Looking to buy a phone on eBay. Listed as sealed and brand new, unused and comes with 30 day returns, hundreds positive feedback etc
However, there are photos of the IMEI numbers and the serial number.
1) Is that a security risk at all?
2) Is there a way to check the s/n is ok, I.e. it's not reconditioned or stolen?
Both the IMEI and the S/N typically are unique for each Android device, will say can't be same on different devices unless they got changed - what is possible but illegal in most countries.
You can use an IMEI-checker on-line tool to get detailed info about a phone.
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Bought from Tesco, IMEI printed inside back cover is 8 digits away from the IMEI on the packaging! Obviously someone on the line muddled up the rear casings...
jfinnie said:
Bought from Tesco, IMEI printed inside back cover is 8 digits away from the IMEI on the packaging! Obviously someone on the line muddled up the rear casings...
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It's not unheard of, does happen.. Notify the place you bought it from, ask for a new receipt/invoice with the CORRECT IMEI for you phone. It doesn't really matter, but if you ever lose the phone or there is a dispute over who owns it you would need this to prove it's yours or get the phone blocked on the network (if it's stolen).
Obviously the one on the phone (in the about phone menu) is the real one.. I say this, because if some numpty has the phone with your back/box (IMEI) on, and they lose it, its possibly the dumb network people could block your phone by mistake.. No one wants to wake up to a blocked phone and a load of hassle..
helppme said:
It's not unheard of, does happen.. Notify the place you bought it from, ask for a new receipt/invoice with the CORRECT IMEI for you phone. It doesn't really matter, but if you ever lose the phone or there is a dispute over who owns it you would need this to prove it's yours or get the phone blocked on the network (if it's stolen).
Obviously the one on the phone (in the about phone menu) is the real one.. I say this, because if some numpty has the phone with your back/box (IMEI) on, and they lose it, its possibly the dumb network people could block your phone by mistake.. No one wants to wake up to a blocked phone and a load of hassle..
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I returned it - I imagine in a multiple like Tesco you have no chance of getting such an ammendment done to the receipt (heck, the receipt doesn't even list the IMEI). There is at least one scenario which could arise even more problematic than above - my unit is actually programmed with the SAME IMEI as the other device because someone scanned another phone back before programming the IMEI. Not worth the hassle really. Annoying though.
It does seem like the quality control is not brilliant - or at least the Tesco got a batch which were made at a time when the factory were pushed or similar. I work in high-end electronics design so I might be fussier than most - but each of 4 phones bought from Tesco within a 3 week period have had some fault or other. Admittedly not massive faults (though the IMEI mix up is perhaps fatal for your phone).
jfinnie said:
I returned it - I imagine in a multiple like Tesco you have no chance of getting such an ammendment done to the receipt (heck, the receipt doesn't even list the IMEI). There is at least one scenario which could arise even more problematic than above - my unit is actually programmed with the SAME IMEI as the other device because someone scanned another phone back before programming the IMEI. Not worth the hassle really. Annoying though.
It does seem like the quality control is not brilliant - or at least the Tesco got a batch which were made at a time when the factory were pushed or similar. I work in high-end electronics design so I might be fussier than most - but each of 4 phones bought from Tesco within a 3 week period have had some fault or other. Admittedly not massive faults (though the IMEI mix up is perhaps fatal for your phone).
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I think it's Tesco at fault. They are given the units they then open them, insert their sim and assign IMEI etc. I think they are clumsy idiots who damage the backs, mess up the packaging etc. during this process. I'm very confident they are unskilled people and this is not being done in a 'clean' environment like where the phones are manufactured. The dead pixel is probably Motorola's fault.
Hello,
I am wanting to find a way to make LEGAL cash and have no intention in breaking any laws whatsoever.
Say you have a phone (Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, etc) and it has been blacklisted and cannot be used with another carrier. What if i buy an S4 (or whatever) with a good IMEI or ESN but its broken (screen cracked wifi dont work, etc) and apply the ESN or IMEI to the blacklisted phone? Is this illegal?
I read that it is illegal to do this if you are intentionally applying an ESN to a phone in order to spy on someone, etc. but the ESN i would use to make the black listed phone work would come from a completely destroyed phone (but has a good ESN) and would most likely be taken apart and sold piece by piece after applying the ESN/IMEI to the phone being repaired.
I also read that you can unlock a phone to be used internationally if it is blacklisted in the U.S. and it would work for carriers overseas but that may change soon.
Is there any way that doing this type of thing would NOT be illegal? Is there any websites with up to date information you guys can recommend so i can read up on this? Any recommendations (besides ebay) to find destroyed phones with verified good IMEI/ESN numbers would get great as well.
I would like to start a side business as i love tinkering with phones/computers/tablets etc. plus the extra money would be nice.
I need some extra cash and i know that i would most likely have to purchase an expensive program like CDMA Workshop or something like that in order to legally transfer IMEI/ESN information but i would like to start a business doing this to make some extra cash on the side, but LEGALLY.
Any information on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
I purchased two standard wireless chargers via a company who say they sell genuine products, both the items have exactly the same serial number, which after some digging appears to be only a 'batch' number.
Is there anyway to tell if these are genuine?
I've tried checking with Samsung support, but they couldn't tell me anything, they said it appears to be genuine, but couldn't say for sure!
Thanks
Yeah, if it's real there will be FCC ID on the back of the pad. Go to this link: https://www.fcc.gov/general/fcc-id-search-page. Scroll down until you see the purple search form. For the grantee code, if your FCC ID code starts with a letter, then type in the first 3 characters for the grantee code. If thr code starts with a number, type in the first 5 characters in the grantee code box. Then in the product code box, type in the rest of the code. If something appears it's real. Some people put fake FCC Id codes on the back, so always check.
Hello ?
I got my brand new z5 before yesterday and yesterday the shop keeper told me that he need to getthe sticker which the serial code is written when I asked him why he to me because he need it to give it to the sony local retailers to get his profits from selling the device to me
So is he scamming me? Or shall i give it to him?
I don't think there is any issue here. You're right to be cautious but I don't see what he could really do with the IMEI that could be malicious.
Seems weird to me :/ For the 3 xperia's i've bought never had to do this. Moreover this sticker is your proof that you buy the phone for sony and they ask it for example for cash-back offers. And sony can set up way more efficients ways to control retailers sells. Just pull out a sticker can be event if the phone was not sell. Maybe I'm too suspicious but I guess, if he lie, that he will wait for cash back offer and send this so he get the cash. He's maybe honnest but I find this very strange...
You've just given the entire world your IMEI number anyway just by posting that picture. Any decent barcode scanner (including ones downloaded onto a phone) can read that and give the user the IMEI.
So don't worry about it.
Hey all,
A few years back I bought a spare phone off ebay. My main phone just broke and when I went to activate the spare, of course, it was imei blacklisted. I don't care that much since I have little $$$ into it but I've been trying to read up on the blacklist and have found little information.
After some research it seems that there are companies who claim that they can fix the problem (I've seen imiefix.com discussed on this board). I have no intention of doing that to my phone since the phone is worth less than the cost of the service but I struck up an email conversation with someone who claims to perform the service. In the discussion he told me that he actually clears the IMEI from the blacklist of certain companies and does not change or mask IMEI's or do anything else to change the phone. (he has provided me videos showing a phone on the blacklist before he does what he does and how the same IMEI is off the blacklist after his service) but I am still skeptical.
The main question I asked him was whether his service only removes the IMEI from the individual carrier's blacklist or if it removes it from the national and global blacklists (ie. will his service remove a T-Mobile blocked IMEI only from T-Mobile but leave it globally blocked for other carriers). In is response he provided this information he told me that phones are blocked for 2 reasons, 1) lost or stolen phones 2) failure to fulfull contractual obligations (ie. didn't pay subsidy). He told me that only lost/stole phones end up on the global or national blacklist, and that phones blocked for failure to pay are only blocked by the individual carrier.
is this information correct?
anyone have experience with these services?
I am conflicted about this blacklist thing. Yes, we need to find a way to protect consumers from theft and even carriers from fraud, and we shouldn't encourage the sale of stolen goods. But who does it benefit? the consumer? of course not. It is almost exclusively to the benefit of the carriers and manufacturers who get to pump more and more of their exorbitantly expensive phones into the market while thousands of useless phones sit around or end up in landfill. And, since there is such a delay in the time that it takes for phones to end up on the blocklist, and since the carriers seem to do nothing to stop fraud (ie. selling phones then reporting them stolen) the only people this hurts are the poor saps who dish out hundreds for a phone on the aftermarket just to have it locked on them a few months down the road.
silky28 said:
Hey all,
A few years back I bought a spare phone off ebay. My main phone just broke and when I went to activate the spare, of course, it was imei blacklisted. I don't care that much since I have little $$$ into it but I've been trying to read up on the blacklist and have found little information.
After some research it seems that there are companies who claim that they can fix the problem (I've seen imiefix.com discussed on this board). I have no intention of doing that to my phone since the phone is worth less than the cost of the service but I struck up an email conversation with someone who claims to perform the service. In the discussion he told me that he actually clears the IMEI from the blacklist of certain companies and does not change or mask IMEI's or do anything else to change the phone. (he has provided me videos showing a phone on the blacklist before he does what he does and how the same IMEI is off the blacklist after his service) but I am still skeptical.
The main question I asked him was whether his service only removes the IMEI from the individual carrier's blacklist or if it removes it from the national and global blacklists (ie. will his service remove a T-Mobile blocked IMEI only from T-Mobile but leave it globally blocked for other carriers). In is response he provided this information he told me that phones are blocked for 2 reasons, 1) lost or stolen phones 2) failure to fulfull contractual obligations (ie. didn't pay subsidy). He told me that only lost/stole phones end up on the global or national blacklist, and that phones blocked for failure to pay are only blocked by the individual carrier.
is this information correct?
anyone have experience with these services?
I am conflicted about this blacklist thing. Yes, we need to find a way to protect consumers from theft and even carriers from fraud, and we shouldn't encourage the sale of stolen goods. But who does it benefit? the consumer? of course not. It is almost exclusively to the benefit of the carriers and manufacturers who get to pump more and more of their exorbitantly expensive phones into the market while thousands of useless phones sit around or end up in landfill. And, since there is such a delay in the time that it takes for phones to end up on the blocklist, and since the carriers seem to do nothing to stop fraud (ie. selling phones then reporting them stolen) the only people this hurts are the poor saps who dish out hundreds for a phone on the aftermarket just to have it locked on them a few months down the road.
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So playing around a bit I just saw a Tmobile phone on Ebay that is blocked by Tmobile. The ad gave the IMEI so I called Tmobile to enquire. The friendly CS rep checked and said the phone is indeed blacklisted but it is still attached to the account holder's account and she cannot tell me anything else. So long story short, person probably sold the phone to Ebay shop and told them it was Tmobile blacklisted. The store will sell the phone as having a bad IMEI but since it is only Tmobile blacklisted it can still be used on AT&T. Since, however, the phone is still on the other account it is likely that (and there is nothing to stop) the original owner will claim it lost or stolen within a few months, especially if they have theft protection. The new buyer, therefore, will get a phone to use for a couple of months until it is globally blacklisted but by then the Ebay complaint window will be closed so purchaser will be stuck.
They need to find a way to fix this. Instead of keeping the phone on an active account all blacklisted phones should be put into default accounts and cannot be changed in any way. Of course the carriers have no interest in doing this.