Meerut Police has confirmed that the 13,500 Smartphones it found running on the same International Mobile Equipment Number (IMEI) number, reported earlier at this time, have been made by Chinese company smartphone maker Vivo. The corporate is amongst the highest 5 smartphone sellers within the nation and the police have registered a case against the company.
Akhilesh N. Singh, Further Superintendent of Police (City), Meerut, confirmed to Mint that the Mobiles have been made by Vivo Chinese company and mentioned cases have been registered under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He additionally mentioned that the sections under which the case will progress could increase as the investigation continues.
The police conducted a five-month-long investigation and located that 13,500 Vivo smartphones running on the same IMEI number. They first bought wind of the case when a sub-inspector saw that the IMEI number on the box of his cellphone was completely different from the one on the device. The inspector had simply replaced his cellphone via a Vivo service center.
IMEI numbers have been originally developed in order to keep track of mobile {hardware}. SIM cards that we use on telephones may be swapped from mobile to mobile, so the IMEI number is attached to the device, and sometimes used to track down telephones used in crimes. The IMEI was also accountable, at least partly, for stemming the growth of black market cellphones way back.
That mentioned, there have also been reports of criminals utilizing a device known as a “flasher” to change the IMEI variety of a smartphone. Doing so makes it almost impossible to trace with most readily available means. There is also YouTube content videos about how a cellphone’s IMEI number can be modified. Although these videos aren’t verified, some of them have almost one million views.
We have written to Vivo India for comment. The story will be up to date to mirror the same when we hear from them.
source – livemint
