The prevalence of mobile phone theft and other forms of mobile phone crime has become a widespread problem, according to a new survey conducted by Juniper Research, with 70 percent of young consumers surveyed associated in some way with a victim of mobile theft.

Photo: Cell Phone Crimes Reach New Highs Among Teens Photo 1

The findings support those by Halifax Home Insurance who claim that on average, one mobile phone is stolen in the UK alone every 12 seconds. The article was based on figures by Halifax combined with government statistics, claiming more than 2 million phones stolen at a cost of 390 million pounds in 2005 alone.

Juniper's survey questioned a wide demographic including young mobile consumers aged 5 to 20 years, while enlisting a contrast of opinion from parents and teachers. The survey - covering purchasing and spending patterns, security issues, and time spent on and relative importance of mobile phones in today's youth culture – raised a number of concerns.

According to Juniper figures, theft appears intrinsically wound within young mobile consumer culture with 70 percent of those aged 5 to 20 years having an experience in some way with mobile theft. Figures supported by over one half of all responding parents, and 83 percent of teachers who expressed their respective experience of mobile theft through their children and students.

The survey further considered other security concerns associated with adolescent mobile use, with 27 percent of 5 to 20 year olds the victims of mobile mugging, or associated with someone who has. A further 22 percent registered having been, or associated with, a victim of bullying via mobile phone.

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1. Posted by booboy	Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:33 am
Every 12 seconds? geez. I think its probably better in the U.S. since phones are locked to carriers. My StarTac was lifted years ago, and I reported it missing. They entered the number in their database. A few weeks later, the culprit tried to activate it at a Sprint Store, so they took it back.
2. Posted by mgoblue	Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:37 pm
i can see it happening. for most kids the most expensive thing they carry is their phone. maybe they chop them up and sell the parts like cars.
3. Posted by elmo01	Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:37 pm
Every 12 seconds? geez. I think its probably better in the U.S. since phones are locked to carriers. My StarTac was lifted years ago, and I reported it missing. They entered the number in their database. A few weeks later, the culprit tried to activate it at a Sprint Store, so they took it back. thats the way it used to be with an ATT TDMA service...but with GSM its not the phone that is activated its the SIM... IMEI's are not as of yet tracked for this purpose in North America by *any* provider (AFAIK)... as the cost of the maitenance of the data base is too high....a big hole in the system IMHO....
4. Posted by phone	Fri Jun 23, 2006 3:07 pm
Why do people steal cell phones from dealers? Is there a market for them? How can a stolen cell phone be activated?
5. Posted by booboy	Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:28 pm
gsm phones dont need to be activated, only cdma. what irritates me the most is those dealers that put plastic phones in glass cases. i like to test phones before i buy them, but cmon... isnt' that overkill?

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