Hacking Truths recently posted about an email scheme that lets you track down your lost mobile phone (cell phone) by simply emailing details including your name, address, and phone’s IMEI number (which you diligently noted down before you lost the phone) to an odd address cop@ vsnl.net. IMEI is International Mobile Equipment Identity number.

I did a quick search for this suspicious-seeming approach to phone retrieval and found lots of blogs in India discussing the method stretching back several years.

All of them tell you to send: An IMEI number-The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number is an international identity number used to uniquely identify a mobile phone. The 15-digit IMEI number is an electronic fingerprint transmitted every time a phone is used, which reveals the identity of the mobile handset.

How can I find out my IMEI number? IMEI numbers are independent of the phone number and are usually written underneath the battery or on the back of the handset. Mobile phone users can also check their 15 digit IMEI number by dialling *#06# on their mobile handset. Mobile phone owners should make a note of their IMEI number and keep the details in a safe place.

If u lost your mobile, send an e-mail containing the following info: your name, address, phone model, make, last used number, email address, date the phone was lost, and IMEI number. They all assert that there is apparently, “No need to go to police station”.

I haven’t seen any mention of success with this service and it smacks of an ID theft scam to me, although that’s just a gut feeling rather than an evidence-based assertion. Worryingly, there is no explanatory web site at www.vsnl.net, although the domain VSNL.net is connected in its WHOIS file to servers for vsnl.net.in, the telecoms organization in India.

What’s going on? Is this just an overloaded system that is simply broken, or is the cop@vsnl.net a harvester for personal information ?