mobile phone recycling

Phone recycling firms promise to check each phone against a database of stolen mobile phones.

Mobile phone recycling companies have taken huge steps to close a £4m annual UK trade in stolen mobiles.

Companies will now check the details of every mobile offered to them against the National Mobile Phone Register (NMPR) – a database of mobile phones that are reported as stolen.

A great move we might say! so if a phone has been reported stolen then the recycler will refuse to buy it and pass the seller’s details on to the police.

James Brokenshire, crime prevention minister, said: “The mobile phone industry is closing a multi-million pound loophole that has been exploited by criminals.”

When you report your phone as stolen, your network automatically blocks the phone so it cannot be re-used. But because the block only applies in the UK, stolen mobiles can still be shipped abroad and used.

This “loophole” has until now allowed thieves to make money by selling stolen mobiles to unsuspecting mobile phone recycling firms that make their profit by selling unwanted mobile phones abroad.

Mark Harrison, managing director of mobile phone recycling company Fonebank, said his firm started checking the details of each phone against the NMPR some 12 months ago.

“Not many come back as stolen, 100 per month perhaps of the 100,000 or so we receive each month. However we think the agreement is a positive move for the industry.”

Rememeber you can see who pays the most cash for mobile phones right here at http://www.mobilephonerecyclingcomparison.co.uk