for stolen devices remaining high across international markets, there’s always going to be someone new ready to step up to fill that gap.
Still, we’re feeling a little more positive about our odds of maybe actually getting our next stolen phone back, knowing that this kind of outcome is possible. Just make sure you take the time to set up the Find Hub and familiarize yourself with it now, so you’re not panicking any more than necessary if and when you actually need to use it.
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