IMEI gaps fuel global phone theft

Stolen phones are funneled to countries that don’t share IMEI blacklists (e.g., Morocco) and reconnected, while mass SMS phishing campaigns harvest device PINs to reset Apple accounts and biometrics. Where PINs fail, phones are dismantled and IMEIs altered in China for resale. This shows how regional defenses are defeated by international routing and credential attacks. — It argues for international IMEI cooperation and platform changes that treat the PIN as a master key, reshaping anti‑theft policy and consumer security norms.