# Mobile phone recyclers refute 'stolen goods' claim

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/11/17/mobile-phone-recyclers-refute-039stolen-goods039-claim/
- Published: 2006-11-17T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Mobile phone recyclers in the UK who raise money for numerous charities have hit
back at claims that they are putting charities at risk and fuelling phone crime.

An [undercover investigation by Recipero](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/are-mobile-phone-recyclers-putting-charities-risk-and-fuelling-phone-crime)–
which runs an online stolen property identification system called CheckMEND – claimed
that some of the UK’s major mobile phone recycles were putting the reputations at
risk, along with those of national charities and major retailers, by handling and
selling stolen handsets.

The company sent handsets registered as stolen to the four biggest UK recycling 
companies via recycling schemes publicised in major retail outlets. Donations for
these phones were made to the nominated charities, which Recipero said meant charities
were receiving money from the sale of stolen goods and high street stores left themselves
open to accusations of a lack of corporate responsibility.

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Phone recycler [Redeem](https://fundraising.co.uk/recycling-appeal-passes-2-million-mark)
said it had raised more than £2.2m through recycling hundreds of thousands of handsets
and printer cartridges and had not received one complaint about incidences of stolen
goods.

A spokesman for the company said it commended Recipero’s CheckMEND service, and 
supported its use for online functions and situations where individuals stand to
gain from the sale of stolen mobiles but said: At present it is not a practical 
solution for the processing of high volumes of handsets. The time, labour and monetary
costs involved would undoubtedly impact on the funds generated for charities through
recycling.

Eazyfone Group, another handset recycler, said it uses stringent control mechanisms
in its sorting departments to identify potentially stolen handsets. When these are
identified, they are handed to the police with the name and contact details of the
person or business who sent it in for recycling.

Recipero has been in contact with the Charity Commission and asked it to make sure
that registered charities are aware of potential criminal activity and that any 
donations received from mobile phone recyclers have not been made from unchecked
phones.

The company says its services and systems have been adopted by law enforcement organisations
including UK police and HMRC, insurers and the mobile phone industry as an integral
part of the detection of property ownership, insurance and VAT fraud, false reporting
and associated criminality.

www.checkmend.com/uk/

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