Misuse of Stolen Mobiles Lead To High Call Charges & Worries Government

What happens when your phone is lost or stolen?

You now have to hunt for the device, or get a new one, right? Before that, you must be prepared for the enormous phone bills.

According to the recent news revealed at BBC, consumers have been charged bills of up to 23000 pounds each after losing their mobile phones.

Despite reporting phone theft, many consumers are still receiving mobile bills that should be compulsory paid. For instance, a teacher was sent a bill of 15000 pounds even after reporting theft immediately.

Government Plans To Limit The Mobile Phone Bill

It was in the spring of 2013, Maria Miller promised that high call charges of stolen mobiles can be avoided by introducing a limit.

The limit was 50 pounds, after which your stolen or lost mobile phone will lose its ability to make any further calls.

But this theft issue leads to multiple consequences.

As seen on BBC, a lady was charged for cancelling the contract, along with the bill that she decided not to pay after losing her phone:

“Natalie Doughty from Newport, Wales, told the BBC she had received a bill for £1,000 after her phone was stolen while she was abroad. She said her mobile phone operator EE was “not at all helpful and have passed the debt onto a third party to collect”.

She added that on top of paying back the bill, she paid £400 to cancel the contract with EE.”

Should the consumer be responsible for not reporting the theft almost immediately? Or should the blame go to carrier network for not taking a quick action?

Finding The Right Solution

Although we have various mobile tracking technologies, it is still almost impossible to quickly track the person who has your phone — unless you have built-in apps and the smartphone is not turned OFF.

Introducing a monthly cap sounds like the solution that could work, but there is still a critical gap to be filled.

For instance, if carrier networks created a new number that customers could call and report to, then expensive phone bills can be avoided.

We do have customer care number, yes, but quick response and attention is missing in such cases. A unique number for reporting theft is mandatory to lower the high mobile phone bills.

9 More Tips To Use To Avoid Misuse of Phones

1. Immediately report to the nearest police station
2. Call your carrier network and file a report to deactivate your mobile phone
3. Activate your mobile’s security feature — passcode, password, etc
4. Report to SIM card company (if your phone has a SIM card)
5. Use Prepaid mobile device, one without contract (if possible)
6. Activate Internet or have build-in GPS tracking apps installed (see mobile tracking guide)
7. Specifically ask your network to block all future calls or any international calls
8. Look at the box to find IMEI number and try tracking the device
9. Change password of your bank or email in case you access them via your mobile phone