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best cdma android w/changable esn

I want to know what is the best non LTE CDMA android phone I can buy where I can change the ESN/MEID and other settings in CDMA worksop or something similar
I ask cause I already imported a verizon iphone because I got lied to and would hate to get burned again so I figured I'd ask the experts for my next best option
Disclaimer:swapping ESN/MEID is not illegal in my country regardless, I am not asking how to do it. im asking for phone recommendations that are know to have that ability I dont believe that this constitutes breaking rules like rule 9 cause im just asking for the names of phones which isn't illegal even in your country

[Q] Why would you want to change the IMEI on a phone you have just purchased?

So we are clear: I am not talking about stolen phones. I am not asking how to change the IMEI on any device.
I am aware of someone who is involved in drugs, I know her mother but I do really know anything about her. It seems to me that she has some kind of scam going on with buying and reporting cell phones stolen. I really do not know the details of the scam, still putting the pieces together.
She took her mother's vehicle one night. Days later the mother was able to locate it and take it back.
In the truck was a lot of stuff, one was a receipt for four new phones on an ATT family plan. In the bottom portion it listed the same phones as the top portion with a statement regarding changing the IMEI.
I guess I am wondering if anyone knows what -if any- advantage there is to having the store change the IMEI of the phone you just bought?
Is this part of some scam anyone might be aware of?
I didn't even imagine that the store would, or could, change the IMEI before seeing this.

Interested story though!

Ok First off. Talks about this are not allowed on XDA. Now that is clear le me explain what is going on.
When a device is reported stolen/lost the carrier can put a block on the IMEI so it can not be used on the network. In EU they can do it so it doesnt work on any network in the area. By changing the IMEI (which is illegal in 98% of the world) This allows the device to be used on the network. This allows the device to be resold as a working device. Only the OEM has the rights to change these numbers. And I dont mean the phone OEM I mean the OEM for the main board which is where this number is hard coded.
I would stay as far away from this girl as you can. She is gonna get you caught up in more drama then you know.
Thread closed

Samssung S7: Imei

Hi,
I would like change my imei. I have already root, and install twrp for xposed and plugin imei changer.
Its working but i can t call. And i think its the 2 last letters who do problem. I have 15 letters for imei i would like change *************** / 01 to ... / 05
But i don't know how to do.
Help me please (i try to speak english because i am french.

ZeeN0x said:
Hi,
I would like change my imei. I have already root, and install twrp for xposed and plugin imei changer.
Its working but i can t call. And i think its the 2 last letters who do problem. I have 15 letters for imei i would like change *************** / 01 to ... / 05
But i don't know how to do.
Help me please (i try to speak english because i am french.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Changing the IMEI is ILEGAL everywhere , you will not get any help for that in this forum.
What happen to the original phone IMEI?

MAX 404 said:
Hi
Changing the IMEI is ILEGAL everywhere , you will not get any help for that in this forum.
What happen to the original phone IMEI?
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Click to collapse
The issue is likely because he has one of those IMEI's that is tied to a specific carrier that the carrier doesn't want to turn loose. (For example, my S7 has an IMEI that is tied to VZW due to it being a device that was sold ONLY by VZW in the US - and as a lot of us have pointed out, an IMEI is unique to the specific phone; you have more control over a phone number than you do your handset's IMEI - and a locked IMEI will not accept a ported number. I can't take my locked IMEI (handset) to Tracfone, even though the handset is otherwise compatible with the VZW side of Tracfone's network (in fact, when it was in service, it was a VZW handset) because VZW has the IMEI on lockdown.

PGHammer said:
The issue is likely because he has one of those IMEI's that is tied to a specific carrier that the carrier doesn't want to turn loose. (For example, my S7 has an IMEI that is tied to VZW due to it being a device that was sold ONLY by VZW in the US - and as a lot of us have pointed out, an IMEI is unique to the specific phone; you have more control over a phone number than you do your handset's IMEI - and a locked IMEI will not accept a ported number. I can't take my locked IMEI (handset) to Tracfone, even though the handset is otherwise compatible with the VZW side of Tracfone's network (in fact, when it was in service, it was a VZW handset) because VZW has the IMEI on lockdown.
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Even if that is the case... still ilegal

MAX 404 said:
Even if that is the case... still ilegal
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Say what others want to hear is legal but it is illegal to say what is true. I just want to use a telephone that I paid.
But i can t tell you for change my imei i am responsible of my acts and i juste say :
"What coresponding the /05 /03 /01 at the end of imei" Is it illegal to respond at my answer ?

Zeenox said:
Say what others want to hear is legal but it is illegal to say what is true. I just want to use a telephone that I paid.
But i can t tell you for change my imei i am responsible of my acts and i juste say :
"What coresponding the /05 /03 /01 at the end of imei" Is it illegal to respond at my answer ?
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Click to collapse
Hi
I am not judging , I am not even saying if you should or not .... I am saying is ilegal to change the Imei number of your phone whatever the reason maybe.

ALWAYS backup your EFS folder, no matter what phone u have., and then save it on ur PC.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/how-to/guide-how-to-fix-check-drk-imei-issues-t3379516
This link solves most ppl with IMEI problems.

Thread closed
Changing IMEI discussion is not allowed on XDA, even if it's not for bad intentions, we do not allow "things which will obviously lead to legal trouble":
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your understanding.
Wood Man
Senior Moderator

S8+ IMEI Help

Ok so this is going to be a long one... sorry in advance if I've broken any site rules posting here (made an account so I could make this post).
First, I work retail loss prevention for an off-brand retailer (in the USA). About 3 months ago we found a T-Mobile s8+ in one of our fitting rooms. The phone was turned into me via one of the store employees where I let it sit in my office for 3 days while turned on, hoping someone who knows the original owner would call it. No one called, so I took the phone to my local T-Mobile store to turn it in or see if they could contact the owner. The T-Mobile representative told me that they would be unable to take the phone from me, or give me any information regarding the owner. So the phone sat in my stores Lost and Found box for 30 days as policy. Once those 30 days passed our policy states to throw out the phone with the normal trash. Being an expensive phone, and the technology lover I am, I kept the phone which I had all legal right to do since the store had thrown it out.
The phone itself had a pin-lock and probably some sensitive data regarding the previous owner which I was able to clear out via a re-flash of the OS on the phone (i'm not a bad guy I didn't want their personal data).
So, obviously, the phone itself has an IMEI number reported as "Lost" with T-Mobile. Which means I'm basically unable to use it on our carrier (Metro PCS), however my wife was using it for the camera and other apps while at the house.
Flash forward another month and my wife's phone begins to start acting up so I figured there could be some way to work out to let her use this s8+ (I own a normal s8 myself and have no real use for the s8+). So i called T-Mobile customer support, explained the situation described above, and they told me I would need to take the phone to a Samsung store to have the device refurbished? Well, I drove about 30 minutes out to the nearest Samsung store to be told they don't perform such a service.
So I decided to look into altering the IMEI# of the s8+ to a clean IMEI of my wife's current phone or an older one we no longer use, and all the laws and specifications regarding what can and can't be done. All I could dig up regarding IMEI laws in the US was here: congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/3186/text/is -- Which isn't actually a law it's a proposed bill that never got passed. I did find some stuff from the FCC about cell phone cloning fraud:fcc.gov/consumers/guides/cell-phone-fraud -- but this also doesn't exactly fit my situation since we only want to use one phone, not two under the same identifications. There also is the concern of 'is it really fraud if I own both phones in question?'.
So this brings us to the current status: I have this phone that I obtained legally with a bad IMEI and cannot use it for everyday purposes.
Any help on how we can get the phone to a usable state would be greatly appreciated.
[Edit update]: I realize this is a very unusual situation, and am fully aware of the stigma regarding asking what to do regarding bad IMEI numbers and just want to clarify that I do not intend to break any laws or act with malicious intent to others. I simply want to have a phone, which I own legally, working.

Best your gonna get on this is google can be your friend. We dont discuss this in any form here.

Starhound said:
Ok so this is going to be a long one... sorry in advance if I've broken any site rules posting here (made an account so I could make this post).
First, I work retail loss prevention for an off-brand retailer (in the USA). About 3 months ago we found a T-Mobile s8+ in one of our fitting rooms. The phone was turned into me via one of the store employees where I let it sit in my office for 3 days while turned on, hoping someone who knows the original owner would call it. No one called, so I took the phone to my local T-Mobile store to turn it in or see if they could contact the owner. The T-Mobile representative told me that they would be unable to take the phone from me, or give me any information regarding the owner. So the phone sat in my stores Lost and Found box for 30 days as policy. Once those 30 days passed our policy states to throw out the phone with the normal trash. Being an expensive phone, and the technology lover I am, I kept the phone which I had all legal right to do since the store had thrown it out.
The phone itself had a pin-lock and probably some sensitive data regarding the previous owner which I was able to clear out via a re-flash of the OS on the phone (i'm not a bad guy I didn't want their personal data).
So, obviously, the phone itself has an IMEI number reported as "Lost" with T-Mobile. Which means I'm basically unable to use it on our carrier (Metro PCS), however my wife was using it for the camera and other apps while at the house.
Flash forward another month and my wife's phone begins to start acting up so I figured there could be some way to work out to let her use this s8+ (I own a normal s8 myself and have no real use for the s8+). So i called T-Mobile customer support, explained the situation described above, and they told me I would need to take the phone to a Samsung store to have the device refurbished? Well, I drove about 30 minutes out to the nearest Samsung store to be told they don't perform such a service.
So I decided to look into altering the IMEI# of the s8+ to a clean IMEI of my wife's current phone or an older one we no longer use, and all the laws and specifications regarding what can and can't be done. All I could dig up regarding IMEI laws in the US was here: congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/3186/text/is -- Which isn't actually a law it's a proposed bill that never got passed. I did find some stuff from the FCC about cell phone cloning fraud:fcc.gov/consumers/guides/cell-phone-fraud -- but this also doesn't exactly fit my situation since we only want to use one phone, not two under the same identifications. There also is the concern of 'is it really fraud if I own both phones in question?'.
So this brings us to the current status: I have this phone that I obtained legally with a bad IMEI and cannot use it for everyday purposes.
Any help on how we can get the phone to a usable state would be greatly appreciated.
[Edit update]: I realize this is a very unusual situation, and am fully aware of the stigma regarding asking what to do regarding bad IMEI numbers and just want to clarify that I do not intend to break any laws or act with malicious intent to others. I simply want to have a phone, which I own legally, working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is illegal and will bring you to jail so dont even try it

kpwnApps said:
This is illegal and will bring you to jail so dont even try it
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Click to collapse
In most countries yes not all but either way frowned talks on xda

Update: I no longer need assistance.
Side Note: Here is the US law regarding changing mobile identification numbers: govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title18/USCODE-2011-title18-partI-chap47-sec1029

Starhound said:
Update: I no longer need assistance.
Side Note: Here is the US law regarding changing mobile identification numbers: govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title18/USCODE-2011-title18-partI-chap47-sec1029
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Click to collapse
Yes as that may be true. But the rules here on xda as well as the rest of the world prohibit this. I do agree with you on the law here in US though. ???

Starhound said:
Update: I no longer need assistance.
Side Note: Here is the US law regarding changing mobile identification numbers: govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title18/USCODE-2011-title18-partI-chap47-sec1029
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That law is surpassed by the cell phone cloning act of the early 90's. In the US it is illegal to alter the IMEI or even have tools that allow you to do so. It effects the IMEI and ESN (for older phones) many sites have been closed down for it. XDA has a very strong stance against it.
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/cell-phone-fraud

solitarios.lupus said:
That law is surpassed by the cell phone cloning act of the early 90's. In the US it is illegal to alter the IMEI or even have tools that allow you to do so. It effects the IMEI and ESN (for older phones) many sites have been closed down for it. XDA has a very strong stance against it.
I'm not really here to argue if the act is illegal or not (it is). But, to point out I also wasn't exactly asking on instruction on how to change an IMEI.
I only asked what laws are in place that specify the legality of the situation (which has been solved), and what -can- be done in this situation (remains unsolved).
-Thank you
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Click to collapse

Starhound said:
solitarios.lupus said:
That law is surpassed by the cell phone cloning act of the early 90's. In the US it is illegal to alter the IMEI or even have tools that allow you to do so. It effects the IMEI and ESN (for older phones) many sites have been closed down for it. XDA has a very strong stance against it.
I'm not really here to argue if the act is illegal or not (it is). But, to point out I also wasn't exactly asking on instruction on how to change an IMEI.
I only asked what laws are in place that specify the legality of the situation (which has been solved), and what -can- be done in this situation (remains unsolved).
-Thank you
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Click to collapse
The only thing that can be done is turn it in to t-mobile. If I t was me. I would turn it in to t-mobile so they can return it to the proper owner.
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Click to collapse

solitarios.lupus said:
Starhound said:
The only thing that can be done is turn it in to t-mobile. If I t was me. I would turn it in to t-mobile so they can return it to the proper owner.
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Click to collapse
I attempted to do exactly that about 3 days after the phone was turned in to me (as described in original post). T-Mobile refused to take it from me. Nor would they give me information to contact the owner. Maybe that's not their standard policy, I don't know.
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Click to collapse

Starhound said:
solitarios.lupus said:
I attempted to do exactly that about 3 days after the phone was turned in to me (as described in original post). T-Mobile refused to take it from me. Nor would they give me information to contact the owner. Maybe that's not their standard policy, I don't know.
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Click to collapse
I can tell you that is not their policy. Mail it to the corporate office with a letter saying what happened and where you took it. That person will be fired on the spot. But that is up to you. Either way it is useless unless you use it on att.
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Click to collapse

Starhound said:
solitarios.lupus said:
That law is surpassed by the cell phone cloning act of the early 90's. In the US it is illegal to alter the IMEI or even have tools that allow you to do so. It effects the IMEI and ESN (for older phones) many sites have been closed down for it. XDA has a very strong stance against it.
I'm not really here to argue if the act is illegal or not (it is). But, to point out I also wasn't exactly asking on instruction on how to change an IMEI.
I only asked what laws are in place that specify the legality of the situation (which has been solved), and what -can- be done in this situation (remains unsolved).
-Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have your same issue. A phone was forgotten on the bathroom of my cafe and nobody reclaimed for more than 6 months. Once tried to used after this long time the phone seems to be reported lost and imei locked. I cleaned up the phone to erase all the old personal information but not able to use it.
I understand the role on this forum and nobody want talk about it. would be really appreciate if you can privately point me to the right direction to make the phone working.
I won't contribute to the pocket of a lot of people on youtube or ebay selling the service for 50 pound. This is not a businness for me but just try to use a phone instead of bin it
Mine is a G950F model
Thanks
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Question [CLOSED] Change IMEI for the international S22 Ultra S-908E

I bought the S-908E in Australia to be used in the US on AT&T. With the exception of the mmWave band that is only present on US models, everything else especially 5G should work perfectly. Problem seems to be from other posts here that when the phone comes and I insert my AT&T SIM card, AT&T will immediately lock it because they only allow the U version of the phone on the network.
I haven't confirmed this is the case because I don't have the phone yet, but obviously want to be prepared for this when it arrives.
From what I've read here, there seems to be only two options. One, call AT&T and beg them to unlock the SIM and allow the phone to be used. Second, change the IMEI on the E phone to the IMEI from the U phone and AT&T won't know the difference. I've read that this should be an easy process to do, and am wondering if anyone had successfully done either of these suggestions?

Brixster said:
I bought the S-908E in Australia to be used in the US on AT&T. With the exception of the mmWave band that is only present on US models, everything else especially 5G should work perfectly. Problem seems to be from other posts here that when the phone comes and I insert my AT&T SIM card, AT&T will immediately lock it because they only allow the U version of the phone on the network.
I haven't confirmed this is the case because I don't have the phone yet, but obviously want to be prepared for this when it arrives.
From what I've read here, there seems to be only two options. One, call AT&T and beg them to unlock the SIM and allow the phone to be used. Second, change the IMEI on the E phone to the IMEI from the U phone and AT&T won't know the difference. I've read that this should be an easy process to do, and am wondering if anyone had successfully done either of these suggestions?
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Click to collapse
Hello and good afternoon, @Brixster
Edit or change of IMEI is illegal in quite a few of countries. For this reason, I've closed your thread! XDA doesn't allow and doesn't accept discussions about or support for such an edit or change.
XDA Forum Rules (excerpt):
...
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In future, please refrain from starting such a discussion or searches for support on XDA.
Thanks for your cooperation!
Regards
Oswald Boelcke
Senior Moderator