Hey all,
I did some searching so it makes me suspect this isn't possible yet, but does anyone have a method to change the IMEI or MEID of the LG V30+ (Sprint, if that matters)? I need to change it and not just mask it.
The short story is I bought on on eBay but it was already tied to someone's account. The seller won't give me that person's contact info, Sprint won't tell me if there's a finance balance on it and if I can pay it off, and Sprint won't give me that person's contact info either. eBay declined my request for a refund, so now I'm just trying to see if I can make this thing usable at all.
Thanks!
Changing IMEI is illegal you know?
t1mman said:
Changing IMEI is illegal you know?
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I've done some research and can't find anything that says it is illegal in the United States, which is where I live. I do believe it's illegal in Europe but I don't intend to use the phone there so I'm not really concerned about that.
The way I see it I legally bought a phone. I was mislead a little bit, but the phone is not reported stolen so that means the original owner sold it legally to someone else who bought it. That original owner still owes Sprint money, but that should have nothing to do with the phone itself. So I'd just like to use the phone I paid for. I have an IMEI from an older phone that went into the toilet, so I don't really see the problem with swapping the IMEI of this one out for that one.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2249666&p=40723213
Is it google account lock ? Did you do a imei check ?
If its google account lock some sites provide service to bypass that
Imei check status - will tell you about just that the status. Could say clean , unpaid bills anything other than clean you may have to pay to get rid of that bad status aince sprint aint helping u
Another thing when you try to activate it on your sprint account they will remind you that you will be taking over unpaid payments left by previous owner. All the times i activated sprint phones a d the rep tells me that means ill be takong over payments. And on some phones wherr the rep doesnt say anything about taking over payments means phone is paid off by previous owner.
nizmoboy98 said:
Is it google account lock ? Did you do a imei check ?
If its google account lock some sites provide service to bypass that
Imei check status - will tell you about just that the status. Could say clean , unpaid bills anything other than clean you may have to pay to get rid of that bad status aince sprint aint helping u
Another thing when you try to activate it on your sprint account they will remind you that you will be taking over unpaid payments left by previous owner. All the times i activated sprint phones a d the rep tells me that means ill be takong over payments. And on some phones wherr the rep doesnt say anything about taking over payments means phone is paid off by previous owner.
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When I put the IMEI into swappa's IMEI checker it says "Financial Eligibility - Device is not eligible for resale (financed)." When I talk to Sprint (Which I've done over a few calls and trips to the store) they tell me it can't be put on my account because it's still attached to another account, but they don't tell me why at all. They've never told me if I could just take over payments for the phone, which is interesting since I've asked specifically about that. I wonder if something else is blocking this IMEI? So far I haven't been able to reach anyone at Sprint that can tell me anything about the phone's previous owner or any financial obligations on the phone.
Do you happen to know of a different IMEI checker I should try that might give me more information?
Imei checker by cavallo enterprise
I tried that on my insuranced replacement lg v30 and it gave me unpaid balance on mines
cjshrader said:
The way I see it I legally bought a phone. I was mislead a little bit, but the phone is not reported stolen so that means the original owner sold it legally to someone else who bought it. That original owner still owes Sprint money, but that should have nothing to do with the phone itself.
So I'd just like to use the phone I paid for. I have an IMEI from an older phone that went into the toilet, so I don't really see the problem with swapping the IMEI of this one out for that one.
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I'm sorry you are out the money....
But the flaw in your logic is that 2017 $800-$900 LG V30 phone still belongs to Sprint, until paid off. The person who "sold" it to you had no right to sell property they do not own (unless they used the money to pay off the balance). So, technically, they are stealing it. The only reason it's not been "reported" stolen is Sprint is probably taking care of this in civil proceedings as opposed to criminal proceedings? They are probably getting a judgement against the person. In which case, Sprint doesn't want to deal with you because that just complicates the case.
IF the person you bought it from had used that money to immediately pay of the balance, then everything would be OK. But they probably sold for lot less than owed to Sprint. (Sprint wants customers with recurring monthly payments, they don't want to be Best Buy. The financial price of the contract is probably a LOT more than the hardware cost of the phone.)
This phone was released in October. The user probably didn't make any payments, to be honest. So you would be out not only what you paid them, but probably the full amount they owe Sprint for up to two years?
Sprint also had deals where you would get a phone, get free first year service, but then be obligated to pay for 2nd year of service. People signed a legal contract. To get out of the contract they had to pay the value of what was still left. The amount owed on this phone might not be just the cost of the phone, but a year or two of Sprint service charges. I haven't seen the contract, I really couldn't care less about Sprint --- I've helped many friends escape Sprint -- I'm just speculating why Sprint isn't being helpful with you. It seems it's more than just the phone?
One Sprint deal was to LEASE TWO PHONES. LEASE one phone, get one for free:
http://newsroom.sprint.com/lg-v30-a...e-get-one-on-us-just-38-per-month-for-two.htm
In which case, they weren't even buying the phone from Sprint over two years, they were renting it.
I see this a lot with new Sprint phones sold on Craigslist and eBay -- lots of drama for some reason. Earlier this year was lots of posts for help in unlocking Sprint Galaxy S8/S8+. It's not that those model phones cannot be unlocked, it's that money was owed on them still. People were getting new Sprint phones for "free", then turning around and selling them on eBay, Craigslist. But they weren't free. They had signed a contract, and until the terms were fulfilled it was still Sprint's phones. So, it was really a scam.
In many countries, changing IMEI numbers is like changing VIN on a car. It's against the law, because either the car is stolen or some other bad intent is happening.
Sent from my carrier unlocked LG V30+ US998
cjshrader said:
I've done some research and can't find anything that says it is illegal in the United States, which is where I live. I do believe it's illegal in Europe but I don't intend to use the phone there so I'm not really concerned about that.
The way I see it I legally bought a phone. I was mislead a little bit, but the phone is not reported stolen so that means the original owner sold it legally to someone else who bought it. That original owner still owes Sprint money, but that should have nothing to do with the phone itself. So I'd just like to use the phone I paid for. I have an IMEI from an older phone that went into the toilet, so I don't really see the problem with swapping the IMEI of this one out for that one.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_cloning#Effectiveness_and_legislation
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/cell-phone-fraud
Contact your seller, explain the situation, and if the description didn't state the IMEI issue, or didn't state the item was AS-IS, contact paypal/ebay and open a dispute.
If it was stated, well, you knew what you where getting into!
Good luck!
I appreciate all the comments from everyone. Although I'm not sure that simply changing your IMEI is specifically illegal, I can see 100% how someone could use that information to do something illegal and therefore this forum wouldn't want to discuss it.
I'm going to continue to try to use the resources nizmoboy98 provided to me to see if I can learn any more (They haven't been working so far and have me a little nervous that they are also some form of scam...but I'll give the benefit of the doubt).
If that doesn't give me any additional worthwhile information, then I'll have to sell it for parts on eBay and be much more upfront than the seller was to me. I won't make all my money back but maybe I can make some. (The seller did say the phone was as-is but also said the only problem with it was it was "Activated on someone else's account" which didn't mean the same thing to me as it did to him) I've learned a valuable and expensive lesson about checking IMEIs in the future.
cjshrader said:
I appreciate all the comments from everyone. Although I'm not sure that simply changing your IMEI is specifically illegal, I can see 100% how someone could use that information to do something illegal and therefore this forum wouldn't want to discuss it.
I'm going to continue to try to use the resources nizmoboy98 provided to me to see if I can learn any more (They haven't been working so far and have me a little nervous that they are also some form of scam...but I'll give the benefit of the doubt).
If that doesn't give me any additional worthwhile information, then I'll have to sell it for parts on eBay and be much more upfront than the seller was to me. I won't make all my money back but maybe I can make some. (The seller did say the phone was as-is but also said the only problem with it was it was "Activated on someone else's account" which didn't mean the same thing to me as it did to him) I've learned a valuable and expensive lesson about checking IMEIs in the future.
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If you paid by CC, just dispute the charges with your CC company and they'll give you your money back. (Chargeback) now if the seller indeed showed it was not usable, you're outta luck.
cjshrader said:
I appreciate all the comments from everyone. Although I'm not sure that simply changing your IMEI is specifically illegal, I can see 100% how someone could use that information to do something illegal and therefore this forum wouldn't want to discuss it.
I'm going to continue to try to use the resources nizmoboy98 provided to me to see if I can learn any more (They haven't been working so far and have me a little nervous that they are also some form of scam...but I'll give the benefit of the doubt).
If that doesn't give me any additional worthwhile information, then I'll have to sell it for parts on eBay and be much more upfront than the seller was to me. I won't make all my money back but maybe I can make some. (The seller did say the phone was as-is but also said the only problem with it was it was "Activated on someone else's account" which didn't mean the same thing to me as it did to him) I've learned a valuable and expensive lesson about checking IMEIs in the future.
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Really sorry for what seems like a loss. The phone is a great phone. I hope something positive and inexpensive works in your favor.
Sent from my LG-H931 using XDA Labs
Just use some of the online services to sim unlock the phone. Screw the provider, they are all assholes.
That's if I understood correctly what you meant by "locked to another persons account"
Mr CATFISH said:
Really sorry for what seems like a loss. The phone is a great phone. I hope something positive and inexpensive works in your favor.
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I appreciate that, and even though I'm paying extra for one I'm definitely thinking it's going to be the next phone I get. I've been on a Note 4 for a long time and it's on its last legs.
adsubzero said:
Just use some of the online services to sim unlock the phone. Screw the provider, they are all assholes.
That's if I understood correctly what you meant by "locked to another persons account"
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The IMEI is tied to that account, I don't think the SIM card would affect anything.
Josh McGrath said:
If you paid by CC, just dispute the charges with your CC company and they'll give you your money back. (Chargeback) now if the seller indeed showed it was not usable, you're outta luck.
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The purchase was through Paypal, and since eBay and Paypal are generally in lock step together. That being said, I should still take a shot, it wouldn't hurt. This is effectively a bad IMEI phone, and the seller said the problem with it was it was "activated on someone else's account." Those two things don't mean the same to me.
cjshrader said:
The IMEI is tied to that account, I don't think the SIM card would affect anything.
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He's saying there are other providers who don't care that it's a blacklisted phone. That IF you get the phone carrier unlocked through an unlock code perhaps you can then use it with another service provider.
My understanding is there's a U.S. carrier blacklist covering all four major carriers. Whether there are loopholes, I don't know. Like maybe since is not actually been reported lost/stolen?
But there's also tons of U.S. MVNOs who may or may not suscribe to that list. Those MVNOs use the major carriers, like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, but provide their own SIM cards.
I'm just explaining what the other person meant. What you do is your own decision.
Sent from my official carrier unlocked LG V30+ US998
Try and search ebay for the this seller and message the seller any questions you have. Ask seller if you will get refund if it does not work . im guessing sites that provide this service knows someone that works at sprint and maybe pays them under the table to change status of imei
Hey all,
Just to close this topic I called eBay just to give it one more shot (I'd already opened a case and had it denied, even after appeal). After speaking with them, they told me it's against eBay policy to sell a phone with a bad IMEI so they will actually go through with the refund. I immediately bought another version of this phone on swappa, so basically I think this is the happiest possible ending (except for the seller on eBay, who is about to have their phone back).
Once again thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it.
cjshrader said:
Hey all,
Just to close this topic I called eBay just to give it one more shot (I'd already opened a case and had it denied, even after appeal). After speaking with them, they told me it's against eBay policy to sell a phone with a bad IMEI so they will actually go through with the refund. I immediately bought another version of this phone on swappa, so basically I think this is the happiest possible ending (except for the seller on eBay, who is about to have their phone back).
Once again thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it.
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You sent the seller back a bad phone?
MicroMod777 said:
You sent the seller back a bad phone?
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Well, with the refund it's now eBay seller's property (again)...
He can sell it to someone outside the U.S. and it will work.
MicroMod777 said:
You sent the seller back a bad phone?
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This is a year old thread ?
Related
I purchased a phone from craigslist didn't know that t mobile had a imei system and didn't have t mobile service at the time bought the phone with case phone looked brand new etc i activate phones not working turns out bad imei.
The good news is that i have the text from seller and a tmobile rep told me that he is a tmobile customer i asked if he could check if the phone was purchased on the account to check if it matched up and he told me he couldn't give me anymore information anyone know how i should go about this situation with the police?
Nothing you can do except using the phone as an ipod.
Sent From My Htc Amaze running rum+coke
Probably not much u can do especially if he included the words "as is" anywhere in the post, but if he didn't you can probably go to your local police station and file a police report and take the guy to small claims court......I think anyway.......you might want to ask Binary he's a cop he would know better then me.
will_69_67 said:
Probably not much u can do especially if he included the words "as is" anywhere in the post, but if he didn't you can probably go to your local police station and file a police report and take the guy to small claims court......I think anyway.......you might want to ask Binary he's a cop he would know better then me.
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Well he can report it to his local police station but there's not much they can do. This is actually more of a civil action unless you can provide reasonable doubt that the seller is selling stolen merchandise. And if the post says "AS-IS" or anything similiar then you're SOL. You can try to contact Craigslist and report the seller for selling stolen merchandise. They might cooperate with you to take the seller to civil court.
That's about the best that you can do.
Good luck!
That's what you get for buying on craigslist. If it was ebay at least you would have been protected.
Binary100100 said:
Well he can report it to his local police station but there's not much they can do. This is actually more of a civil action unless you can provide reasonable doubt that the seller is selling stolen merchandise. And if the post says "AS-IS" or anything similiar then you're SOL. You can try to contact Craigslist and report the seller for selling stolen merchandise. They might cooperate with you to take the seller to civil court.
That's about the best that you can do.
Good luck!
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Thanks everyone who helped, Binary i know that normally with craigslist stuff if you get scammed its pretty much on you. But the guy told me he got the phone off a upgrade and decided to stick with his old phone therefore he is lying. I also know that the number he was using to do the business with is linked to t mobile which leaves his information for the police vulnerable. Luckily my mom works at a high school and i have access to a police officer. Since you're a police officer i was wondering if i had information showing that the phone he sold me is directly linked to his account and shows that he said the phone was stolen/lost i can report him to asurion insurance and get him in trouble for insurance fraud at least. The one thing i was wondering is if he would say i stole the phone from him but i have the box with unopened accessories and text showing we were meeting up etc.
rasstar said:
That's what you get for buying on craigslist. If it was ebay at least you would have been protected.
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I don't see how this is helping can keep the negative comments to yourself lol
lajuan3 said:
Thanks everyone who helped, Binary i know that normally with craigslist stuff if you get scammed its pretty much on you. But the guy told me he got the phone off a upgrade and decided to stick with his old phone therefore he is lying. I also know that the number he was using to do the business with is linked to t mobile which leaves his information for the police vulnerable. Luckily my mom works at a high school and i have access to a police officer. Since you're a police officer i was wondering if i had information showing that the phone he sold me is directly linked to his account and shows that he said the phone was stolen/lost i can report him to asurion insurance and get him in trouble for insurance fraud at least. The one thing i was wondering is if he would say i stole the phone from him but i have the box with unopened accessories and text showing we were meeting up etc.
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I'm actually thinking that did the insurance fraud thing. He likely called Asurian to tell them that he lost the phone and would like a replacement. Asurian then puts the IMEI on a black list so it can't be activated again since it was reported "Lost/Stolen" and shipped him another. He then sold it to you. Now without a Bill Of Sale it's all on you. If you have the text message then you have his number. Contact the seller directly and inform him. Best case scenario he did not actually with full intent attempt to sell you a stolen phone. He may be able to call Asurian and say that he had found the device and they might then be able to remove it from the black list. However they will probably want the replacement back. The most that you can really do is threaten him to call the police... but this is really a civil matter. Just because you have the box and phone number doesn't mean anything. Here's an example. If you were a criminal and robbed someone's house, took their tv, computer, jewelry, phone, box for phone, etc you can also take their identity since almost everyone has bills laying around. At least mail. So they can have your name, phone number, address, IMEI, original packaging... whole nine yards. Does that still prove that you know eachother? Can he still use that to prove that the sale was legit? No way. This is a civil matter and not so much criminal so you're not going to get much assistance from the police.
My advice, contact the seller and tell him that you need ALL of his information. Name, address, contact information for his account, etc and tell him that you have to use it to get his information removed from the black list. Try to get his DL number too. Tell him that the insurance company requires a copy of it to remove it from the list. Make up something clever like that. Then use that information to file for court. It's up to you if you want to try to settle it in court or not but it's your best bet. PD has a lot more to worry about than Craigslist scams and unless the insurance company or TMobile wants to provide informatino willingly to a law enforcement official. They may or may not because they are under no legal obligation to comply unless it's ordered by the court. But again... that's really up to you.
One other option is to consult with your local prosecutor's office. Laws and procedures vary state by state, and between jurisdictions, but in Florida a lot of jurisdictions will operate some type of citizens dispute mediation program using volunteer mediators.
The idea is that by bringing both parties to the State Attorney's Office they will reach an agreement, or the more guilty party will make things right, and actually follow through on it because they believe it has a little more authority attached to whatever resolution is decided upon when in reality it may be an incident that is more civil in nature and could never be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal court.
we are talking about a $350 phone. just the court claim costs $200(at least here in IL).and there is no way you can get that guys information. the fact that he was able to sell you a bad imei phone means he is a pro, cuz not everybody can do that, you gotta have done it before. I am just curious how did you buy the phone without even trying to put a sim card on it..
What Binary said makes a lot sense otherwise not sure what else "Bad IMEI" could be implying.
If this is true, and t-mobile blacklist the phone for activation, may be you can try unlock and see if it works under other carrier such as AT&T? If works, you can try switch carrier or sell to AT&T users.
contact a subrogation service. They will scare the crap out of the guy and will get your money back...I got about 8 years ago on ebay when it wasn't so safe, someone sold me a laptop but it was just a poster of a laptop. Problem was in the description it never said laptop, it said item and it was basically a poster of laptop with its specs. so what I got was a laminated poster of a laptop for 1100 dollars. Subrogation services is a good thing. look into it.
Felinos11 said:
we are talking about a $350 phone. just the court claim costs $200(at least here in IL).and there is no way you can get that guys information. the fact that he was able to sell you a bad imei phone means he is a pro, cuz not everybody can do that, you gotta have done it before. I am just curious how did you buy the phone without even trying to put a sim card on it..
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Well i was switching from sprint to tmobile back in the day you could pop a sim in and thebphone would just work even if lost or stolen i guess things changed and i got hustled im not to worried im sure i can get it unlocked and make atleast the 330 i spent back its just that i signed a 2yr contract got scammed and want him to face some sort of consequence
lajuan3 said:
Well i was switching from sprint to tmobile back in the day you could pop a sim in and thebphone would just work even if lost or stolen i guess things changed and i got hustled im not to worried im sure i can get it unlocked and make atleast the 330 i spent back its just that i signed a 2yr contract got scammed and want him to face some sort of consequence
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U can never unlock an imei blacklisted phone.
tmobile block the imei number of the phone, when the phone ever was reported stolen lost or the guy asked for an exchange and never return it, there is no way to unlock the imei number so you are screw,
i say get together with some friends find this guy a kick his ass!!
when did you sign your contact.... If you just activated you might be under buyers remorse
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk
I was informed i could unlock and use on other networks just not tmobile with a bad imei? i was planning on selling on ebay including the info that it has to be unlocked and switched to anyone besides tmobile.
I signed the contract because i have a 14day period where i can cancel without a fee i figured i would find a way to change the imei if worse came to worse.
Last i was told by a t mobile rep that they were changing my imei and it will take around 2hours.
I thought it was as simple as putting in your sim card? I guess tmobile is getting with the times.
If the guy never used the phone asurion would never do a claim for him! They have to see the imei active for them to file a claim!
And it is possible to unblock a imei asurion can do it.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using Tapatalk
Asurion told me it was up to T-Mobile T-Mobile said no I call again
they say they are changing it for me it will take 2hours been 2hours still no service
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA App
I buy wholesale lots of phones and resell them individually on ebay. Now I have to check IMEIs on ATT and T-Mobile since they started this whole blacklist bullcrap. The bad thing is that AT&T won't give me information or tell me if phones are blacklisted or not. They'll tell me to "bring it into your local store and they can check it". I know the only reason they do this is because the store will take it away from me if it shows up as a lost or stolen device. Eff that. I already paid money for it, I can at least sell it for parts or try to get my money back!
I was on AT&T chat today, and I heard a new one that I can't understand: "It is an at&t phone but it's from a resellers account that means the service provider of that phone only buy cellphone service from us at&t that they provide to theyre customers. So with that, the account the phone came from is not directly connected with us for me to identify if the phone is cleared to be bought or not. I am sorry though."
...what does that even mean? It's an i717 Note for AT&T, so I'm confused.
Also, if I got AT&T and T-Mobile prepaid plans, could I use those SIMs to check the phones and see if they worked? This new blacklisting database is really making life difficult for me...
In sorry for the hardship for you as an independent seller but I'm beyond happy about the new black list as a consumer who has had his new phone stolen and T-Mobile basically said "oh well".
It's about time they implemented this.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
mooglepimp said:
I buy wholesale lots of phones and resell them individually on ebay. Now I have to check IMEIs on ATT and T-Mobile since they started this whole blacklist bullcrap. The bad thing is that AT&T won't give me information or tell me if phones are blacklisted or not. They'll tell me to "bring it into your local store and they can check it". I know the only reason they do this is because the store will take it away from me if it shows up as a lost or stolen device. Eff that. I already paid money for it, I can at least sell it for parts or try to get my money back!
I was on AT&T chat today, and I heard a new one that I can't understand: "It is an at&t phone but it's from a resellers account that means the service provider of that phone only buy cellphone service from us at&t that they provide to theyre customers. So with that, the account the phone came from is not directly connected with us for me to identify if the phone is cleared to be bought or not. I am sorry though."
...what does that even mean? It's an i717 Note for AT&T, so I'm confused.
Also, if I got AT&T and T-Mobile prepaid plans, could I use those SIMs to check the phones and see if they worked? This new blacklisting database is really making life difficult for me...
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It's likely a straight talk device, or a device from a reseller.
Basically, even though it's an ATT device, it was sold buy a reseller account, and not ATT. Even if it runs on the ATT network.
they dont keep the IMEI numbers from reseller phones, only the ones they sell directly, so they cant release an IMEI number for use on the network, because they have no record of it to release.
Clear as mud ?....LOL
But a prepaid sim should fire up, with the right APN settings...g
uoY_redruM said:
In sorry for the hardship for you as an independent seller but I'm beyond happy about the new black list as a consumer who has had his new phone stolen and T-Mobile basically said "oh well".
It's about time they implemented this.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Although I can empathize with you....it seems that they are doing nothing but screwing over the person who buys a resold phone. Nothing they do will protect you as the person who got it stolen, and they make is SOOOOO DIFFICULT to check the IMEI that it really just screws over the buyer who got a blacklisted phone and now can't do anything about it :-/
So, a week ago I bought an HTC One from craigslist. We met at a T-Mobile store so that they could verify the phone was clean and able to be activated. They said everything was clean and safe to buy. Phone was working great for a week and then out of nowhere earlier today all the data and cellular service just turns off completely. I try turning it off & on several times, toggling airplane mode off/on, etc. etc. Finally I go in to a T-mobile store. After 30 minutes of turning it off & on, changing the SIM, calling corporate, etc. eventually they tell me that the phone was reported lost earlier today and is now blocked.
They tell me there is nothing they can do.... am I really just out the $450 now? Is there anything I can do??? What's the point of them verifying or checking anything if this can still be done? Any help or suggestions please!?!?
The only way to get it taken off the list is if the original phone owner calls in and says it is not stolen. It can be used with AT&T but none of the carriers that use Tmobile.
What your seller probably did was make an insurance claim. Get a second phone for $175 then he never returned the old phone sold it to you made $325 and then you get screwed.
Happens a lot more often now that IMEI can be blocked since march.
If you can get a hold of the person who sold it to you and be like wtf
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
jones75534 said:
So, a week ago I bought an HTC One from craigslist. We met at a T-Mobile store so that they could verify the phone was clean and able to be activated. They said everything was clean and safe to buy. Phone was working great for a week and then out of nowhere earlier today all the data and cellular service just turns off completely. I try turning it off & on several times, toggling airplane mode off/on, etc. etc. Finally I go in to a T-mobile store. After 30 minutes of turning it off & on, changing the SIM, calling corporate, etc. eventually they tell me that the phone was reported lost earlier today and is now blocked.
They tell me there is nothing they can do.... am I really just out the $450 now? Is there anything I can do??? What's the point of them verifying or checking anything if this can still be done? Any help or suggestions please!?!?
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If your seller was the original owner, then he is committing fraud if he has later reported it stolen. Check with the seller, and if you don't get a good answer, call the police. If the phone is stolen, then you need to call the police.
Thanks both of you, I love xda!
You think the police are really going to do anything about this? I kinda figured that would be a long shot. I'm guessing if I can find the seller's contact info they either won't answer, will hang up on me right away, or maybe even change their number if they didn't already....
To me, what I can't understand is how T-mobile doesn't have a better process that is more controlled. The IMEI should be tied to an account/owner and only be allowed to be activated on another account after transferring the ownership with the owner's consent. This seems like a pretty spotty process without any kind of controls in place.
Really don't want to be out half a grand....
Unfortunately I don't see any process like that anytime soon probably minimum ten years. That's what GSM is all about freedom to get a phone anywhere anytime. It is unfortunate that this happened to you. Happens very frequently especially within first fee months of phone launch.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
jones75534 said:
Thanks both of you, I love xda!
You think the police are really going to do anything about this? I kinda figured that would be a long shot. I'm guessing if I can find the seller's contact info they either won't answer, will hang up on me right away, or maybe even change their number if they didn't already....
To me, what I can't understand is how T-mobile doesn't have a better process that is more controlled. The IMEI should be tied to an account/owner and only be allowed to be activated on another account after transferring the ownership with the owner's consent. This seems like a pretty spotty process without any kind of controls in place.
Really don't want to be out half a grand....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The police report may not help you, but eventually it is quite possible that it will get the perpetrator into a lot of trouble - maybe keeping them from hitting someone else...
wait til all the big names start sharing the IMEI blacklists.
fun times.
I called T–mobile myself a bit ago and just explained what happened. Apparently the lady put in a request to unblock it. She said it will take up to 48 hours to get it unblocked and to power cycle my phone pull the SIM out and try to make a call in 48 hours. Not sure what to think about that.... I guess I'll just give it a day or two and see what happens :/ From the research I've done it sounds unlikely they'll unblock it but I will stay optimistic.
SIDE NOTE: I found the sellers phone number and the text string of arranging the purchase. Think I should contact authorities or T-Mobile with the info or just try calling them directly?
If nothing else doesn't work, you can sell it to an Canadian or foreigner... Otherwise good luck...Did you ask for the receipt?, because when I bought my t-mobile htc one, I asked the seller to sent me a receipt.
disclaimer not promoting sale of black listed devices....
htc fan89 said:
If nothing else doesn't work, you can sell it to an Canadian or foreigner... Otherwise good luck...Did you ask for the receipt?, because when I bought my t-mobile htc one, I asked the seller to sent me a receipt.
disclaimer not promoting sale of black listed devices....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yeah I understand what you're saying and that you're not promoting me doing the same thing that was done to me. As a backup plan if nothing else works, this device could be used on AT&T right? I recently came from Sprint so not real savvy on how the SIM card / GSM networks work yet. Would I have to get the device "unlocked" to use on AT&T or a different GSM network? If so, could anyone point me in the right direction on how to do this and/or how much that costs.
Att and tmobile share imei lists.
Take that text string to tmobile. If the number that Texted you about the se is the number on his account. They can cross reference your phones imei to his number and use those texts as proof of purchase and help you.
I work at a store and if you came to me with this info I would unblock it for you....just sayin
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
clninja said:
Att and tmobile share imei lists.
Take that text string to tmobile. If the number that Texted you about the se is the number on his account. They can cross reference your phones imei to his number and use those texts as proof of purchase and help you.
I work at a store and if you came to me with this info I would unblock it for you....just sayin
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would also get fired for doing something stupid like that. You need to read up on the process of unblocking phones. Serious note, dont risk your job over something like this. Its not worth it, plus that phone is property of asurion once its reported stolen.
Do this!!!!
*Try to contact seller and get your money back
*Contact authorities and have them file a report and maybe and insurance fraud case.
*Dont waste your time anymore trying to contact tmobile. They will not unblock it. That phone belongs to asurion due to them paying for it. I would also recommend calling them 1-866-268-7221 Maybe they can assist you with something.
Good luck and hope you get your money back.
deviusdragger said:
You would also get fired for doing something stupid like that. You need to read up on the process of unblocking phones. Serious note, dont risk your job over something like this. Its not worth it, plus that phone is property of asurion once its reported stolen.
Do this!!!!
*Try to contact seller and get your money back
*Contact authorities and have them file a report and maybe and insurance fraud case.
*Dont waste your time anymore trying to contact tmobile. They will not unblock it. That phone belongs to asurion due to them paying for it. I would also recommend calling them 1-866-268-7221 Maybe they can assist you with something.
Good luck and hope you get your money back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I wouldn't be risking my job at all and there is a very strong possibility it would get unlocked. in circumstances such as this a rep can approach his manager with it and the store manager has the ability to call customer care and request the unblock. I would not be unblocking it myself
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
jones75534 said:
So, a week ago I bought an HTC One from craigslist. We met at a T-Mobile store so that they could verify the phone was clean and able to be activated. They said everything was clean and safe to buy. Phone was working great for a week and then out of nowhere earlier today all the data and cellular service just turns off completely. I try turning it off & on several times, toggling airplane mode off/on, etc. etc. Finally I go in to a T-mobile store. After 30 minutes of turning it off & on, changing the SIM, calling corporate, etc. eventually they tell me that the phone was reported lost earlier today and is now blocked.
They tell me there is nothing they can do.... am I really just out the $450 now? Is there anything I can do??? What's the point of them verifying or checking anything if this can still be done? Any help or suggestions please!?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there is your lesson learned, Don't buy phones from Craigslist! I actually in the past had that happen but on a iPhone 4S and well it actually got blocked 3 days later and AT&T said it was reported stolen. So From there on I either buy my phones on ebay or just do some AT&T loopholes to get a brand new HTC One which I did and pay the new activation price for it
clninja said:
Att and tmobile share imei lists.
Take that text string to tmobile. If the number that Texted you about the se is the number on his account. They can cross reference your phones imei to his number and use those texts as proof of purchase and help you.
I work at a store and if you came to me with this info I would unblock it for you....just sayin
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you that is encouraging. Might try this if the unblock doesn't work that the rep requested.
deviusdragger said:
You would also get fired for doing something stupid like that. You need to read up on the process of unblocking phones. Serious note, dont risk your job over something like this. Its not worth it, plus that phone is property of asurion once its reported stolen.
Do this!!!!
*Try to contact seller and get your money back
*Contact authorities and have them file a report and maybe and insurance fraud case.
*Dont waste your time anymore trying to contact tmobile. They will not unblock it. That phone belongs to asurion due to them paying for it. I would also recommend calling them 1-866-268-7221 Maybe they can assist you with something.
Good luck and hope you get your money back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. Is that the number for Assurion? The store manager yesterday called them too and they were completely useless and just said to talk to T-mobile.
Vicpdx18 said:
Well there is your lesson learned, Don't buy phones from Craigslist! I actually in the past had that happen but on a iPhone 4S and well it actually got blocked 3 days later and AT&T said it was reported stolen. So From there on I either buy my phones on ebay or just do some AT&T loopholes to get a brand new HTC One which I did and pay the new activation price for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is eBay safer than craigslist? How did you get the new phone from Att?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Why not learn a lesson from it and sell it to get the most of it ? Thats what i did in past
You can sell it on eBay say it is blacklisted at least get some money back.
Buddy of mine lost his phone made a claim. Then found his phone the day he got the new phone he called asurion for instructions on what to do he sent his new phone back they received it and got his money back in about ten days total. But they never unblocked his current phone that he found again. Here we are almost three months later his phone is still blacklisted and did nothing wrong. Called Tmobile at least ten times they always say 48 hours and doesn't do anything so he just gave up its a paperweight.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
So I went over to Ebay and I see there is an HTC One with a T-mobile blacklisted IMEI with over 40 bids selling for over $400... this is very encouraging. Only difference is that one is Unlocked and the seller said he already verified it does work with AT&T with some minor APN changes. Does this seem legit? If so, what is the best/cheapest/most reliable way for me to unlock my phone? I did research this, but it sounds like many online sites charge a pretty good fee for this and don't have the best reputation. Also, most recommended having your carrier do it, which I'm sure is not an option in my case..... Appreciate the support!
jones75534 said:
So I went over to Ebay and I see there is an HTC One with a T-mobile blacklisted IMEI with over 40 bids selling for over $400... this is very encouraging. Only difference is that one is Unlocked and the seller said he already verified it does work with AT&T with some minor APN changes. Does this seem legit? If so, what is the best/cheapest/most reliable way for me to unlock my phone? I did research this, but it sounds like many online sites charge a pretty good fee for this and don't have the best reputation. Also, most recommended having your carrier do it, which I'm sure is not an option in my case..... Appreciate the support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wont suggest you listing it as a phone working on at&t because this phone would not work in usa after a certain period(when tmobile UPDATES their blacklist with other networks) , if the ebay seller advises as such he would face the consequences . Payments are mostly done through paypal and they give a 45 day window for the buyer to claim the phone as not described . That would put you again in the same situation you are today in . You not just sell it for parts ? Get your money out of this sh*t and get yourself a new phone?
Just my 2cent !
@jones75534 sorry to tell u but most unlocking service wont unlock your phone . It is blacklisted in all the database
This might sound like a broken record with ebay/craigslist scams, you can add me to the list.
I'm going to keep it short and to the point.
- I'm a T-Mobile user, purchased an AT&T Phone (LG Optimus G) on Craigslist , which i then unlocked via ebay code.
- a couple weeks of use the phone was reported stolen, blacklisted.
> On the day of purchase I saved the craigslist ad on the computer, which contained the seller's number, and it had the date as well.
What should i do?
- Contact the seller?
- Contact AT&T Insurance Company?
- Sell it on Ebay, is it illegal?
Would greatly appreciate any help or info as I am stranded without a phone, so the sooner the better, thank you.
sasoq said:
This might sound like a broken record with ebay/craigslist scams, you can add me to the list.
I'm going to keep it short and to the point.
- I'm a T-Mobile user, purchased an AT&T Phone (LG Optimus G) on Craigslist , which i then unlocked via ebay code.
- a couple weeks of use the phone was reported stolen, blacklisted.
> On the day of purchase I saved the craigslist ad on the computer, which contained the seller's number, and it had the date as well.
What should i do?
- Contact the seller?
- Contact AT&T Insurance Company?
- Sell it on Ebay, is it illegal?
Would greatly appreciate any help or info as I am stranded without a phone, so the sooner the better, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I can put my 2 cents in, I believe I have a unique perspective on this since I'm an international buyer-
You can easily list this phone on ebay as BAD IMEI, since this phone is unlocked it can be used on any GSM carrier in the world except AT&T and T-mobile (who share blacklists), which to most people who live outside of the US like me is completely fine- who cares about AT&T honestly lol. So just list it as BAD IMEI on AT&T but unlocked for international carriers, and you'll be able to sell it for like 10-20 bucks less than a regular device easy.
sasoq said:
This might sound like a broken record with ebay/craigslist scams, you can add me to the list.
I'm going to keep it short and to the point.
- I'm a T-Mobile user, purchased an AT&T Phone (LG Optimus G) on Craigslist , which i then unlocked via ebay code.
- a couple weeks of use the phone was reported stolen, blacklisted.
> On the day of purchase I saved the craigslist ad on the computer, which contained the seller's number, and it had the date as well.
What should i do?
- Contact the seller?
- Contact AT&T Insurance Company?
- Sell it on Ebay, is it illegal?
Would greatly appreciate any help or info as I am stranded without a phone, so the sooner the better, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you could find out who's phone it actually is, and turn it into AT&T and contact the local authorities. Get the dude arrested and return the phone to its owner who's probably heartbroken without their LGOG.
In the process get your money back from the dude, he'll have to do crap court anyway they'll add that to his charges and square you away.
You're basically summed up into two probabilities, he either;
A) Stole the phone, and sold it to you. In which case you are now the receiver of stolen property, and now you're going to break the same law and sell it, again. Comical.
B) He owned the phone, and reported it stolen after selling it, thus he's probably committing some pathetic small version of insurance fraud, of which I'm sure AT&T would love to know. In this case I'm almost positive AT&T will let you keep the phone and they'll remove the blacklist since after the fact.
Bonus round: You could just call AT&T / their insurance, and tell them you have the phone, the situation you're in, and present the evidence you kept.
Just think, worst case scenario someone could effectively do the exact same thing and use your ebay ad as proof they purchased the phone not knowingly that it was stolen, and then YOU have to deal with the legality of selling stolen property. The world is retarded, have fun
[r.]GimP said:
Or you could find out who's phone it actually is, and turn it into AT&T and contact the local authorities. Get the dude arrested and return the phone to its owner who's probably heartbroken without their LGOG.
In the process get your money back from the dude, he'll have to do crap court anyway they'll add that to his charges and square you away.
You're basically summed up into two probabilities, he either;
A) Stole the phone, and sold it to you. In which case you are now the receiver of stolen property, and now you're going to break the same law and sell it, again. Comical.
B) He owned the phone, and reported it stolen after selling it, thus he's probably committing some pathetic small version of insurance fraud, of which I'm sure AT&T would love to know. In this case I'm almost positive AT&T will let you keep the phone and they'll remove the blacklist since after the fact.
Bonus round: You could just call AT&T / their insurance, and tell them you have the phone, the situation you're in, and present the evidence you kept.
Just think, worst case scenario someone could effectively do the exact same thing and use your ebay ad as proof they purchased the phone not knowingly that it was stolen, and then YOU have to deal with the legality of selling stolen property. The world is retarded, have fun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am wondering if there may be a third scenario.
C) the person that sold the phone neither stole the phone or reported it stolen, but didn't fulfill his contract and AT&T had it blacklisted.
adfurgerson said:
I am wondering if there may be a third scenario.
C) the person that sold the phone neither stole the phone or reported it stolen, but didn't fulfill his contract and AT&T had it blacklisted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touche' I'd call AT&T for sure, especially if I was using it and it cut off
[r.]GimP said:
Touche' I'd call AT&T for sure, especially if I was using it and it cut off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+ I thought the phone number on the ad would be a real number turned out it's not, i think it's a google voice number because I called and heard "could not complete your call please try again.." associated with google voice, dialed *70 plus the number and got through two rings and a end call. Does anyone know how i can find out the real number on google voice?
Idk if i should contact at&t wouldn't they want to take the phone, since it was reported stolen? Meanwhile I have the phone, Is there any way i can still use the phone with a blacklisted imei. I know I've seen some cases where Roms can give a phone a different Imei. Thanks guys for the responses
This thread is a little dated but just for clarity, a device won't be blacklisted due to breach of contract. A device is only added to the blacklist if it's reported lost or stolen.
As an aside, calling the carrier won't change the situation much. They don't want the device back and certainly aren't removing it from the blacklist.
Sent from my LG-E970 using xda app-developers app
Yeah op is likely the victim of insurance fraud.
Sent from my LG Optimus G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
CPN706 said:
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IF you can get it unlocked, you would then need to make sure that Straight Talk doesn't share the same blacklist as Tmo. I know that there are several carriers that share a blacklist with Tmo and if you blocked w/ Tmo then you blocked with them too.
If you bought it knowing it was blacklisted, then shame on you.
If you didnt know, then i would call the person back and get your money back and or get the police involved. They should of disclosed that it was blacklisted when you bought.
You have to be careful when you buy stuff like this off of craigslist. If i buy a phone off craigslist, i like to have the person meet me at a phone store the i was gonna activate it with or with the carrier he or she might have had it activated with ( they can make a note on the persons account that the phone was sold and not stolen or lost), to verify it was infact a good phone. If the person disagrees with what i want to do, then i walk away from it.. Or you can check the imei with some websites that will let you know if the phone is good or blacklisted. You have to be careful either way, cause some people will sell you a phone and then a couple of days later call and report the phone lost or stolen just to get a free phone,upgrade or to get out of a contract .
Sometimes it is better just to get the phone from the carrier to avoid all issues like this. Dont get me wrong, this doesnt happen all the time and some sellers are straight up with you. But it not worth the trouble now or in the future.
CPN706 said:
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxyuser88 is correct. Buying a phone from eBay or Craigslist or whatever is dangerous. Very few S5s are purchased outright, most are on two year contracts which are not up yet. But if you were sold a blacklisted phone, you should let the police know and try to get your money back.
That being said, if it's listed because of payment issues, it's normally not blacklisted on other carriers whereas if it's listed as lost or stolen it hits the big list that the carriers share. Of course there are exceptions to this so you never know for sure until you pay to unlock the phone and try it on another carrier. I used swift unlock to unlock my G900T so I could use it on AT&T. They were anything but swift but they were cheap at 19.99.
Anyway, good luck with it.
gspears said:
Galaxyuser88 is correct. Buying a phone from eBay or Craigslist or whatever is dangerous. Very few S5s are purchased outright, most are on two year contracts which are not up yet. But if you were sold a blacklisted phone, you should let the police know and try to get your money back.
That being said, if it's listed because of payment issues, it's normally not blacklisted on other carriers whereas if it's listed as lost or stolen it hits the big list that the carriers share. Of course there are exceptions to this so you never know for sure until you pay to unlock the phone and try it on another carrier. I used swift unlock to unlock my G900T so I could use it on AT&T. They were anything but swift but they were cheap at 19.99.
Anyway, good luck with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't you just shop around your area where small shops offer android repair. I can guarantee you that more then half of them can swap IMEI for no more then 50 bucks. Just ask tmo to send you a new sim, don't take the 0hone in.
galaxyuser88 said:
If you bought it knowing it was blacklisted, then shame on you.
If you didnt know, then i would call the person back and get your money back and or get the police involved. They should of disclosed that it was blacklisted when you bought.
You have to be careful when you buy stuff like this off of craigslist. If i buy a phone off craigslist, i like to have the person meet me at a phone store the i was gonna activate it with or with the carrier he or she might have had it activated with ( they can make a note on the persons account that the phone was sold and not stolen or lost), to verify it was infact a good phone. If the person disagrees with what i want to do, then i walk away from it.. Or you can check the imei with some websites that will let you know if the phone is good or blacklisted. You have to be careful either way, cause some people will sell you a phone and then a couple of days later call and report the phone lost or stolen just to get a free phone,upgrade or to get out of a contract .
Sometimes it is better just to get the phone from the carrier to avoid all issues like this. Dont get me wrong, this doesnt happen all the time and some sellers are straight up with you. But it not worth the trouble now or in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bought it knowing it's blacklisted then shame on him? Blacklisted or not the phone was still the previous guys belonging, he exchanged some reduction in his credit score for the phone, of course he could sell it to someone else. many people buy blacklisted devices and use on other carriers. Many big stores on ebay sell them everyday. Blacklisted are still of values and you sound like they should just be wasted threw away or something. t-mobile s5 has unpaid bill and I'm using it on straight talk with no issues. It was cheaper than a normal one but I wasn't gonna use it on tmobile so everything worked out perfect for me
---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
neshkoda said:
Why don't you just shop around your area where small shops offer android repair. I can guarantee you that more then half of them can swap IMEI for no more then 50 bucks. Just ask tmo to send you a new sim, don't take the 0hone in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changing imei is illegal
optimusv45 said:
Bought it knowing it's blacklisted then shame on him? Blacklisted or not the phone was still the previous guys belonging, he exchanged some reduction in his credit score for the phone, of course he could sell it to someone else. many people buy blacklisted devices and use on other carriers. Many big stores on ebay sell them everyday. Blacklisted are still of values and you sound like they should just be wasted threw away or something. t-mobile s5 has unpaid bill and I'm using it on straight talk with no issues. It was cheaper than a normal one but I wasn't gonna use it on tmobile so everything worked out perfect for me
---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
Changing imei is illegal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But is it really worth all the trouble, What would happen if they started to exchange blacklist info with all carriers, Then you are S.O.L. Sometimes you get lucky, but sooner or later that luck will run out. I am not saying they dont have any worth, but as long as it works then they can be used for parts to fix a broken one. That is one reason the big stores on ebay sell them. Its like buying a stolen item getting caught and then telling the judge you knew or didnt know it was stolen, but it was cheap and i should be able to use it and keep it since you didnt steal it.
galaxyuser88 said:
But is it really worth all the trouble, What would happen if they started to exchange blacklist info with all carriers, Then you are S.O.L. Sometimes you get lucky, but sooner or later that luck will run out. I am not saying they dont have any worth, but as long as it works then they can be used for parts to fix a broken one. That is one reason the big stores on ebay sell them. Its like buying a stolen item getting caught and then telling the judge you knew or didnt know it was stolen, but it was cheap and i should be able to use it and keep it since you didnt steal it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's blocked from a carrier for unpaid bills, it's not like a stolen item at all and won't be blocked on other carriers. The previous owners BOUGHT it NOT STOLE IT with their credit history and it can't be used on original carrier.
CPN706 said:
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem, but I wanted to use that T-Mobile phone with metro pcs. I decided to change the IMEI number, look it up, there are some cheap services where they change the imei and, baamm! I had signal again, however, before purchasing the service ask them if it would would with the carrier you want, if not, get tmobile, they have affordable plans, and pre paid plans and works like a charm.