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Lost HTC 7 Pro - But still have IMEI number...can anything be done to lock it for goo

Hi Guys,
I lost my phone one night. I am not in hope of finding it, but I do not want thief to profit from the occasion.
I have the IMEI number still at hand. Is there anything that can be done?
(NB: I did not have a phone/sim lock on the phone and the thief deleted the findmyphone function WP7 has)
Many thanks in advance,
Jason

jasonchiu said:
Hi Guys,
I lost my phone one night. I am not in hope of finding it, but I do not want thief to profit from the occasion.
I have the IMEI number still at hand. Is there anything that can be done?
(NB: I did not have a phone/sim lock on the phone and the thief deleted the findmyphone function WP7 has)
Many thanks in advance,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you really want to pursue it, you can ask your cell phone company to try and give you a rough location of where it is through cell triangulation, although that may be difficult to get them to do. Otherwise, you can tell them to Blacklist the IMEI number so that it can't be used on any networks.

Product F(RED) said:
If you really want to pursue it, you can ask your cell phone company to try and give you a rough location of where it is through cell triangulation, although that may be difficult to get them to do. Otherwise, you can tell them to Blacklist the IMEI number so that it can't be used on any networks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tips.
I tried to block the IMEI in Hong Kong, but my service providor (Smartone Vodafone) said they dont provide such service.
When I went back to the UK, I called up T-Mobile and someone from an India call centre said they blocked it for me, but the "reassuringly" told me it can be easily unlocked by someone who knows mobiles well...
Are there any sites or places I can submit the IMEI number to?
Many thanks,
Jason

jasonchiu said:
Thanks for the tips.
I tried to block the IMEI in Hong Kong, but my service providor (Smartone Vodafone) said they dont provide such service.
When I went back to the UK, I called up T-Mobile and someone from an India call centre said they blocked it for me, but the "reassuringly" told me it can be easily unlocked by someone who knows mobiles well...
Are there any sites or places I can submit the IMEI number to?
Many thanks,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can't be "unlocked". The person would have to spoof or change the IMEI number, something which I've been able to ever do on 1 phone (original iPhone). But the reason I did it is not because it was stolen, but because I didn't want a data plan that AT&T was forcing on its customers, so I made the phone appear as another phone. I don't think it can be done easily on most phones.
I don't think there are any websites you can submit the IMEI number to. I believe there's a global IMEI blacklist database that most responsible carriers choose to enforce.

Cheers for the details.
I too was shocked that Smartone Vodafone did not offer IMEI blocking.
I hope t-mobile really did block the IMEI number.
I was a bit sceptic as all the CS Agent did was take note it and that was it. She didnt ask for any details about me either.
Product F(RED) said:
It can't be "unlocked". The person would have to spoof or change the IMEI number, something which I've been able to ever do on 1 phone (original iPhone). But the reason I did it is not because it was stolen, but because I didn't want a data plan that AT&T was forcing on its customers, so I made the phone appear as another phone. I don't think it can be done easily on most phones.
I don't think there are any websites you can submit the IMEI number to. I believe there's a global IMEI blacklist database that most responsible carriers choose to enforce.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Unblocking IMEI once phone is retrieved?

This question is geared towards an iPhone, but it should be the same for any phone.
My girlfriend's phone was stolen yesterday and given repetitive attempts to contact the thief and offer money to get it back, in her haste she asked the cellphone company to block her IMEI.
My question is, since we know the thief has seen my messages to him with my contact number and the offer of a good reward, if I recover the phone, can my girlfriend unblock/unblacklist her phone IMEI. I don't mean illegally changing the IMEI, I mean legally. I'm just wondering if IMEI blocking is a one way street or if she can present herself in her cellphone company with her purchase receipt and her contract (if she ever recovers her phone) and they unblock her phone for her again.
Thanks for any help.

god. it's not very simple i don't think, although it is possible. you need to prove you own the phone(proof of purchase) and then ring up the network provider who blocked it i think, and then they will unblock it, and eventually the other networks should also unblock it.

Assuming you're with AT&T (since you said IMEI). All you need to do is have your friend call in and ask for it to be unblocked. They'll unblock it as long as the request is coming from the person who initially requested the block.

T-Mobile Blocked IMEI

Hey everyone, I have seen someone Samsung Galaxy S3's on craigslist for like $300 and their IMEI is blocked. Meaning either stolen, blocked, or the owner didn't pay a bill.
I honestly can care less, I just want to know if T-Mobile blocks an IMEI if I can still use Simple Mobile on it, or I will have to unlock it to use a AT&T or other GSM carrier. My main concern is for Simple Mobile though since it is my current network.
Also, I have heard of changing the IMEI, can anyone provide information about that?
Thanks.

MasterGGM said:
Hey everyone, I have seen someone Samsung Galaxy S3's on craigslist for like $300 and their IMEI is blocked. Meaning either stolen, blocked, or the owner didn't pay a bill.
I honestly can care less, I just want to know if T-Mobile blocks an IMEI if I can still use Simple Mobile on it, or I will have to unlock it to use a AT&T or other GSM carrier. My main concern is for Simple Mobile though since it is my current network.
Also, I have heard of changing the IMEI, can anyone provide information about that?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would get the ESN and call to see if they would activate it. That's what we used to do when I sold cell phone years ago.

The imei is the gsm equivalent of esn. Anyway, call them before you buy, and simple mobile is a T-Mobile subsidiary so if it's blacklisted on tmo it won't work on simple because the towers refuse to work with you. I say just call tmo and they might help you, but don't tell them you want to use it on simple because they might not.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2

No, it won't work on Simple Mobile, because Simple Mobile runs on T-Mobile. You're not allowed to discuss buying phones not owned by the seller. You don't own the phone if you pay the $200 to buy it and then stop paying the bills.

I have purchased CDMA phones on Craigslist for years now. I bought one phone with a bad ESN and learned the most important lesson with regards to buying a cell phone second hand...activate the phone before handing over any cash. If that means taking it to one of these places or meeting the seller at a place that unlocks phones (unless you have a laptop and the means to unlock it yourself prior to purchasing). Also even with the phone not activate it should still call customer service. Verify that the IMEI is good. If a seller acts shady when you tell them you are going to do this...save your gas.

how??
MasterGGM said:
Hey everyone, I have seen someone Samsung Galaxy S3's on craigslist for like $300 and their IMEI is blocked. Meaning either stolen, blocked, or the owner didn't pay a bill.
I honestly can care less, I just want to know if T-Mobile blocks an IMEI if I can still use Simple Mobile on it, or I will have to unlock it to use a AT&T or other GSM carrier. My main concern is for Simple Mobile though since it is my current network.
Also, I have heard of changing the IMEI, can anyone provide information about that?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can it be blocked when its a gsm? if its stolen you jus pop your sim in it and thats it it still works.
blocked imei i never heard of. can someone please clarify?

intrygue83 said:
How can it be blocked when its a gsm? if its stolen you jus pop your sim in it and thats it it still works.
blocked imei i never heard of. can someone please clarify?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can block an IMEI like you can block an ESN now if the phone is lost, stolen, or has an unpaid balance.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Product F(RED) said:
You can block an IMEI like you can block an ESN now if the phone is lost, stolen, or has an unpaid balance.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Galaxy S 3 stolen yesterday. There is no way for me to get it back, I can get over that. What I can't get over is someone having my 3 month old phone and being able to use it with no problems.
I contacted T Mobile on 3 separate occasions to see if they could block the IMEI number because I have the original packaging. I was told from 3 different account specialists that T Mobile CANNOT block the IMEI. Whoever stole my phone just has to pop in a new sim card and the stolen phone will work just fine, and there is nothing I can do about it.
If anyone knows how I can get my stolen phone blocked, I'd love to hear how.
Adam

boda05 said:
I had a Galaxy S 3 stolen yesterday. There is no way for me to get it back, I can get over that. What I can't get over is someone having my 3 month old phone and being able to use it with no problems.
I contacted T Mobile on 3 separate occasions to see if they could block the IMEI number because I have the original packaging. I was told from 3 different account specialists that T Mobile CANNOT block the IMEI. Whoever stole my phone just has to pop in a new sim card and the stolen phone will work just fine, and there is nothing I can do about it.
If anyone knows how I can get my stolen phone blocked, I'd love to hear how.
Adam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Escalate it and tell them you need that phone marked lost or stolen. They do it for non-payment, they can do it for lost or stolen phones.

Product F(RED) said:
Escalate it and tell them you need that phone marked lost or stolen. They do it for non-payment, they can do it for lost or stolen phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for the reply. On all three occasions I escalated the matter as high as I could. Have you had an IMEI blocked personally by calling T Mobile?

boda05 said:
Thanks so much for the reply. On all three occasions I escalated the matter as high as I could. Have you had an IMEI blocked personally by calling T Mobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on Straight Talk AT&T. I've never had experience doing that, but I know it's possible because people have been scammed and end up with lost/stolen/non-payment T-Mobile phones that won't register onto the network.

well..
boda05 said:
Thanks so much for the reply. On all three occasions I escalated the matter as high as I could. Have you had an IMEI blocked personally by calling T Mobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry your phone was stolen but doing that is not going to stop anything. If it was password protected then they won't has access to it.
until they bring it to someone like myself who can wipe it and reuse it. Its a GSM so all i have to do is wipe it n pop a new sim in it and wola.
That's just how it is

intrygue83 said:
Sorry your phone was stolen but doing that is not going to stop anything. If it was password protected then they won't has access to it.
until they bring it to someone like myself who can wipe it and reuse it. Its a GSM so all i have to do is wipe it n pop a new sim in it and wola.
That's just how it is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Product F(RED) said:
I'm on Straight Talk AT&T. I've never had experience doing that, but I know it's possible because people have been scammed and end up with lost/stolen/non-payment T-Mobile phones that won't register onto the network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I've read many stories about people buying a used phone from a person and the imei being blocked. I am just confirming/questioning that this isn't possible (whether it's a recent thing or ever) with T Mobile.

This seems like a good way for stolen phones to be blocked, but what about customers that report their phones stolen to t-mobile and then sell it on craigslist (I know a few people that do this)..the poor sucker that bought the phone will have it activated and by the time T-mobile blacklists the number they are left with a worthless phone.

euklid said:
This seems like a good way for stolen phones to be blocked, but what about customers that report their phones stolen to t-mobile and then sell it on craigslist (I know a few people that do this)..the poor sucker that bought the phone will have it activated and by the time T-mobile blacklists the number they are left with a worthless phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People just neeed to do their research and take precautions. If you don't put in the extra time to figure out how to buy a used phone safely, you're going to be taking a chance - and you get what you get.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-develope rs app

Blacklisted
I work for a cell phone buy-back firm. Every since November of last year we have been running into blacklisted imeis. We've got phones coming back because the person who sold us the phone quit paying on a subsidized phone. Considering our agents call people all over the country attempting to buy their used or inactive phones, most people see us as way out. This hasn't been an issue with cdma phones because we can check esn. Two days ago checkesnfree.com added imei blacklisted. But what I don't understand is our audit department can put a live sim card in a blacklisted phone and make a successful test call. But when a customer tries to put it on an account, it can't be done. Can someone explain to me why this is. I understand the calls and text are using a different section of the tower than the data network uses. But any more than that I'm at a loss. Thanks

IMEI blocking is only inner company at the moment. If att black lists an imei it will not work on any carrier that piggy backs att towers. Soon it will become cross company and global.
Wayne Tech S-III

zelendel said:
IMEI blocking is only inner company at the moment. If att black lists an imei it will not work on any carrier that piggy backs att towers. Soon it will become cross company and global.
Wayne Tech S-III
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ok every one i have you this solved !!!! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS UNLOCK THE PHONE BAD ESN/IMEI ALL YOU GOT TO DO IS UNLOCK THE PHONE i have gotten 2 Samsung Galaxy S III and a s4 off ebay with "BAD ESN/IMEI" unlocked them and working fine on simple mobile !!

juggalo818 said:
ok every one i have you this solved !!!! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS UNLOCK THE PHONE BAD ESN/IMEI ALL YOU GOT TO DO IS UNLOCK THE PHONE i have gotten 2 Samsung Galaxy S III and a s4 off ebay with "BAD ESN/IMEI" unlocked them and working fine on simple mobile !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How would I unlock it, please share, I have a galaxy s3

Put in a sim from another provider and then search for an unlock code and your done its about $15-$20 normally
Sent from my SGH-T679 using xda app-developers app

[Q] OPO IMEI Blocked

Hello everybody. Please forgive me for showing my ignorance. I'm very new to Android phones so please bear with me.
I recently purchased a OnePlus One from a friend of mine. I've been using the phone for a week on T-Mobile's network without a hitch. It doesn't work so well in my basement apartment but I still love the phone. Anyway, I went to make a call yesterday (10/11) and "Mobile Network Not Available." I called T-Mobile. I was told that the mfr put a block on the IMEI as the phone had been reported lost or stolen. I can assure you, the person I purchased it from did no such thing nor, obviously, did I. Does anyone have an explanation as what might have happened?
Trying to get OnePlus Customer Service to contact me is like trying to swim through cement, so I'm turning to the pro's here I've read great things about this forum and I'm sure someone here can help me.
I will try anything at this point. If someone could email me, I'd be very grateful. Thanks for any guidance you can offer!
Fred

That's interesting. T-mobile should not have the power to block the imei since it's an international phone. Att doesn't even have the imei in their systems. You haven't attempted to root your phone correct?
Sent from my OnePlusOne

Check that you got a valid IMEI at all
Send from OnePlus One using Tapatalk

Are you in the UK? Did your friend get the phone new from 1+?
Maybe someone got hold of the imei number and then claimed on their insurance by saying it was lost or stolen. In the UK it doesn't matter if it is a carrier phone or sim free, if it is reported on the lost/stolen register it will be blocked and can't be unblocked. It will still work outside of the UK

osmosizzz said:
That's interesting. T-mobile should not have the power to block the imei since it's an international phone. Att doesn't even have the imei in their systems. You haven't attempted to root your phone correct?
Sent from my OnePlusOne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to T-Mobile, they cannot block a non-T-Mobile phone, as you say. No, I haven't attempted to root the phone. I know what rooting is but I'm such a technological idiot I would never attempt it.

[Q] Unblock IMEI Number

My phone got stolen. I reported it to t-mobile and sent a text to the phone saying that it's being tracked and they better return it before cops find them. They returned it to a lost and found location where i picked it up but now the IMEI # is blocked because i reported it stolen... i called t-mobile telling them the story and that i needed my phone unblocked... tmobile tells me they don't block non-tmobile phones... i contacted oneplus one and they can't do anything about it. now i have a useless phone... is there anyway i can unblock this phone?!... Thanks for any help!!
P.S. oneplus one customer service sucks ass!!!!!!

It has nothing to do with OnePlus. They're a manufacturer of phones, they have nothing to do with the networks that the phones connect to, nor do they have anything to do with the blocking or unblocking of IMEI numbers. What exactly do you expect them to do? Assigning blame or grief towards them is seriously misplaced and unjust.
It's T-Mobile who are responsible for blocking the IMEI, and it's T-Mobile who should be responsible for unblocking the IMEI. Them giving you an excuse that they don't unblock non T-Mobile device is BS. Push them harder, if they refuse to play ball then advise them that you'll be taking the situation to your local telecommunications ombudsen or consumer rights bureau (whatever you have available), that should motivate them to help you out.

timmaaa said:
It has nothing to do with OnePlus. They're a manufacturer of phones, they have nothing to do with the networks that the phones connect to, nor do they have anything to do with the blocking or unblocking of IMEI numbers. What exactly do you expect them to do? Assigning blame or grief towards them is seriously misplaced and unjust.
It's T-Mobile who are responsible for blocking the IMEI, and it's T-Mobile who should be responsible for unblocking the IMEI. Them giving you an excuse that they don't unblock non T-Mobile device is BS. Push them harder, if they refuse to play ball then advise them that you'll be taking the situation to your local telecommunications ombudsen or consumer rights bureau (whatever you have available), that should motivate them to help you out.
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Click to collapse
I didn't blame OnePlus on the issue... i'm saying their customer service sucks because i had to wait about 4 weeks before getting a response from their customer service and it took them about another week and about 3 different customer service reps to tell me there was nothing they could do. They did not offer me any advice on how to go about unblocking the phone. Seeing as they are a cell phone manufacture they should know how the cell phone industry works and who i should be contacting to get it unblocked.
I'm not sure how IMEI blocking works... Tmobile told me they don't block non T-mobile phones so i don't know who blocked my phone then. Is there a way i can find out?? i guess i will have to push T-mobile harder to unblock it since it's their network i don't see how or why they can't get it removed. I was just wondering if anyone else had an issue with trying to unblock a blacklisted phone and if they had any advice or where to go to so i can get this issue resolved.
Thanks i will push t-mobile to see if there is something else they can do.

timmaaa said:
It has nothing to do with OnePlus. They're a manufacturer of phones, they have nothing to do with the networks that the phones connect to, nor do they have anything to do with the blocking or unblocking of IMEI numbers. What exactly do you expect them to do? Assigning blame or grief towards them is seriously misplaced and unjust.
It's T-Mobile who are responsible for blocking the IMEI, and it's T-Mobile who should be responsible for unblocking the IMEI. Them giving you an excuse that they don't unblock non T-Mobile device is BS. Push them harder, if they refuse to play ball then advise them that you'll be taking the situation to your local telecommunications ombudsen or consumer rights bureau (whatever you have available), that should motivate them to help you out.
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Click to collapse
I agree. And add to that, to your local small claims court, as you can prove you are the original purchaser, and the phone is now back in your (rightful) hands.

Kuno3x16 said:
My phone got stolen. I reported it to t-mobile and sent a text to the phone saying that it's being tracked and they better return it before cops find them. They returned it to a lost and found location where i picked it up but now the IMEI # is blocked because i reported it stolen... i called t-mobile telling them the story and that i needed my phone unblocked... tmobile tells me they don't block non-tmobile phones... i contacted oneplus one and they can't do anything about it. now i have a useless phone... is there anyway i can unblock this phone?!... Thanks for any help!!
P.S. oneplus one customer service sucks ass!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Send a tweet to Legere, you might be surprised how responsive he can be on twitter