What To Do If Your Cell Phone Is Stolen or Lost in Costa Rica

In a move to combat the growth of theft of cellular telephones in Costa Rica, the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (SUTEL), has adopted similar measures as used in other countries.



According to SUTEL press officer, Eduardo Castellón, some 285 mobile phones are stolen daily in Costa Rica, the majority of which are cellular phones connected to the Kölbi (ICE) network, the operator with the largest number of users.

Using the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) the SUTEL can have lock out any cellular phone (this includes a tablet with a 3G/4G ability) reported stolen or lost by its owner. The lock out will then be communicated to the other 219 countries and nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators subscribed to the GSM Association (GSMA), an association of mobile operators and related companies devoted to supporting the standardizing, deployment and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system.

If you cell phone is stolen or lost in Costa Rica you need to call your operator immediately and report the loss.

What to do if you find your lost cell phone If you find or for some divine intervention your stolen phone is returned to you, you can't simply put in a SIM chip and use it if you have made a report. The mobile unit is not able to recognize you. To have your cellular phone once again making and receiving calls you will now have to contact your operator, prove that you are rightful owner of the mobile unit and have it reactivated - that his have the IMIE block removed. Important to note here that the blocking of the IMEI only blocks the "telephony" functions of your cell phone. For example, an iPhone or Galaxy has many more functions than just a phone. Blocking the IMEI does not block the WiFi, the use of apps, music, photo sharing or even using Skype or any other "internet calling" services.

If your mobile phone is connected (registered) to a Costa Rican operator, the following are the numbers to call, depending on the operator:

• If you are Claro customer call *10 (from another Claro phone) or 7002 7002 from any other cell phone or landline

•  f you are Movsitar customer call 1693 from any cell phone or landline

• If you are Kölbi (ICE) customer call 1193 from any cell phone or landline

• If you are FullMovil customer call 555 from another FullMovil phone or 905 FULL MOVIL from any other cell phone or landline

• If you are TuYo customer call 1718 from any cell phone or landline

The IMEI blocking is a FREE service. If your operator (in Costa Rica) tells you otherwise, you can report it to the SUTEL.

After the call, your operator will review the calls made up to the time of the report and them block the IMEI and within 24 hours of the call, the information will be relayed to the 219 countries and operators of the GSMA.

Once the information is relayed, your stolen or lost phone is then useless to anyone who finds or has paid for it. Unlike in the past, putting a new SIM chip in a stolen or found found is useless, for the blocking is of the mobile unit's core information and not related to the SIM chip used.

It is important to note that the operator can only block the IMEI that they have on record with your assigned number. That is, if you put your SIM chip registered on another mobile unit, the operator will not know that and will only block the IMEI of the mobile unit on record. Your operator may accept you giving them a new IMEI - the IMEI of the actual phone lost and not the one on record.

To ensure that you will be able to block the correct mobile unit, best is to register the phone currently in use with a particular SIM chip.

The IMEI
The International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI (play /aɪˈmiː/) is a number, usually unique, to identify GSM, WCDMA, and iDEN mobile phones, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. It can also be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones.

The IMEI number is used by a cellular network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing that network. For example, if a mobile phone is stolen, the owner can call his or her network provider and instruct them to "blacklist" the phone using its IMEI number. This renders the phone useless on that network and sometimes other networks too, whether or not the phone's SIM is changed.

The IMEI is only used for identifying the device and has no permanent or semi-permanent relation to the subscriber. Instead, the subscriber is identified by transmission of an IMSI number, which is stored on a SIM card that can (in theory) be transferred to any handset. However, many network and security features are enabled by knowing the current device being used by a subscriber.

Confused?
If you are confused between a SIM, IMEI, GSM, 3G, 4G, etc. don't worry, it is really all very simple. If you lose your cell phone, just call your operator and report the loss. The operator will then do all the rest.