In fact, cell phone theft is one of the fastest growing crimes nationwide.

It’s also a quick and lucrative crime, which is why Sen. Sherrod Brown is taking action.

His new bill makes it a federal offense to tamper with a phone’s ID number, similar to a vehicle identification number. Here’s why that’s important: If you lose your phone, your carrier can often deactivate it and prevent its reactivation, but if a criminal swaps out that ID number, your phone is back in service.

“If they can turn around and sell it without much effort, then people are going to steal them more often,” says Brown.