Database Info

Is there danger in giving out the IMEI?

I had a software company ask me for the IMEI for my phone - is there any issue with me giving them this number? Ultimately, what malicious activies could they perform with knowing my IMEI?
Thanks!

if they report your imei to the police as a stolen phone it's blocked and precious few ever gotten their imei off those lists making the phone useless

They could duplicate the imei number to an other device and make illegal activities using that imei number which is billed to you.
You wonder the story next

Semseddin said:
They could duplicate the imei number to an other device and make illegal activities using that imei number which is billed to you.
You wonder the story next
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you would also have to have their same sim number for that to work.

josefcrist said:
you would also have to have their same sim number for that to work.
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Right!

IMEI refers to the International Mobile Equipment Identifier, a unique 15 digit code programmed into each mobile phone during production. The number holds information regarding manufacturer, model type and the approval body for the handset. The identification, bound into the IMEI when combined with the use of blacklisting and a connection the CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register, is one route to preventing stolen devices being used on authorized networks. However, if the integrity of the code relating to the communication of the IMEI with the network is not guaranteed, the device is open to attack. This is the case with many current handsets, allowing impersonation of the IMEI and again rendering this security feature ineffective and redundant.
Year 22nd Dec 2008 in Turkey, there was a police operation for cloned phones and illegally saved imei numbers... Police has arrested over 50 people and got over 10 thousand cloned phones with real imei numbers... One of the arrested told to police that they bought the imei numbers from some internet sites as packages of 1000 imei numbers... It is really harmfull to post imei numbers on the web... Be carefull while buying secondhand phones also...
That Should Sum It up

It is very important to not give to anyone your imei number. Here in Greece we had few affairs with that issue.

thank God there ain any Android Signed
Semseddin said:
They could duplicate the imei number to an other device and make illegal activities using that imei number which is billed to you.
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one more reason to hate nokia and their bloody Symbian Signed. opda must have milions of imeis worldwide cause of theire stupid software. long live google and the android

Giiving imei number is like givn ur bank card pin......Dont do it!

is this still true, till this day? are there any security updates made to prevent these danger?

I gave out my IMEI number to a person posing as a personnel from MTN in Abuja, Nigeria. He said that they going to upgrade my phone to 4 G platform. Is there anything like this from MTN Nigeria?

Abuamatullah said:
I gave out my IMEI number to a person posing as a personnel from MTN in Abuja, Nigeria. He said that they going to upgrade my phone to 4 G platform. Is there anything like this from MTN Nigeria?
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Almost every phone is like this.
When the carriers developed a certain product, they could just update your phone through your software (A last patch for the phone). ? By going to system update.
The software is always limited to what your hardware's phone could do, and you should have expertise to know that.
What I meant here is, after they released a product, they would forgot it and go to the drawing board and make a more improved phone, they won't really need your phone because they are the ones who manufactured it(same for the source codes). It would be seemingly suspicious for someone to have an interest to your phone which will be outdated in a couple of months or a year.

[Q]

i have recently had my mobile phone stolen, galaxy s3 i9300, upon completion of the form for insurance for the insurance company asked for proof of handset, blocking and imei code and a few other details, which i got from o2.
however when i got the form my phone was listed on there website as a galaxy i8300, however the imei code on the phone matches the box and from a few website searches on imei info
the website clearly shows i own a white galaxy s3, but o2 will not accept this and categorically say that i was using the i8300.
i have never owned this phone in my life and know nobody with this handset and the dates all match to when i bought the phone sim free in london samsung Westfield and entered the sim, the only thing is the model number, and until corrected the insurance will not pay out.
can anyone please advise

Galaxy phones are all i9xxx models. Someone is being corrupt.
Try your Google play store account and download the app Plan B by Lookout Security. If you're lucky and the thief didn't reset the phone, the app will track it for you.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

hi mate thanx for the reply, sorry that was my mistake writing galaxy for the mistaken phone, i wrote thhis late at night lol
so basically the phone i owned was sgs3. imei code.********* anyhow the phone company told me .
yes mr lee we have blocked ur phone, imei; *********** then they told me the imei in question belongs to a samsung i8300 (My mistake before in calling galaxy i8300), but they have provided me with the usage dates, being from the 28th may-7th june, the exact time i had my sim in the sgs3 but they insist my sim was in a i8300, i have provided a receipt for them listing the imei and my sim free sgs3 but o2 will not accept this, i dont understand,
i hope i made a bit more sense this time,
thanks in advance

ALWAYS INCLUDE A DESCRIPTIVE THREAD TITLE

Samsung phones come with model numbers i9xxx if it's a galaxy,as in,i9000,i9100,i9103, i9200,i9300 so for them to deny replacing you the phone based on it saying i8300 (this is obviously their error,the 9 is a constant) on their computers is ludicrous, considering you have a valid receipt of purchase and proper insurance, outright fraud! I suggest you insist on dealing with someone else next time your there.
Did you try the app?
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

[Q] Changing imei number

Hi guys, I have a at&t htc one x that I bought about 2 years ago.
My country laws don't let us use phones that bought from abroad. We need to pay about 50 dollars (which I did last year) to allow to use the phone legally. Somehow when I back to my country 2 days ago, I saw that my phone has blocked once again now I can't use the phone This shouldn't be happen because I followed the legal procedure and I have to use the phone forever in my country.
Anyway I won't pay once again even if I won't be able to use the phone. I have a imei number from my old htc hd2 (I don't use that phone anymore) If I can replace imei numbers I will keep using my phone without problem.
Can I change my at&t one x's imei number somehow? My phone is rooted but I don't have any idea about how to change imei
Thanks for help!

Nobody here can advise you what to do in your situation fire a few reasons.
1. Changing the IMEI of a device is illegal in any country.
2. Attempting to subvert any law is strictly and specifically forbidden by XDA rules.
3. Any member attempting to break any law, or assisting another prison to break any law, is subject to severe repercussions.
Sent from my Evita

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Changing IMEI is illegal in many countries therefore not allowed on XDA.

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.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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
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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IMEI Change?

Quick question.
Is it possible to change IMEI on my Samsung S10 for free?
I've tried XPOSED, but I can't install the firmware. I've tried for a long time.
Phone Samsung GALAXY S10E (SM-G970F) (Nordic)
Thanks in advance.

Why you want to change? Only reason I could think that you have a stolen device and want to mask yourself...

Actually sometimes it would not be as you think. For example in Turkey which is my living country, is only accepts registered imei numbers. If you want to buy a smartphone from another country, you have to register this phone with your passport and have to pay additional tax for this process. But it is not finished yet. Now you have to wait 3 calendar years to register a new phone. In this example if you bought a phone last year and registered it to your passport, and you want to buy new one from outside of the country this year. It is a problem you cant register your new phone and you can not use it anymore in Turkey. So only think that you can do is change the imei with registered one. Years ago i did it for my s3. But i dont know is it possible for new phones. May be it could be hardcoded.

Special thanks to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the dictator...

Yes Turkey sucks regarding Phones.
Turkey puts ridiculously high taxes on Phones. For example if a Phone normally cost 1000$ they add 300$ in taxes so you end up with 1300$ which sucks. Especially since most turks are poor.
So they import or ask a relatives to buy them a Phone and bring it with them. But to prevent this from happening every Phone has to be registered with it's imei otherwise you get blacklisted and your Phone can't connect to a service.
Therefore I would agree and support this Bussiness to change imei.

Тоже интересует как поменять imei, жена постирала телефон, все работает кроме sim, отвалились imei((

my wife washed the phone, everything works except the SIM, the imei fell off ((tell me how to restore