You May be Sorry if You Steal My Cell Phone!

Americans tend to think they are the smarty-pants of the world, but we are dragging our rears when it comes to protecting the populace from cell phone thefts.  For the last ten years, the U.K. has had the technology to shut down stolen cell phones, rendering them useless.  Australia has followed suit, but the wireless industry in the U.S. remains unmoved by the beatings and robberies perpetrated by cell phone thieves.  In a perfect situation, there were be a world-wide deactivation of stolen phones, but it would be nice if we managed a pro-active step and encouraged other countries to follow.
It is important to know you serial number or international identity, IMEI, ICCID or MEID.  It is printed on the box your phone comes in or you can locate it on your iPhone by accessing the ABOUT screen, then
home, settings, general, about.  Then scroll down until you see the IMEI. Write this number down!
AT&T, Sprint, Blackberry, Windows and Verizon offer phone locator services, but they charge for this.  Android users can upload Mobile Defense.  iPhone users can use "find my phone" which is available on the iCloud.  Both of these services are free.  (The cloud can also locate your iPad.)
I know the after-market on these phones is the driving force behind these robberies, but I would like to call the following fact to the attention of would-be phone thieves...One in six cell phones are contaminated with fecal matter.  May Montezuma work his revenge on you low-lifes.