What not to do if your phone is stolen

[Brother]

Previously, every time I saw messages that a person's phone was stolen, I always wondered: why? Well, seriously, why steal smartphones if:

• it can be tracked by IMEI, and changing IMEI is clearly not free;
• locks can be installed on the phone, which are also not free to remove;
• there are applications with the "Anti-theft" mode that transfer photos, videos and audio;
• even the built-in capabilities of Android (and, I suppose, iOS) have the function of geolocation of the missing device;
• the device may have special features that are rather difficult to remove "for free";
• probably somewhere nearby there are CCTV cameras, witnesses, etc.;
• when selling stolen goods for it, it will be difficult to bail out a large amount of money.

Realizing all this, I really did not understand why they steal phones, if, in fact, they are easy to find, but you can't make money from it? I didn't understand until February 8, 2019, when my phone was stolen from myself.

Please note: all of the following reflects only my point of view and is not any instruction for action or inaction.

A good lawyer would say that there was no theft, just this citizen found someone else's property and wanted to transfer it to the police for safekeeping, but not immediately, but after returning from a business trip, referring to Article 227 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation "Nakhodka", and even better convinced if he could reconcile with me, but he does not have such a lawyer (running ahead, I will say that at first there was not), but there are the following facts:

1. The phone was found in a closed private area.
2. The entire area is literally covered with CCTV cameras, and they actually record (in good quality, by the way).
3. The owner (that is, I) called the phone for 20 minutes and turned on the phone search mode (he began to call and write on the screen that the phone was lost and from the numbers for communication).
4. I caught up with the defendant when he left our territory and told him all of the above + showed the geolocation on a laptop.
5. He interfered with the activities of the police officers, exerted psychological pressure on me, and then completely threw away the phone he had found "fearing responsibility."

And now, in order. I went from the office to the warehouse (the entrance is on the other side of the building) and, on the way back, jokingly threw a snowball at my wife, didn't hit her, but got on a new phone. At the moment of the throw, the old phone flew out of his pocket and fell on the snow 2-3 meters from the entrance to the office. For our company, the situation is trivial and daily: someone loses or forgets their phone and runs, looking for it. Someone money, someone documents, someone else something. Before that, all the cases were united by the fact that the thing was returned to the owner and laughed at him, he laughed with everyone, and tomorrow we were already laughing at the new muddle.

This time the situation was different and the phone was not returned to me either immediately or later. After 10 minutes of searching, my wife assumed that it was stolen, after 20 minutes many already thought so, and after 30 minutes the mark on the map began to move confidently, and started from the place where we had trucks loading in our yard. Have we seen the mark there? Yes, they did, but guys often visit us (a freight forwarder, not a driver), they take a few million worth of goods, where would they go with this phone for a few thousand? This is the number one mistake. It was necessary to approach them and ask each of them, but we assumed that the phone was in the warehouse and the geotag was erroneous due to the shielding of the walls.

After realizing that the phone “made my legs,” I made mistake number two, driving one, mistake number three, not calling the police and reporting theft and error number four, not taking a spare phone with me to call the same police. Arriving at the place and making sure that the mark on the map corresponds to the car of the alleged kidnapper, I made mistake number five, going up to him and asking if he had found the phone, and after the bickering I made mistake number six and showed him a laptop with a geotagged whether to say that then the phone suddenly turned off).

Then it was not very interesting, I went to the office, took my wife's phone, went back, called the police, blocked the exit from a large shopping center before the police arrived, went to write explanations, went to the police many times, etc.

What mistakes have I made yet? For example, I did not take a receipt stating that my application was accepted. I handed over photos and videos on a flash drive (the fact that they lost it and they won't find it personally for me is neither good nor bad, but if they lost the disc it would really be all the same), incorrectly assessed the damage (when the police asked “how much do you estimate the damage" They are not interested in how much you can buy the same phone on Avito, they are interested in how much you estimate this damage). I gave the originals of documents to my phone and many more minor mistakes.

The last mistake (later I have already learned not to do them) was that I did not ask the interrogator to choose a preventive measure. Ideally, house arrest would be, but a recognizance not to leave would also be enough (I want to note right away that I cannot say whether this would affect or not, but it might be easier). The fact is that I live in one city, and the accused is in another, 100 km away from me, and he also works as a driver for intercity transportation and, accordingly, has a traveling nature of work. Well, so, time goes on and in the middle of May they call me from the court and ask, they say, is it convenient for you to come to court on such and such a date at so and so hours, as a victim. Of course, - I say, - it's convenient, I'll come. Excellent, - the secretary says to me, - I will send you another SMS now, so that they will not forget. Days go by, I arrive at the court at the appointed time and now we are already five of us: the judge, the secretary, representative of the prosecution and counsel for the defendant. And the defendant himself is not, he did not come. They called him, to which he said that he was 2500 km away from us, on a business trip and would not come to court. We sighed and we were scheduled for the next meeting in a few days so that he could return in time. But he didn't come again: he forgot. Then the judge began to swear that the person didn't come, but she couldn't do anything, he's not signed up. The hope remained that in 2 weeks he would not appear again, then the bailiffs would find him and put him in a pre-trial detention center, from where he would be taken to meetings. But he didn't come again: he forgot. Then the judge began to swear that the person didn't come, but she couldn't do anything, he's not signed up. The hope remained that in 2 weeks he would not appear again, then the bailiffs would find him and put him in a pre-trial detention center, from where he would be taken to meetings. But he didn't come again: he forgot. Then the judge began to swear that the person did not come, and she could not do anything, he was not under a subscription.

But everything turned out to be simpler: he came. He came, met me on the street and said: will you sign the world for me?

Here I will make a lyrical digression: I bought the phone at 7,500 on credit (by installments), glass for 600 and a cover for 400, which means only about 9,000 rubles (maybe less, but not the point). For the new phone, I also bought a cover, glass, all this is less than 1000 rubles, and I also went to the police many times (I wasted gasoline, and the flash drive does not cost 10 rubles). With the deduction of my time, which I did not evaluate so as not to become impudent (of course, 5-10 thousand thousand could be thrown "for moral suffering", but the person is frankly dumb and would hardly understand the calculation, and the court would not appreciate it), I assessed the damage 12,000 rubles, he returned 5,000 rubles to me before, and the examination said that the phone costs 4,700, ie formally already I owed him.

Well, so, he asks to sign an amicable agreement before the court, and I stand, clap my eyes and say to him: you have been doing my brains for two months, you cannot give 7000 which you swore to transfer to the card, on the basis of which I will sign something? And he makes the eyes of a cat from "Shrek" and says: within a week I will give everything. But his trouble was that I made the last mistake three paragraphs above, so I said dryly: money in the morning, chairs in the evening, and for you I will also translate: money before we enter the courtroom. And left.

We met with his new lawyer, a nice guy, polite, smiling, like a child is amazed at the amount of demands, etc. In general, although it is free, it clearly works in the interests of the defendant, not like the previous one. We went to court, answered standard questions, including about the reconciliation of the parties, I again refused. We talked about why such a sum, I explained everything (there was no mistake, dryly said that he explained everything to him, he agreed and promised to pay, but did not pay), after which the representative of the prosecutor's office supported me and said that the amount I had announced was this is the condition of the victim.

Further, the dialogue between the judge (C), the accused (O) and the lawyer (A) in an almost literal retelling:

S: Oh, do you agree?
A: Yes, I agree.

S: I am postponing the meeting for 3 days, will you give the victim money?
A: Yes, I will try ...

S: (interrupts) Here is the court and no one will bargain with you anymore, soberly assess your strength.
A: My client agrees and will bring money.
A: (uncertainly) yes, I ...
A: (interrupts, firmly): My client will bring the money.

S: Victim, do you agree?
Me: Yes, I agree.

S: The meeting is over, go out into the corridor and wait for the summons.
- in the corridor - The lawyer, smiling all over his face, begins in a benevolent voice a monologue addressed to the defendant: Do you even understand what is happening now? You stole the phone, did not go to court, you cheat on the victim, they offer you to reconcile for an absolutely adequate amount, and you grimace? Yes, the judge will now write you a fine of 15 thousand 15 thousand, slap 200 hours of correctional labor, and you will work out all this for several months, and the bailiffs will help you with this, so that you do not forget again and do not go on a business trip. And then everyone will tell your son that his father is a thief.

Apparently at that moment the defendant for the first time got the full picture of what was happening and all the possible consequences, so he swore an oath to me that he would give me the money before the next session.

And today there was a court session, this time the last. Before the court they gave me the money, I wrote a receipt and a petition to terminate the criminal case, he wrote a petition stating that he did not object, and we gave all this to the judge. The representatives of all parties asked if they agreed, they asked me whether I did it voluntarily (whether pressure was put on me), the defendant clarified whether he understood that the circumstances of the termination of the case were not rehabilitating, and after that the judge let go of everything, saying that The court's decision will be sent to everyone by mail, after which the defendant began to push the speech that he should not write anything, because (I quote) “the postmen constantly confuse everything and do not find me ”...

This was the end of the story. It began on February 8 at around 4 pm and ended at about the same time on May 30, lasting 111 days.

And now, briefly once again, what you don't need to do if your phone is stolen:

• do not hesitate to ask people if they have found it;
• do not look for it alone;
• don't be afraid to call the police;
• don't drive without a spare phone;
• do not show evidence and do not say that you found him to a potential kidnapper;
• do not forget to take a receipt stating that the application was accepted;
• do not transfer photo and video materials on flash drives;
• do not think about the damage assessment methodology, but speak as you think;
• do not give originals of documents;
• do not forget to ask for interim measures (so that the person does not disappear where).

I will not write about what to do (and to do even before something was stolen from you), there are many useful articles on this topic. Just know that there are still people around who never think about the consequences and personally I'm glad that my phone was just stolen.