Five men have been jailed this week for a total of 15 years after a £17 million ‘missing trader’ VAT fraud. A sixth is awaiting sentencing. HM Revenue & Customs conducted a four-and-a-half year investigation that involved mobile phone accessories, SIM cards and digital memory.

A survey of second-hand phones by mobile phone forensics company Disklabs (reported in The Guardian) found over half of them contained personal information that could be retrieved.

Yesterday morning City of London Police arrested nine people as part of an investigation into a suspected fraud case that's believed to have involved premium-rate international phone numbers being called on mobile phones. Officers also seized up to £15,000 worth of mobile phones along with hundreds of SIM cards and fake documents. The raids took place after an investigation in partnership with O2.

It's the so-called 'silly season' for news, so we'll forgive online insurance provider protectyourbubble.com for its list of the ten most incredible iPhone insurance claims. The company, which says a fifth of Apple iPhone users have made an insurance claim during the past 12 months, puts "I dropped it from a hot air balloon" at the top of its list. Other unexpected claims include "I lost it while sky diving", "my son used it as a table tennis racket" and "I accidentally buried it in the garden".

UK Crime Prevention Minister James Brokenshire has announced a new mobile industry code of practice that's designed to stop stolen phones being recycled for cash.

90% of handsets reported stolen in the UK are now blocked across all networks within 48 hours of reporting, making them virtually useless to criminals trying to sell them within the UK. However, until now it's been possible to sell these phones to recycling companies.