13,500 VIVO Smartphones Found Using Same IMEI Number

The Cybercrime cell unit of Meerut Police has filed a case under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Vivo India after thousands of smartphones were found with the same IMEI number.

• The police conducted a five-month long investigation and found that 13,500 Vivo smartphones ran on the same IMEI number
• The IMEI was also responsible, at least in part, for stemming the growth of black market mobile phones long ago

Well, this is not the first time we’re hearing about something like this. Back in 2012, a similar incident came to the light where 18,000 phones were running the same IMEI numbers. In 2017, the Indian government made tampering with IMEI a punishable offence with three years’ jail term. A similar case but on a massive scale was found back in November 2019. More than one lakh stolen mobile phones were reported running same IMEI numbers by the police department.