13,000 Vivo phones sharing same IMEI

Author’s note: Originally published as “Over 13,000 Vivo phones caught sharing same IMEI numbers”.

When your phone’s and your friend’s phone share the same IMEI number, there something goin’ on. Over 13,000 Vivo phones were caught sharing the same IMEI numbers in India.

According to a tweet by Jitender Sharma of Techradar, a police officer found his phone’s IMEI number on another phone when he was in for a repair. After the repairs made to his device, his phone would always have an error.

He then found out that this error was a result of devices having the same IMEI number.

International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is a unique number identifier for mobile phones similar to fingerprints. It identifies each device with a set of letters and numbers for officials to easily track a lost or stolen device.

IMEI numbers are also a unique identifier for Telecoms to carry out networks to mobile devices through SIM cards. After further investigation, the police decided to file a case against smartphone manufacturer Vivo.