Don't buy that phone! It ATTRACTS CRIMINALS, UK.gov will tell people

Unintended consequences

> So when Manufacturer A. starts seeing its sales take a nosedive because this mad government is telling people not to buy their phones, they won't be a teeny bit cross?

Given how little government officials understand (a) technology (b) people (c) criminals it wouldn't surprise me one little bit if the publication of the most desirables list led to an upsurge in demand for those phones.

You can see the rationale: those phones get stolen most - therefore they *must* be the most desirable - therefore they are very fashionable - therefore I must have one. It may even go further: that having your highly desirable phone stolen becomes a badge of trendiness. Possibly even to the point where you don't wait until you want a different model before reporting it nicked: just to get a corporate replacement, or insurance payout.

Re: Prepare for the Government to be sued...

Let's be honest, the most likely phone to get nicked is going to be iphones, and whatever phone teenagers are given (often also an iphone).

Having a much nicked phone will be seen as a badge of desirability - which is kinda counter to the la-la land that May lives in.

How about she gives a kick to the plod so that when someone has tracking on their phone, those plod get off their fat backsides and chase it down immediately? Since its likely that a crim will be nicking more than one phone, that would actually cut the crime figures more than waffling will.

Re: Prepare for the Government to be sued...

"like everything else this farce of a government ........"

Ha Ha. Better this farce of a government than the previous farce of a government!

Re: Prepare for the Government to be sued...

Is it reasonable to assume that, as people are expected to submit to being mugged daily by - not only - our own government - but also - by the US government as well, people might be getting desensitised to being mugged and accept it as just part of life?

After all, defending yourself from attack is still bordering on illegal isn't it?

Re: Mobile Phone Theft Ratio

A downvote? I think somebody must have latent budgie-induced-trauma issues from their childhood.

Re: Mobile Phone Theft Ratio

This is dangerously near the truth...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29053978

Re: Demographics

Probably the sort of lifestyle that involves waving it around with the screen on beacon-like in a poorly lit street.

Re: Here's an idea....

" Here's an idea....

...trying funding crime prevention a little more, not crime detection. Crazy eh?"

I know this is a crazy sort of off the wall idea that will be laughed at and treated with derision but what if they actually had policemen walking the beats they normally drive around in their cars?

You know like in the olden days when crime was lower.

And of course bring back birching for offenders and make prison sentences harder with rock breaking and no pay, telephone time, TV time or any food better than cold porridge.

Well I meant the bit about beat coppers!.

Re: Here's an idea....

"Y'now, those useless money eating things like, youth clubs, sports clubs, rehab clinics, homeless shelters, debt advice agency's, sure start centres, intervention teams, social services, adult education services, apprenticeship schemes."

Nulab tried that for ten years without too much obvious success, and as a result of the Cowalition's failure to make any worthwhile cuts the national debt is still rising by £100 billion quid each and every year (over £11m per hour).

How much more money do you want to spend on schemes trying to distract the feckless and where will it come from?

Re: Just the beginning

I'm waiting for a 'nickable' index for monetary denomination.

Re: Reducing theft of mobile devices

"Police: We can only make a report of this as 'Lost in the Street'"

Now, now.

Our overstretched and underfunded police farce have orders to tick specific boxes depending on yesterday's Daily Mail.

If the only box left on the sheet to tick is 'Lost in Street' they get in to deep shit if they try to bugger with the expected/promised/'my bounus depends on this you bastards' results.

Re: One Emergency Service ?

It's the Paramedic that turns up to get Tibbles out of a tree using a semi-automatic that concerns me.

Re: Most likely to be stolen ==

or just the most common phone in current use among those who are more likely to be in thief-friendly locations.

Which means that the BLOODY BIG BUTTON phone that is used by the elderly who don't tend to go out on Friday nights or stumble around drunk on the streets will be the least likely phone to be stolen.

Re: Popularity list?

"Other than making Windows Phone and Blackberry owners feel unjustifiably smug in their purchase decisions, that is? :)"

But, but -- we were told that the 'riots' were orchestrated by using BBM.

Re: Windows Phone and Blackberry owners feel unjustifiably smug

As in:

Nobody wants to steal my Windows phone! Ditto my grey Clarks vinyl shoes, my North Face backpack stuffed with Cobol manuals, my bifocal glasses with one cracked lens, and my dandruff-flecked knock-off Barbour.

It's the new normcore

Re: Popularity list?

"No matter what Apple does with activation lock..."

Doesn't seem to work because the phones can still be reactivated somehow and onsold.

Absolutely, and I add, no one ever got good headlines in the Mail by saying that things are going quite well really.