Peru will block 300,000 cell phones over IMEI fraud
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Osiptel, the Peruvian agency overseeing private investment in telecommunications, will block 300,000 cell phones in September.
The agency plans to block the phones because they are not registered on a national list of authorized mobile devices and have links to people who previously used phones with altered IMEI numbers, unique identification codes. Osiptel will carry out the block in three phases, disabling 100,000 phones on September 15th, 22nd, and 29th.
The action is part of a larger effort to combat the illegal trade in mobile devices. The Renteseg system, managed by Osiptel, will instruct mobile companies to block the identified devices. These companies must then notify affected customers by text message and give them two business days to register their phones if they believe the block is an error.
People who bought their phones in Peru should contact the seller to register the device, while those who bought phones abroad should work with their mobile carrier. Osiptel projects this process will block over 2.7 million cell phones between January and September 2026, and 5.3 million by April 2025.
