If I sale a bad imei phone, is it illegal?
Few days ago, I bought a phone on Craigslist. I came to tmobile they said it blocked, because owner prepared it was lost or stolen. Now, I can't use it. No service. I want to ask might this phone use on other country? Or might I sale on ebay (I will say it is stolen phone, block imei), is it legal? Black guy has Chevrolet car, white, 4 sit, plate number is BED9902 in Mesa-AZ
What can I do if I buy a phone with a bad IMEI?
A phone with a bad IMEI can not be activated because of a number of possible reasons. The phone could have a large outstanding bill attached, may have been sold as a prepaid phone (that can generally only be activated as prepaid until the original carrier decides it will unlock it), or the phone could be reported as lost/stolen by a previous owner.That said, back when Cricket wireless was using CDMA networks, I used to make a lot of money buying bad ESN phones and programming them for use on Cricket. Their business practices may have changed and they may honor other carrier non-activation lists, but it may be worth a shot if Cricket is in your area and has switched to GSM in that area.Beyond that, phones with a bad IMEI still have many uses for developers. Many people use them to test different roms. Some developers have multiple phones of different ages and from different manufacturers just to test if their software will run reliably on a range of devices.If none of the above options are available to you, your best bet is to try to get a refund or try to get whatever you can back by selling it to someone who can use it.And just in case anyone recommends it later, DO NOT change the IMEI number, even if you know how. If you get caught it is illegal because it causes spoofing of the phone that originally had that identifier.Source: Prior knowledge of personally reprograming phones myself.
What exactly does a bad IMEI or bad ESN on a phone mean?
Im trying to get a samsung galaxy s3 from craigslist but some say bad imei and bad esm so what does this mean...I have a galaxy s2 if I were to put my sim card in one of these phones and put it back in my s2 do i risk the chance of my phone getting those errors
I have been seeing phones on eBay with bad esn. they seem to be a lot cheaper. anf I've read that phones with bad esn can't be easily used in north america, but the thing is I dont live in north america. will it be possible for a phone with bad esn to work properly with a sim card in Nigeria?
A phone's ESN is a serial number assigned to a phone used to connect it to a network (WCDMA to be specific) of a certain provider. In the case a phone is reported lost or stolen, or someone doesn't pay their bills for example, the provider can block the ESN from being activated on their network. The problem in the US is that there is a shared blacklist between providers which makes it impossible to activate the phone on another WCDMA carrier aswell.The other way for phones to identify themselves to a network is through the GSM protocol. A phone with a GSM protocol uses an IMEI to identify itself, which isn't linked to a phone in the same way as the ESN. If a phone has both WCDMA and GSM protocols, slotting in a different SIM card should suffice to use the phone in your area. However, this is known to be different from phone to phone and provider to provider. It's worth the shot, try to communicate with the seller and get a deal in case you can't get it to work.If the phone's IMEI is bad, it's possible to "flash" the phone, changing the IMEI. The ESN is saved onto the actual motherboard and can't be changed or tampered with.
Will a "bad IMEI" phone work with another carrier?
All of the US carriers use a common database for blacklisting phones. I believe all UK carriers use a similar database. At some point, these databases will likely merge if they can work out the details. Also, the effort will be to get all carriers worldwide on the same database.Until then, your only hope is to get the phone to a different country.You do understand that just for holding the phone in your hand you can be prosecuted for receiving stolen property. And if they can, they will try to nail you for stealing the phone.
I am thinking of buying an iPhone with bad IMEI from US will the phone work in India?
Yes it will work fine as long as it is factory unlocked. Operators don't have international IMEI databases. If it isn't factory unlocked then you will have problem. At&t's iphones can be unlocked even with bad imei on some websites but other operators don't unlock bad IMEI phones. If you try to unlock bad IMEI on any website your phone won't be unlocked and you will loose your money because most of the websites say phone should be clean before unlocking they are not responsible if phone has a bad IMEI.
Is it safe to buy cell phones off eBay?
Yes, it is fairly safe to buy cell phones on Ebay, but just like buying anything else on Ebay: Be careful. Take the regular precautions of checking a sellers feedback rating; feeling comfortable with the seller's return policy; reading the listing details carefully; and if you still have lingering questions, ask the seller. When purchasing a cellphone, it's also important to know whether the phone has a good electronic serial number (ESN), or less commonly referred to (though often more acurate), MEID or IMEI codes. A bad ESN could mean that the seller did not pay their cell phone bill and the phone may have been shut down/blocked by the carrier. A bad ESN means stay away! If you can't see the pictures clearly, ask the seller for larger images. If you still have questions, ASK the seller! I can't stress that enough. You can find out a lot about the type of person you are dealing with by the way they answer their emails. I recently asked someone on Ebay about the condition of the camera he was selling. I mentioned that his ad stated "Excellent" condition, but that I've seen cameras in much better condition (in truth, his camera appeared hammered and quite used). I was seeking clarification. He chose to take offense (when none was intended) and simply replied, "IF YOU THINK MY CAMERA IS IN BAD CONDITION THEN DON'T BUY IT!" I didn't. That type of pre-sale manner is a huge red flag to the way you'll likely be treated if there should be any honest payment issues, shipping troubles or should you need to return the item for any valid reason. At the end of the day, Ebay offers Seller Protection on many items, including some cell phones. Look for the phrase in the return policy: "...item is covered by eBay Buyer Protection." Ideally the seller ALSO offers a return policy, but it's not really necessary if you feel confident in all other aspects of the seller and the item.
How can people buy stolen iPhones and reuse them if the IMEI is blocked at Apple?
US Answer (may, or may not be totally world-wide):A blocked IMEI means that no carrier will work with the phone for cell service. The same for non-iPhones (Android) as well as blocked ESNs. So, what can actually be accomplished with a blocked phone?WiFi internetSide-Loaded APPS (not from Apple’s APP Store)Movie & Film propsRepair practice (for fledgling repair techs)Parts for sale or repair of another phone with a good IMEI/ESNPhone for a kid (when you don’t want a small kid to have phone service, but the kid can play games on it)….I picked up a pair of phones together off of eBay on a single sale. One was advertised as non-working & the other was OK & tested. The non-working unit had a dead battery (it was an old Galaxy S2). A new battery & it powered on WITH A BAD ESN! It works, it’s just that no carrier (SPRINT in this case) will activate it. (See above for its potential uses.)