Owners urged to register their mobile phones

Some of the phones that have been lost or stolen in Glasgow.

Phones and other electronic devices are high on the wish list of many folk around this time of year and police warn that it is a sensible move to register them, given the amount that is lost.

Some 2,500 are handed in to police in Scotland’s largest city, but only 25 per cent find their owners as many of them are password protected and, therefore, inaccessible.

Police are advising people to register their phones and gadgets at www.immobilise.com — a free service linked with the National Mobile Property Register — which can help return lost or stolen devices to their owners.

Over the Christmas and new year period many flk will be out partying and generally having a good time.

But this is also the time when a high number of mobile phones are reported lost and a high number are handed in as found.

Safer Communities Officers are also advising people to keep a tight rein on their passports as 1,500 of them were reoprted as lost last year in Glasgow.

Police suggest following some simple steps to ensure the safety of your phone:

1. Register free with www.immobilise.com.

2. Use a lock code.

3. Know your IMEI number — a 15-digit, unique identifier for your phone — type in *#06#.

4. Properly mark your phone with your postcode and door number to help police identify stolen ones.

5.Report a lost or stolen phone to the police immediately.

6. Inform your service provider if your phone is lost or stolen.

7. Install a tracker device on your electronic goods to help find them.

Inspector Kenny Quigley, Glasgow Safer Communties, said: “Nowadays, lots of people live their lives on their phones and they contain a lot of personal information.

“Losing your phone is a major inconvenience, could prove expensive to replace and may lead to personal details and information being compromised.

“The difficulty for police is matching the lost or stolen phone to its owner.

“Registering a phone with ‘Immobilise’ allows us to check it against the police National Mobile Property Register, find out who it belongs to and then get it back to the owner as soon as we legally can.

“Being registered will also alert retailers who buy second-hand phones.

“This will in turn affect the sale and, hopefully, ultimately the market for lost or stolen phones.”