When a cellphone is stolen, the owner calls in to have it "locked". Are they locking the sim card or the entire phone?

If it's just the sim card, can the unsuspecting buyer just put in their own sim card and voila? I.e, are phone companies like apple, and can't be assed tracking down their stolen products?

When a cellphone is stolen, the owner calls in to have it "locked". Are they locking the sim card or the entire phone?


Both unless you say you have your SIM card and the phone just went missing. When they lock it from my knowledge its impossible to unlock the phone/sim card ever again for security reasons which is why you report this to your cell phone provider and they give you a new phone and sim card.

SIMS btw work wonders I don't understand why all carriers don't use it but vas is los.

SIMS btw work wonders I don't understand why all carriers don't use it but vas is los.
CDMA (phones that don't utilize SIM cards) are harder to clone than SIM cards.

CDMA (phones that don't utilize SIM cards) are harder to clone than SIM cards.



Really? But you can't get your info back when you switch phones can you?

Really? But you can't get your info back when you switch phones can you?

Unfortunately not. Unless the company offers Mobile Backup (few do that I'm aware of). Thank goodness I use a microSD card for my contacts.

Some companies will also transfer for you for a fee, which sucks. So I'd advise using a memory card or using your computer if possible.

This depends on whether they kill the service (SIM) or fry the IMEI(the phone's ID "serial"). Most times people don't keep their IMEI, the cell company has it on their record but they could care less since they'll just sell the victim a new phone. I've had plenty of sto........ uhhh used phones with no problems.