You may have heard the term IMEI number thrown around, what is this number and why should you care? IMEI is short for International Mobile Equipment Identity, a unique 15 digit number given to every mobile phone. Type *#06# on your keypad and most mobile phones will dispay their IMEI number, this can also be found somewhere on the phone often behind the battery.

If your phone is stolen you can report it to the Police and your Network Operator. The Operator will cancel your SIM card and send you out a new one, and if you are insured you will get a new handset as well. The problem is that someone is out there laughing at you, either using your stolen phone or counting the cash they have just managed to sell it for. Wouldn't it be great to get back at the smug theif by making the phone they stole from you stop working? If everyone started to do this would the thief continue stealing phones that they couldn't use or sell? Well the IMEI number can help.

If you know the IMEI of your phone you can give this to your mobile operator if your phone is lost or stolen, and they will prevent the actual phone from working on their network, even with another SIM card. They can do this because when your phone connects with the operators systems it gives it's IMEI number and if it's in their registry as stolen it won't allow a connection. Network Operators have begun to share this information with each other so if you report a stolen device and give it's IMEI it can be blocked from the other networks as well.

There are other uses of the IMEI number, content providers can use this number to encrypt content that will only work on your device to combat piracy.

If your mobile device is locked to a particular network operator it can often be unlocked for use with other operators by typing in a special code. This code is sometimes based on your IMEI number. There are sites on the internet that will give you codes to unlock your phone if you give them the IMEI number. You can also buy software and kits so you can do it yourself.