If you find a phone on the street, is it considered theft? What to do if you find a phone on the street: possible consequences.

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If you find a phone, what should you do with it?

I would look at my father’s or mother’s number in my contacts and call them. If there are no such contacts, then I would dial recent calls, friends, etc. In any case, I wouldn’t take someone else’s thing for myself.

Good afternoon About 10 years ago I would have kept the phone for myself, but now cellular telephone- it's more of a necessity. Therefore, for the owner, these are lost contacts, photos, etc. If I were you, I would find a relative in my contacts - mom, dad, brother, sister and call them and tell them where they can pick him up.

Once upon a time, maybe I would have kept it for myself, but now cell phones are not in short supply, I have a lot of them, even though they are the simplest ones. Therefore, I would try to return the phone anyway, I would find where and who to call. But my very simple but nice Samsung was stolen three times right from my workplace. I blocked my SIM card, then restored it. I bought exactly the same phone number, but it was stolen again.

My child and I were walking on the playground and I found a phone. He was discharged. I picked it up at home Charger and daddy found a contact in the phone book, called and reported the phone she had found, and told her where to go. An hour later a girl came with chocolate :)

I once found a phone. I waited for the lost ones to call. They called, I said how to find me, come, I’ll give you. They came, took it, said thank you and left. In that case, I would at least give you a chocolate bar. Anyway. It was the first day of Lent and I took it as a sign to do a good deed.

Turn it on and look at the phone book.

Find the phone numbers in it - Mom, brother, sister, husband, brother, matchmaker, wife. Call, introduce yourself, tell us where you found the phone and say that you would like to return it.

Make an appointment. Sometimes people are afraid of such calls. But if they contact the owner of the phone, he will contact you.

There is no need to go to the police. You will sit there all day. Write, fill out papers. Where, how, what, why, why and under what circumstances did you find the phone. You will waste a lot of time and a lot of nerves.

If it doesn’t have a SIM card, then take it for yourself if it’s good, or if you don’t have a phone at all. Give it to someone.

Or just throw it in the trash.

It depends where you found it. If in public places. Like a store, supermarket, hostel, theater, cinema, well, you get the idea. And give it to the seller or the commandant. Since people will still look for it and go to places where it is it was day. And ask if you saw the phone.

There are many ways, envy what goal you are pursuing, and what kind of soul you are as a person.

Someone will look for the victim until the last minute to give it back, and someone will throw away the SIM battery and everything in order to take it for themselves.

It depends on what kind of person you are, and depends on how your conscience will gnaw at you. For example, if I found it, I would give the phone away; you won’t make much money on it, but people are different, but depending on what model, if it has GPS, they will even find it in a pawnshop, and who sold it and where they took it, and they may think that it was stolen. But when I found a regular one, he returned it, even treated me to beer, and became friends with the guys. My opinion is that you don’t need him if you’re not a gopnik. In the phone there will be, for example, mom, dad, wife, or dial anyone and ask whose phone number and how to contact to return it.

1. Turn on your phone and find contacts such as mom, dad, wife, son, daughter and others. Make an appointment with the owner to hand over the phone.
2. If the first option does not help, take the phone to the police. True, this procedure will take quite a lot of time.
3. The most ineffective option is to advertise in newspapers, the Internet, etc.

First of all, we must try to return it to the owner. For example, look into phone book and call numbers with which he himself can be associated, usually these are phones from the categories work, home, just someone by name, etc. If you can’t call (the phone is dead, the PIN code is unknown, etc.), all you have to do is hand it over to the lost and found office or to the police, and they will look for the owner there.

Another option is to submit an advertisement in newspapers about the location of the phone and look through advertisements about lost items (in case there are such ones).

But with all this, you need to remember that you should take something that is just lying on the ground, forgotten in transport, etc. phone should be used with caution. There is a special type of criminal who throws in this way supposedly ownerless things, wallets, etc., and then, when they pick it up, several people come up in turn and begin to find out who took it and how, the owner is present among them. Let's say you give him the wallet you found, and he declares that there is not enough money in it, or that the returned phone was deliberately damaged, and the like. As a result, you still find yourself in the end, possibly beaten and certainly not only not having acquired the find, but also having lost everything (or a significant part of yours) irrevocably.

Call one of the numbers stored in the phone and contact the owner for a refund.

In the spring, I found an iPhone in a toilet stall in the Louvre. Then I simply gave it to a representative of the museum administration.

I had similar situations. The phone was turned on, I was able to enter the phone menu. I looked at the call history and called from the found phone at last number. They picked up the phone, explained the situation, and found the owner.

Often, if the phone is not locked, all information about the owner can be found inside. You can find contact details for anyone’s mother, husband, son, and the like; by calling them, you can reach the owner of the device.

Well, otherwise, you can contact law enforcement agencies, place advertisements on the Internet, in newspapers.

It’s definitely not worth appropriating someone else’s phone number.

How to make yours mobile phone untraceable?

Editor's response

The only way Avoiding your phone being tracked means not using it. Once the phone is connected to the network (mobile or fixed line), the network already determines its location.

Equipment cellular network registers not only the subscriber number, but also a number of other parameters, in particular, the IMEI code - a unique identifier of mobile equipment that manufacturers assign to each device during manufacturing.

Typically this is a 15-bit number that serves to identify a device on the network and is stored in the device’s firmware. The IMEI code is also used to track phones, for example to block stolen phones - i.e. Even changing the SIM card will not allow you to avoid tracking your phone using its unique identifier.

In older devices, the IMEI code could be changed using a special software, but now equipment manufacturers are constantly strengthening protection, which makes changing the IMEI code impossible.

The place where you are can easily be cleaned by special services and operators cellular communications, if they have access to coordinate information base stations, or if your phone has GPS receiver, the phone is turned on, an active call to the subscriber is not required.

Is there any benefit to surveillance?

By tracking the location of a cellular subscriber, state security agencies can quickly find a wanted criminal.

Also, using a mobile phone signal, doctors or rescuers can find the victim. This is why it is important for cellular operators to use technologies that provide sufficiently high accuracy in determining the subscriber’s location.

The ability to track also allows relatives to receive information about the whereabouts of a child or elderly relative at any time. Many operators have this service in their tariff plan.

How to find out where a mobile phone subscriber is?

Cellular operators whose services the subscriber uses provide geolocation services, but, as a rule, the other subscriber must agree that information about his location will be provided to someone else. Here are some of the services provided.

"Smeshariki" (Megafon)

The “Smeshariki” tariff plan from Megafon provides the “Beacon” service. It is designed for children so that parents can always obtain information about the whereabouts of their child. The location is done by calculating the distance of the mobile phone to the antenna tower. The calculation accuracy ranges from several hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. However, there are limitations to location searches. Search is allowed no more than 5 mobile devices and with the consent of the subscriber.

"Mobile employees" (MTS)

The Mobile Employees service from MTS allows you to determine the location of company employees and vehicles. You can determine the location on the detailed electronic map(more than 300 cities of the Russian Federation), control the presence of employees inside or outside the specified geographical zone and receive messages about violation of zone control conditions, take into account work time employees working outside the office.

“Child under supervision” (MTS)

The “Child under supervision” service allows parents to see the location of their child’s phone on the screen of a smartphone or tablet. Mobile app“Where are the children” is available for installation on smartphones and tablets based on Android 2.3 OS. The location function works even if the child has the most basic mobile phone.

How is subscriber tracking done?

Information is collected in several ways: when a cell phone establishes a connection with an operator’s tower, when using wireless networks Internet Wi-Fi. Antenna towers analyze the signal sent by the mobile phone and then calculate which towers are closer to the mobile phone. The location of the mobile phone is estimated by comparing the signals sent by the mobile phone to the antenna tower.

Each base station broadcasts information about neighboring stations, indicating the frequencies on which they operate. The phone constantly measures the signal strength from each of the base stations and, if necessary, selects the one from which a clear signal comes. Having the coordinates of the six base stations closest to the phone, you can accurately calculate the coordinates of the phone without any GPS. If there is no data on the location of base stations, then it will not be possible to calculate the location of the phone.

Also with the advent of the system global positioning on the ground (GPS) it has become possible to determine the location of a person using satellites. Some mobile phones have built-in GPS navigators. The network includes a number of satellites that send signals for analysis to determine the location of the mobile phone. If the system receives signals from three or more satellites, then the location is calculated quite accurately.

Is subscriber tracking legal?

The Constitution protects the right of citizens to privacy, but at the request of intelligence services, a cellular operator may provide information about the location of a subscriber for the purpose of conducting investigative measures.

Internet scam

IN Lately Many Internet users are faced with a service for locating a person using his mobile phone number. The subscriber is asked to send an SMS message with the dialing certain numbers on specified number and for 10 rubles get an access code to the service. If such an offer comes not from a cellular operator, but from third parties, then this is nothing more than fraud, warn the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Good afternoon, I am interested in the following question: if a person found a thing on the street (in in this case- mobile phone), but did not try to find the owner of this item on his own, but decided to keep it for himself. Is this considered theft? Police officers claim that this act falls specifically under the article “theft,” although there is video recording from an external surveillance camera that this thing the person picked it up, not pulled it out of his bag or pocket. After the police contacted the person, he immediately returned the found item. Will there be a trial and punishment for this?

Maksim

There's an answer

Answers

Mukhin Dmitry AndreevichLawyer

In this case, I do not observe the corpus delicti provided for in Article 160 (Misappropriation or embezzlement), since there is no sign of the objective side of the crime - “property entrusted to the perpetrator.” His actions also cannot be called a find, since the Civil Code of the Russian Federation requires the person who finds the thing to immediately report it to the owner of the thing (if he knows who it is), or to the police or local government (Article 227).

It all depends on the intention of the person - if he found the phone and he had the intention of appropriating it for himself, not giving his thing to the owner, and he understands that the owner of the thing is not watching him (i.e. a sign of secrecy), then his actions should be qualified as theft (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) Even though he returned the item to you, the crime under this article is considered completed from the moment the person who stole the item, acting with direct intent, understood that he had the ability to dispose of the item. If there was such a possibility, then this crime is over. The fact that he returned the thing (the motive for returning is not important - it could be either fear of punishment, or sympathy for the victim and other motives), then criminal prosecution can be terminated under Article 75 and Article 76 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Exemption from criminal charges responsibility in connection with active repentance or reconciliation with the victim).

I would like to note that this rule applies only to persons who have not previously been convicted and are accused of a crime of minor or moderate gravity (this includes Part 1 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). You can demand from him to compensate for moral damage within reasonable limits, so to speak , finally exhaust the conflict. If you want the person to be brought to justice, you can contact the police. Given that the phone has been returned, a clause may apply that will exempt him from liability. If this person has previously been convicted, then the return of the stolen item will be regarded as a mitigating circumstance.

In the age of gadgets, losing a phone or tablet is a common occurrence. But what should the person who found the phone do?

There is only one answer - at least try to find the owner.

The line between a hidden find and theft is very thin and often a person does not even realize that he has crossed it.

Dear readers! Our articles talk about typical ways to resolve legal issues. If you want to know how to solve exactly your problem - call free consultation:

How to report a scam site? you will find on our website.

If you pick up someone else's device, is it considered theft?

There's nothing illegal about pick up an ownerless item, No.

Another thing is that this is not recommended for security reasons, because even a small object filled with explosives capable of causing tragedy.

But no one will ever call the finder a criminal if the item appears to be ownerless.

With regard to communications and computers, everything is different. Especially if the finder knows whose gadget it is, that the owner of the phone is somewhere nearby, or may return to look for the missing item.

The presence in the device’s memory of addresses, contacts, and other data through which he could have contacted the owner’s friends or even himself, but deliberately did not do so, will also work against the finder in the event of a trial.

Then it is possible that the one who concealed the find will have to answer in accordance with the sanctions provided for in Art. 158 of the Criminal Code, that is, for theft.

Thus, in order to avoid unpleasant conversations with the owner of the phone and, probably, with the law enforcement officers, it is still better if you find the gadget, try to identify the owner or at least call the numbers in his phone book.

Possible liability for concealment

If we're talking about specifically about the find, that is, someone accidentally dropped it gadget, left it in a cafe or public toilet, and another person found it.

This is how things are in theory.

In practice it will be answer a number of questions from representatives of the law, was there an announcement on speakerphone or other channels about the finding, whether the persons whose contacts are contained in the device’s memory were interviewed.

Often the matter ends with an unpleasant conversation, especially if the finder expresses a desire to give up the phone. If the mobile phone is expensive, and the owner has written a statement of theft to the police, you may have to answer in court.

Especially if it is proven that the owner did not lose the phone, but left it, for example, on a table in a cafe, and went to the toilet.

Theft and discovery - what's the difference?

It is not difficult to distinguish a find from a theft at first glance. Mandatory component of a criminal act(Article 158 of the Criminal Code) - the fact of intentionally causing damage to another person, secret appropriation of his property.

The loss occurs as a result of a combination of circumstances, forgetfulness or carelessness of the owner. No responsibility the finder is not in danger, except, perhaps, from remorse of his own conscience.

The difficulty is that almost all phones found have contacts in their memory, and you can always get to the police station, and deliberate refusal to use these opportunities to find the real owner is reason to be accused of theft.

How do scammers work on Avito? find out right now.

What should a person who finds a cell phone know?

If you find a phone, remember the following:

you may take direction by signal(even when the device is turned off).
You are on no side you cannot consider the found mobile phone to be yours and has no right to appropriate it. The proverb “what’s lost is lost” will not work here. All things left by the owners on the premises of the establishments belong to the owners of these establishments. In all other cases, you are obliged to contact local authorities or the police station (Article 227 of the Civil Code). If you did not do this (even if you did not know about such a norm), what you found ceases to be just a find and turns into deliberately hidden property of someone else.
To you faces criminal liability, especially if the owner has already sounded the alarm and filed a report of theft.

The device, even if it is turned off, will be located and detected, even if it is already on sale.

If you file a statement with the police that you found a phone, you have the right not to give them what you found. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is not the owner of the phone. They also have no right to take it away..

After six months after submitting the application, if the owner has not made himself known, you have the legal right to consider the found phone yours.

How to find out if a phone is stolen or not? Watch the video:

What verdict can a jury reach? Find out about this from ours.

How to proceed?

Do not under any circumstances try to sell the item.

This argument may work against you if the owner has already filed a claim of loss or theft, there is a benefit, and the seller or owner of the purchase can easily identify the person who handed over the gadget.

Accused of theft

If you are charged with theft for concealing a gadget, that is an act under Art. 158 of the Criminal Code, remain calm and try to convince the investigator that you did not steal the thing, but found it.

The owner is not nearby, you were afraid to give it to strangers and now We were looking for a way to convey what we found directly to the owner.

No one can guarantee the honesty of even close friends or relatives, so you They didn’t dare hand over the device. Has the owner been found? Great, let him get his cell phone back and not lose it again.

The absence of signs of theft of property transfers the case to the framework of civil law relations, which means that a criminal case cannot be initiated.

Of course no one you don't have to prove your innocence. But in this case, the police will have a legal reason for arrest.

If you are detained

Any decision of the investigator or inquiry officer may be canceled.

Complain to the leadership of the investigative agency about the actions of your subordinate. He has the right to cancel the decision.

Contact the prosecutor's office or judicial authority(Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

In the process of challenging, contact the authorities as their competence increases: first to the local authority, then to a higher authority.

For example, before contacting the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs, resolve the issue at the level of management of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. A complaint that has serious grounds will be satisfied. The charge will be dropped.

Owner's threats

If you are talking to the owner of the phone and he throws accusations at you, do not be afraid of threats, just give him the device you found and advise not to lose anymore.

From this moment on, the owner loses all grounds for accusing you of theft.

If you really found the device, but despite all your arguments, the owner of the property and the police insist on their own, write a statement of slander (Article 128. 1 of the Criminal Code). Understanding that It’s easy to turn from an accuser into an accused, sobers up people who are intemperate in their tongue.

How to return a stolen phone - complete instructions:

If you yourself have lost your means of communication, the first step is to contact your nearest office mobile operator And block all SIM cards. Lost phone will be detected by IMEI or using a special application.

It's better not to waste time going around buying up, it's rarely ends in luck. You can advertise in in social networks, the media, ask the administration of the establishment where the incident occurred to make an announcement over the loudspeaker.

It is quite possible that someone has already found what was lost and is now intensively looking for you to give you your mobile phone.

After that contact the police. To apply you need:

general passport;
receipt (cash and sales receipt) for the purchase of a gadget.

It may happen that the phone was found, but its owner claims that bought a mobile phone. In this case, he is obliged to confirm the fact of purchase - a check or receipt. If it can’t, the device will be confiscated and returned to you as the rightful owner, subject to the prescribed procedures.

If a person actually bought a cell phone, for example, at a second hand store, where the kidnapper had previously handed him over, it will be much more difficult to return the loss, sometimes even impossible.

The best way to avoid being accused of stealing a found phone is to not give in to your own greed and take it.

But if this happened to you, and it is not your fault, immediately demand that you be given the opportunity to contact.

How to protect your personal data and what to do if your phone is stolen or you lose it:

Author of the article -

What to do if you find it on the street depends on the further thoughts of the owner of the find.

Perhaps the joy of owning someone else’s thing will cloud your mind, and selfish feelings will arise.

This never leads to good, especially since you need to remember that such means of communication are monitored law enforcement agencies, and it’s not clear what kind of trace comes from this phone.

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What is the difference between theft and an item found?

What to do if you find a phone on the street and don’t want to give it back, it’s worth understanding what’s special about a public act for which there is a penalty, since it happened with a deliberate unlawful commission.

Theft is characterized by:

appropriation of someone else's
confiscation of an item from the owner, causing material harm to the owner
the offenses were committed purposefully, intentionally

Any thing found is assessed as an act:

with receipt of a product accidentally removed from the property of an unknown person
did not cause special material damage, since the item was lost
caused by unforeseen circumstances

Correctly establishing the boundary between thefts and finds leads to the validity of bringing to justice for violations of the rules of relationships between citizens or refusal to make a legal decision.

What should I do if I found a phone on the street and want to return it? Even today, such questions arise.

In any case, if you have a multipolar desire, you need to imagine what detecting a mobile phone means:

by law it is not considered theft if it is found on the road
a smartphone was spotted on a bench in the park, the owner went away for a while and will return soon, its appropriation by a stranger is classified as theft
a found item is considered a violation, while it is known who it belongs to and where the owner is, and at any time he can remember the place of his loss
material assets left in public place, restaurant, station, bus - are considered to belong to the owner vehicle or premises until they are claimed, the return must be made to them

In order not to attract problems, you should act prudently:

give the mobile phone to the owner of the establishment or the driver of the transport if the device is found there
there is no need to pick up an item that is with other items, knowing that the owner will return for them
if the owner of the phone is known, it must be handed over to the owner
street find can be turned on and viewed in address book his close friends, call to arrange a meeting for the purpose of returning

The use of all methods of returning those that did not lead to results leads to a single path of communication to the point of law and order.

The policeman should not confiscate the phone, but only accept the statement, since in six months it will rightfully belong to the person who found it, provided that the owner does not show up during this period.

Even when law enforcement is not actively searching for an item, this agency may receive a request:

confirming the fact of a lost mobile phone

There is no point in declaring a missing phone as stolen, as it will require signs of a criminal act, and only after that, they open a case with a criminal classification.

It is necessary to prove the grounds, with their help the initiation of a case will follow:

the place was cut, there was a stolen item in it, it could be a pocket, a bag
the space where a smartphone could be stolen is limited and there were people there who were aware of its ownership
the phone was left for a short period

The investigator will consider the reasons provided; if there are insufficient allegations of theft, the case will be refused. The person will be punished if the situation is assessed and the case can be reclassified as theft without believing the statements that he found the device.

The line between these different actions subtle, and depends on the intentions of the person who appropriated the phone, even after it is returned to the owner, will be considered a crime if the signs of Article 158 of the Criminal Code are present.

This is because the criminal act is committed from the moment when someone else’s object was deliberately placed in the hands of someone else, and the person who stole it began to dispose of the property at his own discretion. It does not take into account what motive served as the driving force for the return, but the persecution with punishment may end if the parties agree peacefully. This is possible for persons who have not previously been found guilty of such offenses and who have no criminal record.

An innocent person, after submitting to law enforcement an incorrect assessment from the owner of the phone, who deliberately distorted the entire situation, will have to fight to clear his name of evil thoughts.

What to do if you find your phone - in the video:

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