Peru blocks over 1.3 million mobile phones to fight illegal reflashing

The Peruvian telecom regulator OSIPTEL reported that more than one million mobile phones have been blocked this year for not appearing on the white‑list of the National Registry of Mobile Terminal Equipment for Security. In May the agency will enforce a progressive cut of 360,000 devices in three stages on the 12th, 19th and 26th, raising the cumulative total of blocked terminals to 1.3 million between January and May 2026. Since the stringent control began in April 2025, OSIPTEL has carried out over 3.8 million enforcement actions aimed at curbing the black‑market trade of illegally reflashed phones.

The measure targets devices whose identification codes have been altered to hide their original source, a practice that enables the resale of stolen or fraud‑linked phones. Mobile operators have two business days to inform affected users, who must either have the device registered through the official import‑assembly‑manufacture registry if purchased locally, or contact their provider to register the handset if bought abroad.