00:00Chief Officer for the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, told delegates at the International
00:05Mobile Phone Crime Conference in central London he does not understand why the telecoms
00:10giants have not done more. He said the Met would call on the Home Secretary to change
00:15laws to force phone companies to take action if necessary, and would encourage international
00:20law enforcement to do the same. Apple and Samsung, whose phones dominate the UK market,
00:26said they take device theft seriously and are both rolling out features to help thwart the
00:32black market for mobiles. The force wants to make resetting phones more difficult,
00:37with requirements for multi-factor authentication and time delays, moves to stop parts being sold
00:42without device-matching serial numbers, and the ability to block devices globally in real time.
00:49London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said there is no reason why in a year's time there should not be
00:54fully accessible serial numbers for officials and kill switches for stolen phones. The international
01:00trade in stolen phones is worth millions of dollars, with a device stolen in London worth
01:05more in countries like China because it has none of the government restrictions put in place by
01:11authorities there. In the UK, the Met has seen adverts on Snapchat offering children as much as £380
01:18to steal a single iPhone, with a bonus of £100 for stealing 10. Sir Mark said this exploitation of
01:26children was an entry point into organised crime.
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