Pitfalls in blacklisting process

Johannesburg, 05 Sept 2012

Cellphones stolen and blacklisted in SA can still be used to make calls outside the country, because local operators do not have international jurisdiction.

Advocate Simi Pillay-van Graan, CEO of Business Against Crime SA, says the blacklisting process came into effect in April 2005 and led to a 50% drop in thefts over the next few months.

Pillay-van Graan says between 90 000 and 120 000 handsets were stolen each month before blacklisting came into effect. She explains that, since the launch of the initiative, there has been a steady decline in the number of stolen devices.

The initiative was spurred on due to the high rate of stolen phones and the fact that it was impossible for the police to investigate each and every case of cellphone theft. “There was an urgency to deter the thefts on another level.”

Pillay-van Graan says blacklisting stolen, lost and damaged cellphones automatically suspended the service rendered by all cellphone network providers to the unlawful user.

Loophole

The blacklisting process:

* The owner of the lost, stolen, or destroyed cellular phone must contact their service provider to notify the operator.
* The subscriber will be required to supply the call centre agent with their IMEI number so that the service can be blocked.
* A blacklisting form will have to be filled in and returned.
* The subscriber will be given an ITC blacklisting reference number.
* The phone will then be disabled and blacklisted.
* The subscriber also has to report the theft, loss or destruction to the police in terms of the Regulation of Interception and Communications Act.

However, Eddie Moyce, customer service executive at MTN SA, says blacklisting works within SA, but if an attempt is made to use the device out of the country, it may still function, depending on conditions allowed in that particular country.

Moyce says there is a pitfall in the process in that blacklisting is confined to the South African realm. “We have no legal mandate, as MTN, to ensure global enforcement.”

Blacklisting appears to be successful in SA as none of the networks have had complaints of new phones that customers have found to have been stolen and blacklisted. Moyce says MTN has not received complaints resulting from new devices purchased from its stores or associated outlets.

Vodacom's executive head of corporate communications, Nomsa Thusi, says the operator has not had any complaints from customers that new handsets have been blacklisted, or any reports that its approved dealers have been involved in such cases.

Thusi explains that, if handsets are stolen before Vodacom receives them, this will be reported to the police and the handsets will be blocked. She cautions people against buying phones from unauthorised dealers.

Cell C says it will only blacklist brand-new handsets if they are stolen before delivery to outlets, and has not had any complaints about stolen handsets being sold as new.