All GSM phones are required to have a unique IMEI number that gets reflected at cell phone towers with which, if required, the location of a mobile phone user can be tracked. These Chinese phones, however, do not have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. In many cases, more than 1000 Chinese handsets have been known to have shared the same IMEI number.
Legal IMEI are 15-17 digits long and are unique in nature. This also means that no two cellphones should have the same IMEI. Chinese phones don’t carry 16-digit IMEI numbers. At cell towers these phones show up as a string of zeros, or give out cloned IMEI numbers. That’s why they pose a security risk.
The combination of IMEI numbers, or many phones with the same IMEI number, happens because the number is cloned in lots of 100, 1,000 or 5,000 phones by makers of unbranded Chinese mobile phones.
To check your IMEI no. of your phone, press *#06# on your mobile, the 15-17 digit IMEI no. will show on screen.
The phone service provider can tell your location by tracking the IMEI number from phone towers. It can tell where you went.
If you travel abroad, the foreign service provider knows that you are a visitor and from where you are originally Service providers have many mobile phone towers. During calls, the phone connects to the nearest towers. Even when not in use, the phone keeps contact with the nearest towers
By using signals from at least three of the nearest towers it’s possible to locate a mobile phone accurately. The method, called triangulation, can be used by security agencies to track down any offender using mobile phone.
Currently, about 7-8 lakh Chinese phones come into the country every month. This figure was much higher before the talk of their ban started - in September 2008, 1.5 million of these phones came into India.
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