The Home Office is to target young people to tackle mobile phone theft. Under plans being considered by the Home Office, 11 to 17-years-old are to be made aware of the seriousness of mobile phone theft and of their trade on the black market.
The campaign, due to be given the green light by the Home Office later this month, will educate school children about mobile phone theft in the playground and the implications for bullies who might force children to part with their handsets.
Home Office statistics show that schoolchildren are at least five times more likely to be targeted by mobile phone thieves than adults.
Under the campaign, young people will be encouraged to register their mobile phone's unique identity code with a national database set up by the UK's five mobile operators in November 2002. In the event of a mobile being stolen, once the tamperproof code has been registered with the database, it is then rendered unusable.
