Smooth talking

Your mobile phone is no doubt important to you. You probably use it several times a day either to make calls or send text messages. You might play its games in spare moments or even display it like a trophy, showing off its fancy features or latest fascia.

Perhaps not all of these uses apply to you but there's no denying that mobile phones are essential everyday tools for increasing numbers of people, including your family or friends. Unfortunately, it is their very desirability which makes them a target for theft.

Mobile phones are expensive items, especially if you have the latest model, which is why there is a thriving black market in stolen phones. It is very easy to pop a SIM card into a shiny new replacement phone and start using it straight away, which is one of the reasons why mobile phone theft is on the increase.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to help keep your own phone out of harm's way and look after your personal safety as well.

Mobile alerts

At the beginning of January, the horrific story of the 19-year-old woman who was shot in the head over the theft of her mobile phone made the headlines. It was a shocking news item and with it followed a rash of other stories of people being forced to hand over their mobile phones at knifepoint.

At about the same time, the Home Office - the Government department responsible for the police force - came out with more alarming news about mobile phone theft. It published a report showing that 330,000 phone thefts had been reported to the police during 2000/2001. The report also suggested that the actual number of thefts could have been as high as 700,000.

Last November, London's Metropolitan Police launched a campaign to help schoolchildren better protect their mobile phones and themselves. Posters were distributed around schools to help make kids more aware of the potential dangers. A number of schools have already taken their own steps in a bid to discourage children from carrying mobile phones, such as banning their use within school premises.

Children aren't the only victims. The Metropolitan Police note that about 10,000 mobiles a month are stolen from unattended cars, where users leave their phone prominently displayed on the front seat.

Theft, however, is not the only problem. Mobile phone retailer The Link recently revealed some statistics that show we can be a pretty forgetful bunch: between March and August 2000, 62,000 mobile phones, 13,000 PDAs and 2,900 notebook computers were left in London taxis; Heathrow airport gets around 11,000 lost mobiles handed in every year. The Link says that around half of this equipment never finds its way back to its owner because it is usually impossible to identify them.

Clearly, mobile phone theft and the loss of phones and other gadgets is a growing problem. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your property.

Preventative measures

There are a number of precautions you can take to minimise the chance of your mobile phone being stolen. You can also take steps to help ensure your phone isn't useable if it is stolen and that you, the owner, are easy to identify if someone finds it on the bus, train, in a gutter or in the cinema. Here are some tips on protecting your phone and yourself:

• Keep your mobile out of sight, such as in an inside jacket pocket, when you are in a public place.
• Be aware of your surroundings and the people around you. Think before you use your phone. If you are at all unsure, don't use it.
• Don't start writing a text message if you aren't entirely sure you are in a safe place.
• Don't leave your phone unattended, such as on the table in a bar or on a seat in your car.
• Get into the habit of turning your phone off if you are in unfamiliar surroundings, or put it on vibrate so the ring tone does not attract attention.
• Get your phone properly marked with your postcode and house number; that's the only information needed to return it to you and it will also help the police identify stolen goods. Some schools already have schemes such as these in place.
• Set the PIN code on your phone to prevent anyone who steals it making calls straight away.
• Protect your data by making a backup of numbers stored on your SIM card onto a computer or in an address book.
• The moment you think your phone has been stolen or lost, contact the police. Also contact your network as well as your ISP if you use your mobile phone for the internet, as both may be able to put a block on calls.
• Record your mobile phone's IMEI number (see below).

Locate your IMEI number

IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity number. It is the unique number assigned to each mobile phone that can be used to identify them.

You can find the IMEI number for your phone by pressing *(hash)06(hash) on the keypad. Make a note of the number and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone is lost or stolen, give the number to your service provider. It should be able to bar calls from the phone or track it to find out where it is.

You could also consider registering the IMEI with an organisation called MEND - the Mobile Equipment National Database at www.m-e-n-d.com. The advantage of an online registration scheme is that you can access its data from anywhere: your paper note of your IMEI might be at home, while your phone is stolen in another city.

IMEI numbers are not foolproof as there are ways of editing them so, although it does provide some security, recording the IMEI number is not a guaranteed way of protecting your phone. It is worth doing nonetheless.

Stick a PIN in it

All mobile phones can be protected by PIN codes. Once a PIN has been programmed, you won't be able to use your phone without tapping it in, which means nobody else will either.

Check your phone's manual to find out what PIN systems your phone uses. You may find you can set up separate PIN numbers for the phone itself and for your SIM card. Most PINs are four-digit numbers but some phones allow more numbers.

You may be able to have three separate PIN settings - a phone access code, a standard SIM PIN (which controls access to your SIM) and a PIN2 code which controls access to advanced settings stored on your SIM.

If you do use a PIN code, remember to make a note of it and keep it somewhere safe: forgetting your PIN will mean you can't use your phone!Simple SIM steps

Always keep a backup of the phone numbers that are stored on your SIM card. Some people like to store this information on their PC or PDA. If you take the latter option, you may be able to wirelessly beam data between phone and PDA if your phone has an infrared modem built-in.

Computer users should look at their phone manufacturer's accessories list to see if there is a PC connection cable available. If a CD-ROM came with your phone, check to see if it contains any PC connectivity software for sharing or backing up SIM data. Also check the manufacturer's website regularly for updates to this software.

If this all sounds like too much trouble, then opt for the old-fashioned approach and invest in a paper address book. It's perfectly adequate for keeping a note of all the important numbers in your SIM.

JARGON BUSTER

CD-ROM: A version of the CD, which can store a lot more than just music. This small plastic disc can hold up to 650Mb of data.

ISP: A company which provides you with an internet connection, either for fixed monthly fee or for the cost of local call charges. Examples of popular ISPs include BT Internet, AOL and MSN.

PDA: Personal Digital Assistant. A palmtop computer about the size of a pocket calculator. Usually without a keyboard and with a touch-sensitive screen, it will use text recognition for data entry.

PIN: A four-digit code used as a password for such things as cashpoint machines and mobile phones.

SIM: Subscriber Identity Module. The smartcard used inside all digital mobile phones. The SIM card carries the user's identity and phone number for accessing the network. It also is used for storing the user's personal phonebook and text messages.

Text message: Also known as SMS. Most mobile phones can send and text messages of up to 160 characters to other mobile phones, generally regardless of network or model of phone.

SAVE YOUR SIM

Making a backup of your mobile phone SIM is a simple task but it does require special hardware. Many PDAs are able to connect to a mobile phone via infrared in order to read the contents of its SIM, but desktop PC owners need a SIM card reader.

A SIM card reader lets you read your SIM just like you would a floppy disk. Your SIM's phonebook can then be saved for backup purposes, but you can also edit your phone book on your computer keyboard before saving it back to the SIM, which is much easier than using your phone's fiddly keypad.

SIM card readers are widely available and shouldn't cost more than £50.

• SIM Manager Professional is reviewed in the 21 March issue of Computeractive.

www.simmanager.com.au

£28

USEFUL INFORMATION

The full Home Office report released in January 2002, Mobile Phone Theft, Home Office Research Study 235, can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnew1.html and here are a few of its findings:

• Over the past few years, the rate of mobile phone theft has escalated dramatically - it has risen by 190 per cent since 1995.
• The proportion of phone thefts as a percentage of all crime is on the increase - mobile phones are now involved in 28 per cent of all robberies, as opposed to just eight per cent three years ago.
• Mobile phones aren't always stolen as part of a mugging or robbery that includes the theft of jewellery, money and credit cards, for example. In fact, one third of all mobile phone theft is strictly for the phone.
• In 23 per cent of cases, the victims of mobile phone theft were using their phone or it was on visible display when it was stolen.
• Schoolchildren were at least five times more likely to be the targets of thieves than adults - 48 per cent of victims, the study reports, were under the age of 18.