well you were right when you said that Asia's outside the jurisdiction of the EU therefore they wouldn't be able to trace it anymore or much worse have it locked. But before thinking about contacting the owner you may want to question the dealer first, perhaps it was just a phone that has been sold, msybe and maybe not but whatever it is you have the right to get what you paid for.

Hi, I've very recently bought a Sony Ericsson w850i mobile from a well-reputed local dealer in South-East Asia. After inserting my SIM into the mobile I discovered that there were hundreds of unknown contacts in my contact list, and the inbox and the outbox contained quite a few messages written in Swedish. It seemed that the mobile was last used around November 2009. This is 2011. I'd like to know if there's a chance of the mobile finding its location back to its owner if I deposit it to the police (highly doubtful, cops don't have time for this), or if I should get a refund from the seller (possible), or if I should just use the mobile given that Asia's outside the jurisdiction of the EU? Also, the recycling company that sent the mobile in this part of the world didn't seem to bother to check up the database and make sure if the second-hand mobile was reported stolen or not. I see it's the recycling company's responsibility to check up the stolen database, rather than taking bribes to export stolen mobiles. Would it be harmful to contact the owner and inform regarding the mobile's whereabouts?