I have not bought one, just this thread here got me thinking about it. What do you do if you happen to have bought a stolen handset? Do you drop it in to the police or does Vodafone, Telecom or 2 Degrees have a facility for handing a phone in to them so they can contact the owner?
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paulmilbank: I have not bought one, just this thread here got me thinking about it. What do you do if you happen to have bought a stolen handset? Do you drop it in to the police or does Vodafone, Telecom or 2 Degrees have a facility for handing a phone in to them so they can contact the owner?
Police is the obvious one, take as much documentation as you can about the purchase, courier labels, addresses, etc. If it's Trade Me you could also potentially file a Community Watch report to them saying that the goods were stolen and subject to Police File Number (whatever number the cops give you).
It's the ultimate defense against a 'receiving stolen goods' type charge (i.e. they won't charge you if you report getting it and then finding out it was stolen).
To be honest the whole 'ask for the IMEI number' thing is a bit silly, they'll know it's stolen and they'll just be smart and provide an ID number from a non-stolen same model phone. Only time it'd work is if you asked to physically inspect the goods before finalizing purchase (and that still relies on phones getting reported/listed as soon as possible and not 2-4 weeks down the line).
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