Develop Bugs

[Q] Buying a phone from craigslist or ebay

I bought a GS2 from someone off craigslist and then they reported it stolen and I had a device with a bad IMEI.
I think down the road I would like to see my GS2 for a One S. How can I do this safely? What should I require from the buyer to prevent that from happening again?

decko5 said:
I bought a GS2 from someone off craigslist and then they reported it stolen and I had a device with a bad IMEI.
I think down the road I would like to see my GS2 for a One S. How can I do this safely? What should I require from the buyer to prevent that from happening again?
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Click to collapse
Well... You would have to talk to a lawyer about this. If you could find a way of writing up a legal contract (which isn't too difficult) that would stop the seller from doing anything that would ruin the sale, then you might be ok. The problem is that doesn't stop them, and if they did something then you would have to take them to court. That's a lot of money for a little assurance.
I think the more typical answers is you would need some luck, or to buy from someone you trusted. On ebay you can look at their record and see if other people buying cellphones were happy and that no one had this issue, but that could still be sketchy (and cost more than your average used phone).

What if I make the seller meet me at a T-Mo store and have him make sure that the seller does not have insurance plan? maybe that'll be a way to prevent this?

He needs a police report to file that claim. You now have stolen property. I would make that your first concern. I would do what I had to do to prove insurance fraud just on principal alone.
Craigslist is hit or miss. I've been burned twice. But my most recent gs2 purchase went smooth.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium

I would recommend not using either. Use swappa. All the IMEIs are clean, no damage. Was gonna buy my SGS2 off of it, but got a better deal through the store.

You're right, the best way to prevent this if to meet at a store. We have an imei blocking tool that we can reference.
Only problem is that the if the claim is still being processed, it will show unblocked.
I guess it's a good sign if the seller is willing to meet at a store in the first place.

Not sure if it is unlocked. But if it is and the issue is not sorted, you can use it on another carrier still. Not a total loss atleast.

android4sunny said:
Not sure if it is unlocked. But if it is and the issue is not sorted, you can use it on another carrier still. Not a total loss atleast.
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Click to collapse
Except that the FCC just passed new regulations that require AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile to share a database off blocked IMEIs.

I bought my SGS2 from Craigslist and what ended happening is I was way hesitant to buy.
Took longer than expected to meet up, but he explained the situation. The dude has a $500 tmobile bill and is moving back to Texas. And just this week I've actually abandoned my G2X and am using my GS2 as my main device.
Luckily I didn't get sold a banned IMIE
This is the reason I like GSM phones. I guess it makes sense for people snatching and selling stolen devices, but sucks you have to do more to make sure you don't get screwed.

If there is nothing preventing people from screwing you with ebay protecting you for 90 days then there is absolutely nothing protecting you in craigslist where they wouldn't care if you got stabbed in a transaction

G1ForFun said:
Except that the FCC just passed new regulations that require AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile to share a database off blocked IMEIs.
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Click to collapse
Incorrect. The carriers are working with the FCC on a plan to curb phone theft that may involve using a shared database.
However, this is not regulation passed by FCC. It's also important to note that other countries have been using this type of theft tracking database since 2002, and the database itself has been in existence since 1996.
As usual, the US is behind the rest of the world by about 10 years.
On topic, it really is buyer beware when buying used. Meeting at a TMo store, having the rep verify if IMEI is valid, having it on record that the phone was sold and transferred to the buyer, all help in reducing the likelihood of getting burned.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

honestly, try to buy devices with the box that has the matching imei number, although this has a chance of getting banned too, it is much slimmer.
Many of banned devices are results from stolen phones or are the replacement phones where the person goes "oh i did not receive my package" and ends up selling it.
You can meet in the t-mobile store, have them take note or call or rep and have them put a note that the IMEI is now in use by your account and should not be banned. You can even photocopy or take a picture of the guy's ID, if the guy is reluctant to give you his INFO, don't buy it.

I bought my phone on craigslist NIB, I never knew of this IMIE stuff. Luckily for me, my phone's been fine (knock on wood)

I talked to multiple customer service agents who told me there was nothing they could (or would) do about the situation. Even if the guy meets you at the store and the reps watch, they are just witnesses. It would help if you have to take the guy to court, but is it really worth it?
I mean, it sucks, but it's a gamble.

Well there are many honest people out there doing honest transactions but I think this latest burn has ruined me. I used to love swapping phones very often and I planned to swap this for the One S. It's a shame.

degeneration said:
I talked to multiple customer service agents who told me there was nothing they could (or would) do about the situation. Even if the guy meets you at the store and the reps watch, they are just witnesses. It would help if you have to take the guy to court, but is it really worth it?
I mean, it sucks, but it's a gamble.
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Click to collapse
Add in court fees to the total amount.

just unlock the phone and sell it and tell the buyer about it. Only issue is if they are using the phone on tmobile.
It'll work perfectly fine on another carrier. All of the phones I have been through I unlock for a local carrier. Past few years since the nexus one came out I've been through almost every higher end android phone and never once have had an issue.

funny this thread comes up, a year ago i acquire a tmobile G2 from CL, and it was stolen, all i had to do was cooperate with a detective and track down the thief, dont know if they caught them but i get to keep the phone.
in the future i think you should all your service and give them the IMEI numbers to see if it stolen. dont know if that works but doesnt hurt to try.

Stolen Sprint Galaxy S3

Hey guys,
I need your help. I bought of Craigslist and it was stolen.
I am always cautious, so before buying I requested ESN number from seller and called sprint to check phone, some women answered me and said Phone had no problem and I could go ahead and buy with sellers ask price. So I went to that buy and paid 400$. Later that day I called sprint again to double check, cuz phone was without box, after second attempt guy from Sprint that it was reported.
What should I do. Probably I don't have chance to prove that I bought it honestly. But as every carrier service records customer call, I can prove them that they gave me false information. I thought that owner could report it during that two owner difference between first call and second call but chance of that is very low

paata01 said:
Hey guys,
I need your help. I bought of Craigslist and it was stolen.
I am always cautious, so before buying I requested ESN number from seller and called sprint to check phone, some women answered me and said Phone had no problem and I could go ahead and buy with sellers ask price. So I went to that buy and paid 400$. Later that day I called sprint again to double check, cuz phone was without box, after second attempt guy from Sprint that it was reported.
What should I do. Probably I don't have chance to prove that I bought it honestly. But as every carrier service records customer call, I can prove them that they gave me false information. I thought that owner could report it during that two owner difference between first call and second call but chance of that is very low
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was probably not reported yet. By the time you called again it was updated in the system. So no false info was given. That's why you should always meet at a Sprint store and do the change and activation on the spot. Nothing you can do now.
Sent from my stock rooted Galaxy S3

wickedskills said:
It was probably not reported yet. By the time you called again it was updated in the system. So no false info was given. That's why you should always meet at a Sprint store and do the change and activation on the spot. Nothing you can do now.
Sent from my stock rooted Galaxy S3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, I don't know... I can't afford 400$ lose..If I bring it to dealer and they flash it on Metro or other carrier, will 3G or 4G work and which carrier is best..
I don't know what to do, If I call owner he/she may not request to unlock phone, so I'd rather flash

What you SHOULD do is return the phone to Sprint and get it back to it's rightful owner. You can call the police on the person who sold you the stolen property and go after them for your money. It's wrong of you to keep something that you know isn't yours.

Sorry to hear this happen to you. You should have activated it on the spot to make sure it was good to go. And second. Why did you pay $400. The phones worth $300 max
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/ThePeoplesROM-KennyGlass123/daniel4653.png

gyrospazjohn said:
What you SHOULD do is return the phone to Sprint and get it back to it's rightful owner. You can call the police on the person who sold you the stolen property and go after them for your money. It's wrong of you to keep something that you know isn't yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Do this.
Some guy ripped me off on an evo, lost $100.
Edit: meant to say the s3 back to it's owner lol
Go to the police, make the report, your likely to get your money back and the evo to its original owner. Do it ASAP or the report isn't credible.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

First of all unless this was a factory sealed phone you payed too much. I got my S3 in November 2012 and it was from a 3rd party Sprint seller on eBay, which is highly rated by a lot of people. It was an open box item and flawless, I got it for $350 with a 30 day return policy and some accessories. Second if you ever buy a phone off someone on craigslist make them meet you at a Sprint store and activate it while they are there then pay them, all done in the store in front of the workers. If they disagree say bye. Last but not least that could have been their phone for all you know. They could have sold you the phone that they got on their contract then the next day called Sprint and said my phone was lost/stolen here is my insurance cost of something like $150. They get new phone and make $250. Or they just stole it and sold it to you. So lesson learned I guess for you huh. Also Sprint "may record your call for quality assurance" not they record and keep every single phone made to them for quality assurance.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

gyrospazjohn said:
What you SHOULD do is return the phone to Sprint and get it back to it's rightful owner. You can call the police on the person who sold you the stolen property and go after them for your money. It's wrong of you to keep something that you know isn't yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only problem there is the seller can always play stupid and say he bought the phone from someone and was not aware it was stolen.
Sent from my stock rooted Galaxy S3

When it boils down to it, OP is now is possession of stolen property, which is a crime.
Go to the police or sprint and give the phone up. You can try to go to the police and take the seller to court. But is that time and effort really worth $400?
Sent from a planet far far away.

Speedin07si said:
When it boils down to it, OP is now is possession of stolen property, which is a crime.
Go to the police or sprint and give the phone up. You can try to go to the police and take the seller to court. But is that time and effort really worth $400?
Sent from a planet far far away.
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Click to collapse
OP, you said you couldn't afford to lose $400, I'm betting the real owner of the phone feels the same way. Do the right thing.

gyrospazjohn said:
OP, you said you couldn't afford to lose $400, I'm betting the real owner of the phone feels the same way. Do the right thing.
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Click to collapse
Most likely, real owner is covered by insurance, but still it does not matter. I would be glad if someone would return my stolen phone, so I will do the same.. I hope I will get my money back.
Thanks guys

Speedin07si said:
When it boils down to it, OP is now is possession of stolen property, which is a crime.
Go to the police or sprint and give the phone up. You can try to go to the police and take the seller to court. But is that time and effort really worth $400?
Sent from a planet far far away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't be like that. He just needs to go to the police. Sprint won't refund any money. If he goes to the police, they will figure everything out, and he will get his money back and likely not even have to go to court. Police have access to digital proof via messages or texts or various other things and can easily get it done.
Legally what happened would fall under fraud and robbery. As the item was stated as genuine and non stolen and in working order, and it happens to be stolen and not in activate able condition, that is fraud due to lying about the product, then he took your money knowingly for a broken product and getting away with money as if it was a clean esn. Ignore sprint, go straight to the police. Your money will be recovered and the phone returned to the right person. If it was him saying it was stolen, after the product was sold, then likely he will get the boot from sprint
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

paata01 said:
Hey guys,
I need your help. I bought of Craigslist and it was stolen.
I am always cautious, so before buying I requested ESN number from seller and called sprint to check phone, some women answered me and said Phone had no problem and I could go ahead and buy with sellers ask price. So I went to that buy and paid 400$. Later that day I called sprint again to double check, cuz phone was without box, after second attempt guy from Sprint that it was reported.
What should I do. Probably I don't have chance to prove that I bought it honestly. But as every carrier service records customer call, I can prove them that they gave me false information. I thought that owner could report it during that two owner difference between first call and second call but chance of that is very low
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ACTUALLY THIS PERSON YOU BOUGHT IT FROM WAS A TOTAL BUTT.... I GUARANTEE HE / SHE GOT CASH IN HAND THEY CALLED AND REPORTED IT STOLEN I HONESTLY WOULD BET $50 THATS WHAT THEY DID ONLY BAD THING HAVING A GSM PHONE KINDA MISS HAVING A SIM CARD
Sent From My Samsung Galaxy S3

otterboxfan4l said:
ACTUALLY THIS PERSON YOU BOUGHT IT FROM WAS A TOTAL BUTT.... I GUARANTEE HE / SHE GOT CASH IN HAND THEY CALLED AND REPORTED IT STOLEN I HONESTLY WOULD BET $50 THATS WHAT THEY DID ONLY BAD THING HAVING A GSM PHONE KINDA MISS HAVING A SIM CARD
Sent From My Samsung Galaxy S3
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Click to collapse
HOLY CRAP CAPITAL LETTERS BATMAN! haha
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

Guys. I had that same thing happen to me. Got it off CL, turned out to be stolen.
Typed ##786# to get the number of the previous owner, because when tried calling the guy who sold i to me, number was unresponsive.
So, when i called the real owner she said phone was stolen, i was not smart to call from a blocked numer, but from my cell, so she had all my information and googled me threatening to turn me in for stealing.
I decided to beat her to it, and handed it over to the cops. She then called me mltiple times threatening, to which i replied i no longer had the phone.
Interesting fact, when the cop took the phone, he ran some check and did not find to be tolen, only sprint knew it was stolen, so unless i would have give him her cell, the phone would have probably sat around. They are not as sufisticated as we thing, this is not FBI or CIA, just some cop.
If u return to the police, do the ##786# and call the previous owner to tell them the stoy, otherwise dont waste your time, it took me 3 hrs waiting for cops at the police station to only hear phone is not stolen.

ReapersDeath said:
It wouldn't be like that. He just needs to go to the police. Sprint won't refund any money. If he goes to the police, they will figure everything out, and he will get his money back and likely not even have to go to court. Police have access to digital proof via messages or texts or various other things and can easily get it done.
Legally what happened would fall under fraud and robbery. As the item was stated as genuine and non stolen and in working order, and it happens to be stolen and not in activate able condition, that is fraud due to lying about the product, then he took your money knowingly for a broken product and getting away with money as if it was a clean esn. Ignore sprint, go straight to the police. Your money will be recovered and the phone returned to the right person. If it was him saying it was stolen, after the product was sold, then likely he will get the boot from sprint
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Police don't have any type of access to any digital records and "various other things" you speak of.
Once in court, the judge would have to issue a subpoena. Once issued, Sprint has a legal department that can release certain digital items.
When you print emails, they can be falsified. I honestly don't think cops care for you buying stolen goods as CL is at your own liability. No one is responsible for it but yourself.
I like how if you don't know an answer, people make stuff or voice how they think the world should work.

chrischoi said:
Police don't have any type of access to any digital records and "various other things" you speak of.
Once in court, the judge would have to issue a subpoena. Once issued, Sprint has a legal department that can release certain digital items.
When you print emails, they can be falsified. I honestly don't think cops care for you buying stolen goods as CL is at your own liability. No one is responsible for it but yourself.
I like how if you don't know an answer, people make stuff or voice how they think the world should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My whole family is police.. They deal with Craigs list stuff constantly. Most of the time they report results in the person getting their money back and the person who sold the stolen item gets dealt with whichever way they choose to,

Your not getting your money back unless you sell that phone to someone else. If you do that I highly doubt you get the full 400 but at least you get something back. It ain't right but hell I rather take that chance then waiting to take the person that sold you the phone to court . You won't win that case unless you signed a contract or have a receipt. These phones seriously need sim cards like T-Mobile and at&t and the rest of the world and you wouldn't have this problem. Whoever does this to somebody should seriously get a ass kicking, reading this pissed me off. The original owner of that phone sounds like the same person that sold it to you. He got the money then reported it stolen . Good luck on getting your money back but next time just add another line to your service and avoid the hassle.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA Premium App

Yeah I got my S3 from Craigslist in December for $300. I never bought a phone like this before but meeting at Sprint seemed like a no brainer ( and a deal breaker if they won't meet there) Seller had no problem meeting meand as soon as the Sprint rep activated the phone and I made a call on it, I handed her the money. Awesome deal considering the phone was only 2 days old, like brand new, in the box with accessories.
I got lucky that this girl didn't like the S3, and wanted her iphone back
But for the op. Hopefully you communicated with the seller by text. That's a record of the communications you can show the cops when you tell them what happened.

You should have used xda's new market place
Swappa
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

T-Mobile IMEI Check WebService

Hi
I wanted to share a recent story with all of you, what happened with my experience. 4 months ago, I purchased an S3 from someone off of CL. I am extremely careful with purchasing mobiles from there, due to the possibility of getting screwed out of hard earned money that only benefits the person screwing you. Before I purchased the mobile, I did an IMEI validation through T-Mobile's web service, along with a couple more IMEI checks. T-Mobile's web service advised that the phone was not reported lost or stolen and that it was ready for activation. The other web services reported the same result, so based on what is supposed to be a reliable source of information, especially from the carrier itself, I bought the mobile.
GoSmart wouldn't add the phone to my plan because they said the phone had been blacklisted as lost and/or stolen. I told GSm that was impossible since the carrier who issues the device reported the phone clean. This started what turned out to be a 3 month battle between myself and T-Mobile. I phone them up, and after a bit of "we're checking, hang on" or "give me just a few minutes more as I am having to access another system", they informed me that indeed the phone had a lost/stolen insurance claim on it and that the IMEI was blocked. I escalated to a supervisor, only to be told the same information. I explained to them that had their web service been working at the time I used it, I would not have made the purchase. And for the next month, once per week, I continued discussing with customer service, along with checking their IMEI site showing that the phone was still reported clean. They advised me that Asurion claims and blocks do not show on the IMEI site, and I told her that the customer is in the dark about that, and there is no disclaimer on the site alerting anyone of this fact. I also wanted to verify #1 that I was not losing my mind, and #2 to make sure I was on solid enough ground to insist to be escalated to someone in TMo's IT department. I wanted someone to first explain to me why their web service was not accurate, and 2nd to make sure that someone who could make that change to their system got the ball rolling on fixing their web service so that some other unfortunate soul would have to go through what I'd been through so far.
Enter Alisha, systems analyst from TMo IT. Out of anyone who I have ever talked with in any customer service arena, she was by far the best, sympathetic, and understanding person I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Ever. I told her I was a system analyst, I know what they go through when it comes to issues like this and that it needed to be resolved. She then did what no one in customer service offered to do for me, and that was to check both systems to see if I was telling the truth. And sure enough, she discovered that they did in fact have an issue. Even after this discovery, she said that due to the phone being blocked by Asurion that she was powerless to do anything. I told her that the hope of the phone being unblocked was well in the past now, by goal was to get them to fix the problem that forced me down this road in the first place.
The end is near I promise. I still think I was wronged on the business side of the equation, so I went to the BBB and filed a complaint. The following Friday, I receive a call from TMo Customer Service, and after an hour on the phone the gentleman told me that due to the way the claim was filed, that he would open a ticket to send to the team that would be able to unlock the phone and that it would be unlocked by that coming Monday. I was elated. Monday comes, and the phone is still locked. I call customer service again, only to be told "the gentleman who told you that did not have the authority to do so, and did not have the means to make a promise like that due to the phone being insurance blocked." I went off, stating that their company's inability to effectively train their employees, especially those who handle escalated issues was not my concern. She apologize profusely. I went back to the BBB and updated my ticket, stating that the company made an obligation to me, they didn't follow through and to contact the business again. 2 days later, an email arrives from TMo stating the obvious "Mr Harrison should not have purchased a phone from an unauthorized source, yadda, yadda", followed by "due to the nature of the circumstances, we are willing to make a 1 time exception for him and have unblocked the IMEI number." My phone was unblocked and remains unblocked today.
I wanted to share my story with all of you because the bottom line is that until you pick up that phone and talk to someone voice to voice at TMo, do not use the IMEI site as your only source of verification. I thought I was safe by using not only their site, but 2 others, and a call to the police to see if the phone was stolen, but I wasn't safe. Use the site as a preliminary determining factor, but then pick up the phone and talk to their customer service directly to make sure the site is telling you right. And when they tell you it is, then double-check to make sure the phone does not have an insurance IMEI block on it.
Thanks!

I don't think you understand that yes the phone was fine before you bought it but afterwards the person who sold it to you reported it stolen, and probably got another one after paying a deductible while still making money off of the one sold to you. You keep repeating about before you bought it, but you failed to realize its a common scam on CL and you should really be careful next time. You're lucky T-Mobile hooked you up though.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Though there may have been a breakdown in the systems being able to communicate, it still doesn't change the fact that the phone you bought was stolen. You can argue specifics about who told you what and when, but in the end it doesn't change the fact that the device is stolen property.
I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset about getting scammed, but you sound like you are trying to vent all your anger in T-Mobile's direction, when it is not their fault that someone stole a device from them and used it to scam you. It's the criminal who stole the phone and then stole your money that you should be most angry with.
Sure, you didn't know that you weren't getting info from all the sources you should have, probably would've been the same for me and everyone else, but it's not really anyone's fault. They have been updating the way blacklists work for some time now, and while it's getting better, we can't expect instant perfection.
I am glad you shared that T-Mobile doesn't currently have their blacklist synced to Asurions btw, that is very good to know. I just think your anger is a little misplaced is all. From what I've read T-Mobile has been one of the more proactive in sharing blacklist info. Currently they share theirs with AT&T, possibly others.
As I understand it though, in a few months this should all become a bit of a non issue. I've been told that they will be implementing a nationwide blacklist, that all carriers and insurance companies will use, so there will only be one to worry about, and when a device is added to the list, it is instantly blocked everywhere in the US (and maybe Canada).
Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but I consider you extremely lucky to have got them to unblock it. I seriously doubt that would've happened anywhere else. I'm happy for you that they did nonetheless.
Sent from my SGH-T999N using Tapatalk

@dudenphx
First off, allow me to commiserate with your travails. I really do feel bad for you. I am glad it has ended well in the end.
It is a great discovery you made that T-Mo IMEI Checker does not have Asurion Blocks. That alone in my mind gives you Kudos that you greatly deserve. I thank you for that.
So to the problem per se. I am afraid I agree with Doc. You did check on CL Scams. But that was probably was not sufficient. The modus operendi of CL Scam is to Report Stolen AFTER the Sale Not before .
If at all I am buying a phone on Craig's list, I'd first take the IMEI to Assurion and have them Change Ownership on their records for that IMEI. This is similar to Vehicle VIN Number registration to DMV. After that, I'd call the Carriers to do the same thing. Only after that has happened, that I will pay the seller the full amount. I am sure this is not a foolproof way, but at the least I can hang it on Assurion so they don't block the IMEI. If I know them any better, they will still wriggle out of that and block it. But may be I am the half empty kind.

Thanks
Perseus71,
Thanks for the kind words. It felt like Rudolph vs the Abominable Snow Monster, and that really sucked.
There has to be a solution that isn't 100% airtight (nothing is these days), but something that would be as low of a risk as possible. Have you called Asurion before and did the ownership change? What would they require for this to be done? I like buying stuff on CL, this was the first bad experience I had, but I would like to continue buying on CL. The risks are there, but isn't life full of risks anyway?
thanks!

My imei bad T mobile note 3 another craigslist sad story

If u can help me please pm me

I called tmobile and ask politely and said the right answers and they unblocked my imei

What were the right answers? I bought one off the craigs that stopped working a month later. Had to sell it on ebay and broke even.

pcm2a said:
What were the right answers? I bought one off the craigs that stopped working a month later. Had to sell it on ebay and broke even.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right answer? Perhaps giving his credit card number to pay off device outstanding amount.

sixk said:
I called tmobile and ask politely and said the right answers and they unblocked my imei
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Click to collapse
How did that work? I bought my Note 3 on Swappa, and after it was blocked, T-Mobile basically told me to go suck a duck. They wouldn't give me any info, except to tell me what I already knew (that the phone was blocked). They wouldn't tell me how much was owed either.
But please tell us what you said. There are many people who have been scammed and would like to be able to get their device unblocked.
---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 PM ----------
Digitalx1 said:
If u can help me please pm me
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Click to collapse
I went through something very similar, except Swappa, not Craigslist. Is the phone just blocked for non-payment of EIP, or is it reported stolen and blacklisted? That might affect your options.
You have a couple of choices, none of which are ideal.
1. Sell the phone on Ebay for a loss. If you sell it internationally, you might be better off since non-US buyers wouldn't care about it being blocked on T-Mobile.
2. Do what I did. Unlock the device (use Chainfire or something similar) and go to another carrier. I ended up going to Straight Talk (AT&T). All in all, it cost me about $10 to unlock and buy the SIM card. I lost my favorite T-Mobile plan, and now pay more for less data (I cry silently each night), but at least your phone will be usable again.
Hope that helps.

Sorry if I am a noob about this but can someone share some light what is happening exactly? I don't want to fall in this category.
People sell their phones to the customer (via Craigslist or Swappa) and the seller does not pay it off which causes T-Mobile to blacklist them?

Try use region unlock that might help you
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app

Pedro2NR said:
Sorry if I am a noob about this but can someone share some light what is happening exactly? I don't want to fall in this category.
People sell their phones to the customer (via Craigslist or Swappa) and the seller does not pay it off which causes T-Mobile to blacklist them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there has been at least one instance in which the phone seemed to have been reported as lost or stolen via insurance. That's based on a phone which was supposedly not on EIP being blacklisted by Tmo. Can't find the thread right now, so that's based entirely on vague recollection.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Pedro2NR said:
Sorry if I am a noob about this but can someone share some light what is happening exactly? I don't want to fall in this category.
People sell their phones to the customer (via Craigslist or Swappa) and the seller does not pay it off which causes T-Mobile to blacklist them?
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Pretty much. Most likely these people are getting their T-mo service cut off for non-payment and since the phone still has a balance, the IMEI gets blacklisted. Shady seller sells it anyway. Poor buyer gets home, finds out its blocked, and has very little recourse especially if it was a CL deal. People also frequently steal phones and try to sell them as well. I work as a phone tester for a popular "sell us your phone!" service that has commercials all over TV right now, and I see TONS of stolen phones. I open the package, turn it on, see the "you have entered the wrong pin too many times, phone locked" screen, and then the ESN/IMEI comes up blacklisted.
Bottom line- people are terrible and will think nothing of scamming you if they can make a quick buck. Trust no one. I won't buy high-end electronics anywhere but a brick & mortar store or a reputable online dealer who guarantees their products. Saving a couple hundred bucks is not worth the risk of getting scammed.

T-mobile has the best customer-service I've ever talked to. On the phone that is
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Right answer = lies
Im not sure if its the right place to say this.
My N3 was paid off
what I told them was I bought this phone off my girlfriend who wanted to stick with an iphone.
And while she changed back to her iphone there must have been a mistake which blocked the phone.
and after about an hour they said they would review this and call me back... but never got a call back.
So I called back a week later and talked to another person and asked about my phone's status and she told it was not blocked anymore.
Hope that helps.

sixk said:
Right answer = lies
Im not sure if its the right place to say this.
My N3 was paid off
what I told them was I bought this phone off my girlfriend who wanted to stick with an iphone.
And while she changed back to her iphone there must have been a mistake which blocked the phone.
and after about an hour they said they would review this and call me back... but never got a call back.
So I called back a week later and talked to another person and asked about my phone's status and she told it was not blocked anymore.
Hope that helps.
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Sounds so easy. I am assuming you bought the N3 used from a woman at least?

Was actually a guy.
everything was good and was easy to contact but after i bought it he turned off the phone and never heard from him again.
And yea it was craigslist I bought it from.

sixk said:
Was actually a guy.
everything was good and was easy to contact but after i bought it he turned off the phone and never heard from him again.
And yea it was craigslist I bought it from.
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So you basically called T Mobile up and explained you bought this from your girlfriend and get angry and after splitting up black listed the phone or to that effect?

I had an issue like this with my note 3, i purchased it back around October 15 off swappa, then 2 months and about 3 days later my phone stopped working, i looked up the imei and it said it was stolen, conveniently just 3 days too late to file a claim with paypal, I called up tmobile, told them I purchased the phone used, and the date i had started using the phone on their service and said it was now saying it was stolen more than 2 months after this and the person told me they were going to unblock the phone for me, and it would take about 24 hours, it actually took closer to 48 hours but they did unblock it and I've had no problems since.

this is why you do trades at a t-mobile store to verify that it works.

guaneet said:
this is why you do trades at a t-mobile store to verify that it works.
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That only helps if you are SURE to ask the rep to verify nothing is owed........a simple imei scan just states that at the moment it's not flagged. ....had this happen. ..met seller at tmobile. ..rep scanned said it was good to go....literally as I started to hand the money to the dude he mentioned that he owed $500 but had arranged to make payments and that no way he would let his credit get messed up because of it.....I said..."can't do it" and ended up just getting a brand new one from tmobile the next day......glad to not have to deal with the nightmare....
---------- Post added at 07:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:11 PM ----------
louforgiveno said:
That only helps if you are SURE to ask the rep to verify nothing is owed........a simple imei scan just states that at the moment it's not flagged. ....had this happen. ..met seller at tmobile. ..rep scanned said it was good to go....literally as I started to hand the money to the dude he mentioned that he owed $500 but had arranged to make payments and that no way he would let his credit get messed up because of it.....I said..."can't do it" and ended up just getting a brand new one from tmobile the next day......glad to not have to deal with the nightmare....
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Oh yeah and the rep had to look up more info to see that money was owed......the guy had left tmobile but his billing hadn't cycled yet so to anyone checking it all seemed legit....be careful guys....even to this day I see Craigslist postings and when you ask if they will meet at store to confirm no money owed...no response. ....use that as a litmus test if you must dabble

you can ask the t mob rep to check it. they arent restricted at doing that with the owner there, you just have to be polite and get the right person.

guaneet said:
you can ask the t mob rep to check it. they arent restricted at doing that with the owner there, you just have to be polite and get the right person.
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What I'm trying to point out is that generally the question is whether the imei is clean.....the "Yes" answer is not a guarantee at all....it may take tmobile 30 days to realize non - payment before it gets flagged....just make sure to also ask whether all handset fees have been payed off as well as imei status.

well basically this is what happens in craigslist, and very rarely on ebay,....
Someone sells there phone, then they report is lost or stolen, then they probably receive another at a cost of $150 pr $175 for a replacement phone.
If you buy this on ebay, call ebay up a tell them to look at the seller of this phone, they will see that it was sold by the seller claiming this imei is in good standards, they should reimburse you... or paypal....
in craigslist you can make sure you print out the add, keep it in a safe place, so when they sell you the phone and you get scammed, try going to the police and let them know you purchased this, they can probably trace everything back to the seller, and probably arrest them, if they claim a good imei and then they have reported it stolen. to receive another phone from the insurance company.
because when someone reports it stolen and does an insurance job, they have to usually get a police report number, then they have to give Assurance or Assurant (insurance company for the cell phones) the police report number then the insurance company... now if they falsified information to the police they can get in trouble. this will really work for the people that sell there phone to do an insurance job. they sell their phone, call the insurance company and get another one.

Bought a stolen Pixel 2 xl

So I bought a phone that was working until today and all of the sudden it is a reported stolen phone and I can't get in touch with the seller. It was a Verizon Pixel 2 xl. I was using it on MetroPCS successfully until today. Can this be unlocked somehow?

I think you better report to the police. Possession of stolen property is a crime

Unless it belonged to the seller and he didn't pay it off..... Thanks for the lack of help.

Can you go to a Verizon or Metropcs store to check it out...

You are out of luck unless you can straighten it out with Verizon.

Nickdroid86 said:
So I bought a phone that was working until today and all of the sudden it is a reported stolen phone and I can't get in touch with the seller. It was a Verizon Pixel 2 xl. I was using it on MetroPCS successfully until today. Can this be unlocked somehow?
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If Seller will not immediately refund the purchase, the Only thing to do with a stolen phone is tell local police the entire story about Seller.
You can't get a stolen phone to function once blacklisted. If you could find a shady character to "flash" something, you would sooner or later be found out.
Not worth it.

michaelbsheldon said:
If Seller will not immediately refund the purchase, the Only thing to do with a stolen phone is tell local police the entire story about Seller.
You can't get a stolen phone to function once blacklisted. If you could find a shady character to "flash" something, you would sooner or later be found out.
Not worth it.
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I know this doesn't help now, but you have to keep it in mind about a deal that is too good to be true -- it usually isn't.
But let me ask you this; how exactly do you know that its been reported stolen? If you're trying unsuccessfully to connect a stolen phone to a network using your sim card, that would alert your service provider to the fact that you have a stolen phone, and so I would suspect that you can expect the police to knock on your door shortly.

Ok, so let's get the 800-lb gorilla out of the way here. The phone has been blacklisted. Why has it been blacklisted? Either the seller cancelled their service and refused to pay the ETF fee, or the device was stolen. Regardless of why, both options lead to the same end result: an unusable device.
If the device is blacklisted due to the seller refusing to pay the ETF, the only way to resolve the issue is to pay the ETF fee.
If the device is blacklisted due to being stolen, nothing will resolve the issue. The P2XL would need to be sold, either as a parts device, or to a buyer out of the country.
Unlocking a device will not help here, and in the case of Verizon is moot: Verizon does not SIM lock their devices. A few years ago it was possible to switch carriers and get around the blacklist, but that has changed. The carriers all access the same blacklist, and a device blacklisted on one carrier is blacklisted on all of them. The one loophole in the blacklist is if the device is transported outside of North America. The blacklist in the US is not used worldwide, and thus devices outside of the country will work.
Now that we've covered the issue of blacklisting, let's touch on the theft issue. It's very unlikely that Verizon is going to send anyone to retrieve the device. Even though the device costs a fair amount of cash, the carriers cannot pinpoint exactly where the device is, except to note that it's using a specific cell tower. By blacklisting the device they have rendered it unusable and have already written it off.

if you bought it via swappa or something like that you can file a claim against the user
if via craigslist or in person, you have no real recourse

96carboard said:
I know this doesn't help now, but you have to keep it in mind about a deal that is too good to be true -- it usually isn't.
But let me ask you this; how exactly do you know that its been reported stolen? If you're trying unsuccessfully to connect a stolen phone to a network using your sim card, that would alert your service provider to the fact that you have a stolen phone, and so I would suspect that you can expect the police to knock on your door shortly.
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It worked yesterday when i first added it to my ascot. Today, this afternoon it stopped working and when i checked the IMEI, it was reported lost or stolen. It wasn't yesterday when I checked it. Seller is MIA. Can I order a motherboard or something for it that will fix the issue?

Nickdroid86 said:
It worked yesterday when i first added it to my ascot. Today, this afternoon it stopped working and when i checked the IMEI, it was reported lost or stolen. It wasn't yesterday when I checked it. Seller is MIA. Can I order a motherboard or something for it that will fix the issue?
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No, if it is listed as stolen you are done. You can give it to the cops, and the info you have on the seller if you want.

Couple of concerns here.
If I give up the phone, I am out both my money, and the phone. In which case the police will literally do nothing. The phones already been written off and likely replaced.
If I keep it, I have seen multiple claims of company's that can clear a bad IMEI for a fee.
However, I thought that my phone being a Verizon variant, just wouldn't work on Verizon but would work on gsm still? What ever happened to that?

Nickdroid86 said:
Couple of concerns here.
If I give up the phone, I am out both my money, and the phone. In which case the police will literally do nothing. The phones already been written off and likely replaced.
If I keep it, I have seen multiple claims of company's that can clear a bad IMEI for a fee.
However, I thought that my phone being a Verizon variant, just wouldn't work on Verizon but would work on gsm still? What ever happened to that?
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It was explained for you in an earlier post. YOUR PHONE WILL NOT WORK IN THE USA BECAUSE ALL USA CARRIERS USE THE SAME BLACKLIST. YOU WOULD HAVE TO MOVE OUT OF THE COUNTRY OR FIND SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY TO PURCHASE IT OFF OF YOU.

twiz0r said:
It was explained for you in an earlier post. YOUR PHONE WILL NOT WORK IN THE USA BECAUSE ALL USA CARRIERS USE THE SAME BLACKLIST. YOU WOULD HAVE TO MOVE OUT OF THE COUNTRY OR FIND SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY TO PURCHASE IT OFF OF YOU.
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Oh ok, well now that you say it in all caps lock, it makes sense.......

Nickdroid86 said:
Oh ok, well now that you say it in all caps lock, it makes sense.......
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Well you didn't understand when someone typed it normally so...

twiz0r said:
Well you didn't understand when someone typed it normally so...
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Right but it still doesn't explain if you're just saying that because it's unethical, or actually impossible. Because like I said there's companies out there with decent reviews that claim they can fix this issue....

Nickdroid86 said:
Right but it still doesn't explain if you're just saying that because it's unethical, or actually impossible. Because like I said there's companies out there with decent reviews that claim they can fix this issue....
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I don't know anything about bypassing IMEI bans, but I would *assume* that there's some sort of rule on XDA about discussing things of that nature.

This is simple. Be sure you have all your info together about the seller. Print out all correspondences, screen shot and print out any communications (texts, call logs, etc), write down all of the phones info clearly (IMEI, model, etc, etc). Bring that paperwork to the police (don't bring the phone at this time) and file a report. Take said report and contact Google. Email them all of the info including the police report. Wait to hear from Google. Chances are good they will offer some form of assistance, possibly an offer to send in the phone for full reformatting if no one has made claim to that phones IMEI. They may offer a discount on another device. They may tell you to go pound sand. Either way, that's your best/only option at this point.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs

Nickdroid86 said:
Right but it still doesn't explain if you're just saying that because it's unethical, or actually impossible. Because like I said there's companies out there with decent reviews that claim they can fix this issue....
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You are now venturing into territory that is very much frowned upon by XDA moderators. Not giving you a hard time, just a heads up.

I agree, if anyone has info please pm me. Feel free to close the thread.