I think taxi driver stole my phone, not sure what to do

runswithascript

A few months ago I ordered a Oneplus X, which I absolutely love. I rarely stay out into the early hours of the morning, but I did this Monday night/Tuesday morning. I ended up with a friend of mine in a Casino until 05:00 (losing money!) and there was a Taxi driver in there who told us he could drive us back to my friend's place.

I had the phone in my hand the entire taxi trip as I was texting somebody, and it must not even have been 30 seconds after we got out of the taxi and the driver pulled off, that I reliased I had left my phone in the taxi. I rang the phone several times, it rang a few times, and then it was either switched off or the battery went dead. Andoid/Google location history shows the phone went back the same route the taxi had taken us, at least for a few roads, after which there has been no history since.

I rang the casino, they looked at the cameras and worked out who he was, and they told me that they spoke with the driver and he said he never saw the phone and that was his last fare for the night so nobody could have taken the phone if say it fell on the floor. I then spoke with a guard at a city centre station, who was in fact very helpful, and he sent a patrol car there last night to get the details of the driver, and he then rang him. He told the same thing to the guard.

The guard has now told me if I drop into the station, and bring a copy of the history showing the phone left without me, I could report a theft.

All I really want is my phone back, but it is very unlikely this is going to happen. In the beginning I wanted to believe that the battery just died on the phone, and that the taxi driver would find it or have it for me, and I hate to cast accusations, but it really is looking like he stole it, I mean he told the guard he never saw the phone but I sat in the front seat texting for 20 minutes, so he must have seen that etc.

Let it not be said there is no possibility that the phone fell on the floor or down the side of the seat etc and some other customer picked it up, perhaps the following day, and if this ever went to court it would be hard to argue against that.

I have the IMEI.

What to do?

J Mysterio

... so give the Guards the location information like they said?

runswithascript

J Mysterio wrote: »

... so give the Guards the location information like they said?

Yes I can, but it just shows it left my friends neighbourhood and then stopped broadcasting. I am not sure what good this will do...

J Mysterio

Not sure what to say. If the battery comes online again you may be able to track it.

I think you can also report the theft to your mobile carrier and they will render the phone useless (and may be able to help track it?).

runswithascript

J Mysterio wrote: »

Not sure what to say. If the battery comes online again you may be able to track it.

I think you can also report the theft to your mobile carrier and they will render the phone useless (and may be able to help track it?).

Yeah, I think they can bar the IMEI - which may lead to it being returned, it probably will not, but there is probably more chance of it turning up if it stops working completely for whoever has it. Ah I know it is a longshot, but yes I will get Vodafone to bar the IMEI tomorrow, though I think they may need a police report.

The thing is, it probably is on, just the SIM card has been removed, you know? In which case Prey which I have installed, and even Google Location Services, are useless.

Considering each phone has a unique IMEI and a uniquer MAC address, Google and/or the carriers should really put something in place so that phones can be tracked no matter what SIM is in them.

runswithascript

Vodafone just barred the IMEI.

.red.

dusf wrote: »

Vodafone just barred the IMEI.

I had a phone stolen in work a few years back and Vodafone barred the phone thru the imei, told me the phone was useless and gave me a new sim card to use in a different phone.
Turned out the bloody thing wasn't robbed at all, it fell off a table into someone's bag who found it a few days later. I believed the lad as he was a friend and why would he return it into my hand if he took it.
Got it back anyway, popped in my sim and it worked, tried a different sim and that worked too.
Rang Vodafone who weren't much help, which is the norm unless their selling somehing and will tell you what younwant to hear if it suits them..

runswithascript

.red. wrote: »

I had a phone stolen in work a few years back and Vodafone barred the phone thru the imei, told me the phone was useless and gave me a new sim card to use in a different phone.
Turned out the bloody thing wasn't robbed at all, it fell off a table into someone's bag who found it a few days later. I believed the lad as he was a friend and why would he return it into my hand if he took it.
Got it back anyway, popped in my sim and it worked, tried a different sim and that worked too.
Rang Vodafone who weren't much help, which is the norm unless their selling somehing and will tell you what younwant to hear if it suits them..

Hopefully in my case it does stop anyone who may be using it being able to!

I have an email from the Guard there, he said phones do not just disappear, that I should report it, and if it is handed in to any station or taken off someone under arrest etc, they will know it is mine from the IMEI. He said I have nothing to lose by reporting it, so I am going to take his advice.

newacc2015

Report it. Look at it this way. It could have happened to others in the past and they didnt report it. If another person gets their phone stolen by the taxi man and reports it. It will look dodgy to the Gardai if its a second theft reported on him

My mother left her phone in the back of a taxi when the taxi driver dropped her home to our house. The **** didnt return the phone and ignored us calling it.

runswithascript

newacc2015 wrote: »

My mother left her phone in the back of a taxi when the taxi driver dropped her home to our house. The **** didnt return the phone and ignored us calling it.

Yeah, that is what I think happened here. I rang it a few times to no answer, then the last time I called it it went to voicemail. I can actually see exactly where that point was on location history, which although I appreciate, is also antagonising!

Last time I found someone else's phone, it was one of the newer iPhones which had fallen down the side of a cushion of a couch in a hotel lobby. It was quiet, and I could have easily stolen it, and honestly for a split second that did come into my head, but I did the right think and first called one of the recently dialed numbers, and then gave it to reception. I would like to think most people would do the same thing, I mean obviously some do not, but you know.

- Also, it should be said, there are a lot of decent taxi drivers out there that do the right thing, I just got one of the bad apples it seems.

gctest50

dusf wrote: »

...............

Considering each phone has a unique IMEI and a uniquer MAC address, Google and/or the carriers should really put something in place so that phones can be tracked no matter what SIM is in them.

They just turn off the phone, sell it to a repair place and it'll get broken up for spares for repair jobs

Screen,digitiser , battery, headphone socket, usb charging socket, frame, back cover, all the bits that get broken

then just dump the rest since they probably only gave e20 for it

ED E

The phone blacklisting system is totally useless but it doesnt really pay anyone to organize a proper solution so its never been changed.

runswithascript

All of our phones have unique IMEI's and MAC addresses, it is surely not beyond the reach of Google/Apple, and/or the carriers to use those details combined with GPS and organise a way to track a phone if any SIM card is in it - or none, once connected to Wi-Fi etc.

riclad

my friend is a taxi driver ,
he gets phones left in the back of his cab every month.
he rings the owner ,meets them ,gives the phone back.
maybe charges them 5 euro token fee for travel time.
He found an ipad 2 worth 500 euro,
with company info on it.
I was there ,i heard him ring the owner ,and arrange meetup in rathmines to return the ipad.he charged 10 euro to cover travel time to rathmines.
not all taxi drivers are dishonest ,
if the security screen lock, pin lock is on, the driver will leave it in the 5 garda stations who take in lost property .
ie driver cannot get acess phone contacts to ring you.

see links below

http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=5500

http://garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=100&Lang=1


he may have stole it,
or just maybe he was busy ,so he left it in with one of the garda stations listed above .

dulpit

riclad wrote: »

my friend is a taxi driver ,
he gets phones left in the back of his cab every month.
he rings the owner ,meets them ,gives the phone back.
maybe charges them 5 euro token fee for travel time.
He found an ipad 2 worth 500 euro,
with company info on it.
I was there ,i heard him ring the owner ,and arrange meetup in rathmines to return the ipad.he charged 10 euro to cover travel time to rathmines.
not all taxi drivers are dishonest ,
if the security screen lock, pin lock is on, the driver will leave it in the 5 garda stations who take in lost property .
ie driver cannot get acess phone contacts to ring you.

see links below

http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=5500

http://garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=100&Lang=1


he may have stole it,
or just maybe he was busy ,so he left it in with one of the garda stations listed above .

He charges people to return their property??? Douche move..

Amalgam

dulpit wrote: »

He charges people to return their property??? Douche move..

Why? Time and fuel spent to accommodate someone else's mistake/absent mindedness, your mistake is disrupting the taxi driver's work schedule.

Taxi drivers are just.. people, good bad and everything in between. I've been offered the phone (for sale) of a previous passenger, by a driver.

Be thankful when someone tries to do the right thing, don't always assume that'll happen.

riclad

He charges zero if the meet him near where he lives, otherwise he leaves the phone in a garda station ,
or else charges them 5 euro to meet up in town.
which is quite reasonable to return a phone in 1-2 days,
a phone in a garda station may be there for weeks,
would the gardai even bother ringing the owner of a phone to reclaim it,
In 8 -12 hours the phone battery will go to zero if not used .

i found 3 phones on the street, i rang the owner and returned the phone for nothing.
i used to cycle into town 3 days a week,
people get drunk,and lose their phones on the street .
is a taxi drivers time not worth a few euro?

dulpit

Honestly I would never even have thought of asking for payment if I was returning a found item, it's like demanding a reward.

If you want to be the good samaritan, be the good samaritan. If not, hand it into local garda station. But don't charge bail money for somebody's item..

Ann22

riclad wrote:

not all taxi drivers are dishonest , if the security screen lock, pin lock is on, the driver will leave it in the 5 garda stations who take in lost property . .

Both the casino staff and rhe guards spoke to the taxi man who denied seeing the phone.

I dropped my phone once and noticed very quickly. I found the woman who'd been behind me. I believe she had picked it up although she denied it. I never got it back. She'd rung an eastern European country straightaway before I'd time to block it. Cost me €17. 02 didn't charge me though....I was raging! Really hope you get your phone back, op.

SteM

dulpit wrote: »

Honestly I would never even have thought of asking for payment if I was returning a found item, it's like demanding a reward.

If you want to be the good samaritan, be the good samaritan. If not, hand it into local garda station. But don't charge bail money for somebody's item..

Nonsense. The man is taking time out of his working day to meet someone that left something behind. He could be making money during that time so why should he loose out just because someone else made a mistake?

riclad

ITS not bail money ,you are welcome to meet him at his adress, and pay zero euros,
of course it,ll cost you time and money, bus fare etc, to travel to his adress .