Story Archive

Hold The Phone

“Axel” is a vendor in a Mexico City, Mexico, market. He won’t reveal his real name because he doesn’t want the police to accuse him of selling fake merchandise. His product: fake cell phones. But, he says, his customers know they’re fake. “It’s useful for robberies, the large number of muggings happening in Mexico City,” Axel said. “They say ‘hand over your cellphone, give me everything’, and people know now they have to hand over the phone quick, in a matter of seconds, so they hand over these phones and often the thieves don’t realize it.” The dummy phone market has grown in Mexico City as violent muggings rose to an average of 70 per day. The fake phones cost 300 to 500 pesos (US$15-25) and are a much lower-cost alternative to turning over your actual phone — not to mention the personal data stored in them. “Obviously there are problems,” Axel said, “because if the criminals search it or find out ... there is going to be a problem.” (MS/AP) ...Hopefully, the robber is a bigger dummy than the phone.