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An Anonymous Coward writes:

While it was once all the rage in London to steal a moped to cruise the streets for a phone to take from a pedestrian, now criminals in Bali are in on the act making brazen daylight thefts of mobile phones causing serious injuries [news.com.au] to tourists. With the cost of being medically evacuated from Bali around $50,000 a simple theft can result in multiple broken bones and life threatening injuries. After the thefts, phone users are contacted by people pretending to be Apple support to try and scam access to the devices even though they are EMIE locked and the accounts have been locked out. For decades phone theft has been an issue with rebirthing and part replacement fueling brutal thefts seen in London and Bali. In theory EMIE locking should be sufficient to reduce or prevent this type of crime as the phone is rendered worthless, but instead of decreasing this type of crime is now on the rise.

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