News Nearby: Why Do Decatur Robbers Go After Cell Phones?

Cell phones have been the targeted loot in several of Decatur's recent robberies.

Decatur police Chief Mike Booker thinks that's because a national trend has taken root here: the thieves are converting the phones into hundreds of dollars in quick cash at ecoATMs, self-service electronics recycling kiosks found at Atlanta area malls.

The Washington Post says ecoATMs work like this:

An ecoATM can operate without a human being. The kiosk automatically scans a person’s ID, snaps a picture of the customer and takes a fingerprint.

It then automatically checks the unique phone ID against a local database, which is updated regularly. If the ID isn’t on the list, the machine dispenses cash to the user.

Booker said police have not linked any local thefts to ecoATM. The company website says kiosks have theft safeguards and that less than one out of 4,000 devices collected by ecoATMs has been reported lost or stolen.

Booker said the numbers are misleading becasue the kiosk registers a phone by its serial number, which most victims don't know when they report a theft.

The phone number is inconsequential. The ecoATM doesn't ask for that information.

The Washington Post story about the trend pointed out another problem. The local police database might not be comprehensive or include out-of-state phone thefts.

In Decatur's most recent robbery, a juvenile is accused of snatching an iPhone from the table where a woman was dining outside a restaurant on the Court Square last Sunday.

No weapon was used Sunday, but since Feb. 6 phones were taken at gunpoint from two women walking down Ponce de Leon Place, a grandmother with a 5-year-old on Commerce Drive, an Agnes Scott student on Church Street and a woman near the East Lake Marta station.

EcoATM says police are unfairly targeting the company.

In a Huffington Post story, ecoATM marking director Ryan Kuder said "the company tries to prevent thieves from receiving cash for stolen phones by checking IDs and holding phones for 30 days or longer, to give police time to see if any are stolen. 'We have tried to make ecoATMs the worst place for thieves to get rid of stolen phones,' he said in an interview."

Business week, in a story headlined "EcoATM, the Automated iPhone Pawn Shop," said the "average going rate for a slightly damaged iPhone 4 or 4S is $175; a beat-up Samsung Galaxy S generally fetches about $60."

The Business Week article said ecoATM resells the phones to insurance and warranty companies. When phones or broken or lost, the companies usually replace them with used phones instead of new ones, the article said.

In Atlanta, ecoATMs can be found at North DeKalb, Northlake, Perimeter, North Point and Greenbriar malls, according to the company website.