I recently got a refurbished Dinc 2. The GSM part cannot be unlocked. The unlock service said the IMEI couldn't be recognized by HTC. Is it possible that this phone has been tampered and the IMEI has been changed? I also found the serial numbers under the battery (beginning with HT) and from the phone settings (beginning with MB) are different. All other things seem normal. The ESN is clean since I activated on pageplus. I am concerned with the history of the phone.
Did you get the refurbished incredible 2 for a replacement from Verizon or from someone else?
nitsua98 said:
Did you get the refurbished incredible 2 for a replacement from Verizon or from someone else?
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from ebay. Thanks.
SIRTF said:
from ebay. Thanks.
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Is it like a "new" refurbished? Like, after it was refurbished had it been used?
nitsua98 said:
Is it like a "new" refurbished? Like, after it was refurbished had it been used?
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Yes, it is like a "new" refurbished. The condition looks very good, no any scratch/wear all over the phone. The screen protector with the words "remove before use" and "certified pre-owned" was still on. The verizon global sim card was in it. But I did find some photos in the micro sd card in the phone.
Okay idk much about this kind of stuff but I did some reading on this Wikipedia article and it seems to maybe your imei was changed or maybe someone changed another phones imei to yours. I honestly have no clue, just putting out suggestions.
Edit: maybe the box is not original box the phone came with.
nitsua98 said:
Okay idk much about this kind of stuff but I did some reading on this Wikipedia article and it seems to maybe your imei was changed or maybe someone changed another phones imei to yours. I honestly have no clue, just putting out suggestions.
Edit: maybe the box is not original box the phone came with.
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I´m having the exact same problem. I got a replacement phone from Best Buy, although the carrier was Verizon, the phones at Best Buy were 100$ cheaper. Anyway, I used their geek squad insurance thing, and I got a phone, minus battery, and a service receipt. The IMEI did not appear on the receipt, nor in on the sticker on the back of the phone. Now there may have been an IMEI that was valid at one point on the phone,but me, being a dumbass, either never took the time to copy it down, or did so on a computer I no longer have or a piece of paper I left somewhere else.
Is there any way we can root around and find the correct IMEI, or figure out the IMEI based on the MEID? Is this the sort of record they would keep in their database?
(I have a new thread describing my problem in more detail HERE:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2103068
Refurb phones will not be in standard htc database these unlockers have.
Most tell you if the phone is a refurb no code will be found. Some have unlockers will have the code but cost much more.
BTW XTC Clip will s-off and sim unlock your phone.
Related
Is there a way to unblock these back to the original carrier yet?
paulmagglios said:
Is there a way to unblock these back to the original carrier yet?
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Unblock what? Does the imei read 0? Is the phone rooted or modified in any way?
paulmagglios said:
Is there a way to unblock these back to the original carrier yet?
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Where did you buy it?
Sounds to me like you are black listed. If so then you can probably do it if your name was the first attached to that phone and reported the ESN. Upon that failing, you can try to bribe someone to clear your ESN. What I have noticed is that there are a lot of bad ESN phones being sold to Canada, as it seems the checks are not compatible and could work up here. Aside from those options, it seems you have a bad phone.
BCSC said:
Sounds to me like you are black listed. If so then you can probably do it if your name was the first attached to that phone and reported the ESN. Upon that failing, you can try to bribe someone to clear your ESN. What I have noticed is that there are a lot of bad ESN phones being sold to Canada, as it seems the checks are not compatible and could work up here. Aside from those options, it seems you have a bad phone.
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Yeah, it was a craigslist buy
Also I've heard about the options to sell overseas and to canadians, but would like to use the phone here in the States if at all possible.
So these craigslist and ebay ads about being able to 'fix' the imei back to the original carrier are false?
paulmagglios said:
Yeah, it was a craigslist buy
Also I've heard about the options to sell overseas and to canadians, but would like to use the phone here in the States if at all possible.
So these craigslist and ebay ads about being able to 'fix' the imei back to the original carrier are false?
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My understanding is that bad IMEI or ESN is due to the phone being reported lost or stolen. I'm assuming here, but i'd be pretty confident in saying that the original owner would have to contact the original carrier to clear the block. Otherwise anyone could steal and un block ESN. On the other hand, the people offering this service may work for whatever agency or carrier deals with blocking ESNs. Here is an Ebay ad I've found for ATT. Seems kind of legit, but is definitely risky to give someone remote control of your phone in order to swap the IMEI number. Up to you entirely though. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bad-IMEI-ES...217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd6ca26e9.
Thread closed before imei swapping ideas are presented as that is illegal in some countries and not allowed on XDA.
I purchased a phone off CL. I tried to put a SIM card in but it doesn't recognize one. So i realized the IMEI number on the back does not match the IMEI number in android OS. It doesn't say 000000 or one of those fake IMEI 049 numbers. It just has another IMEI number. My question is, is there a way to modify the numbers to match the IMEI number i have on the back of my phone?
I actually didn't know it didn't match until i sent it to samsung to fix. I thought it was just a problem with the SIM tray but they stated that the IMEI numbers don't match. As a result, they just sent my phone back without fixing anything.
Please help me out. It's on stock rom and not rooted
Again.. the phone is not blacklisted.. I want to change the IMEI number (software) shown in android OS to match the IMEI number (hardware) that i have shown on the back of my phone. I don't know why it's not the same.
Thanks for your help
when phones are refurbished, they change the imei number so its probably just a refurbished phone. Leave the imei alone. Im pretty sure the imei doesnt affect the phone recognizing the sim card anyway, but i could be wrong on that
TheAtheistOtaku said:
when phones are refurbished, they change the imei number so its probably just a refurbished phone. Leave the imei alone. Im pretty sure the imei doesnt affect the phone recognizing the sim card anyway, but i could be wrong on that
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They do change the IMEI when they refurbish, but they also put a brand new sticker on it that shows the new IMEI. Also it's a different sticker than the one that comes on a new phone. It's a different size and it positioned differently. Makes it VERY clear if your phone is new or refurbished.
Aznn0, though you may not realize it what you bought is a stolen/blacklisted/insurance exchange/etc S4. It had a bad IMEI and the seller changed it (illegally) and then sold it to you without bothering to mention the device's history.
If you changed it to the IMEI listed on the back of the phone (And I am telling you in no undercertain terms that you should not!) I'd bet latge sums of money that the phone would go dead because the IMEI listed on the back is a blacklisted number.
So Samsung won't touch it ever again. They will never do a repair for you. If it breaks, you're on your own to fix it.
None of this is probably your fauly and I believe you didn't know what you bought. But it is what it is.
Regardless, asking questions about how to change an IMEI are expressly not permitted on XDA. I know you didn't know, so no hard feelings. But don't ask about how to change an IMEI here again.
Skipjacks said:
They do change the IMEI when they refurbish, but they also put a brand new sticker on it that shows the new IMEI. Also it's a different sticker than the one that comes on a new phone. It's a different size and it positioned differently. Makes it VERY clear if your phone is new or refurbished.
Aznn0, though you may not realize it what you bought is a stolen/blacklisted/insurance exchange/etc S4. It had a bad IMEI and the seller changed it (illegally) and then sold it to you without bothering to mention the device's history.
If you changed it to the IMEI listed on the back of the phone (And I am telling you in no undercertain terms that you should not!) I'd bet latge sums of money that the phone would go dead because the IMEI listed on the back is a blacklisted number.
So Samsung won't touch it ever again. They will never do a repair for you. If it breaks, you're on your own to fix it.
None of this is probably your fauly and I believe you didn't know what you bought. But it is what it is.
Regardless, asking questions about how to change an IMEI are expressly not permitted on XDA. I know you didn't know, so no hard feelings. But don't ask about how to change an IMEI here again.
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yea they do put a new sticker on it, but allot of sellers on ebay/craigslist remove the sticker so that they can sell it as "new" and get a few extra bucks. most sellers assume that buyers wont ever find out which is probably true 90% of the time
Thanks for all your replies.
It's weird because I put in both the IMEI numbers listed from the back of the phone and the one listed in android and they came back clean. I used one of those free esn checker websites. I know they aren't 100% reliable but damn..
I thought matching the IMEI number would do the trick.
It sucks...
I'm having the exact same problem! Mine is an s4 active and when I called my phone service provider they didn't tell me that mine was blacklisted or anything either...
error 119 your mobile phone's imei number not match, plz help me
Like the title says!
Bought a phone listed as new on Ebay, the *#06* IMEI and Battery Housing IMEI Match so I know the phone is not fake... I hope lol, the retail packaging IMEI don't match though.
Question it, How do I tell if the phone was a new handset replaced with a new handset by AT&T or if it's had replacement parts put it?
The phone Housing does look new, but that obviously doesn't say much. Also it's running 4.3 and the initial set-up screen time zone was default to Seuol (South Korea). Can someone give me insight? or some extra things I could look into? Thanks!
drago10029 said:
Like the title says!
Bought a phone listed as new on Ebay, the *#06* IMEI and Battery Housing IMEI Match so I know the phone is not fake... I hope lol, the retail packaging IMEI don't match though.
Question it, How do I tell if the phone was a new handset replaced with a new handset by AT&T or if it's had replacement parts put it?
The phone Housing does look new, but that obviously doesn't say much. Also it's running 4.3 and the initial set-up screen time zone was default to Seuol (South Korea). Can someone give me insight? or some extra things I could look into? Thanks!
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Other than an assessment of the physical & cosmetic condition, difficult to tell. Of course, there is always a risk when buying from that online auction site. The fact that the IMEI on the packaging does not match the phone shows evidence of tampering and who knows how far the tampering went? There are different sites you could go to check the IMEI (imei.info; imei-number.com etc) but these will only let you know if it's a valid ESN. You could, of course, call AT&T wireless support to find out if the phone has been previously activated on their network. You could tell them you want to switch to this handset but you'd like to find out if the ESN is clean.
Hey all,
I've just bought a used G3 online, everything is perfect and almost new as stated:good:. But, when i excitedly opened the phone's back cover and removed battery to put my sim card and sd card in, I found out that the IMEI tag has been part torn/cut off with a blade (pic attached).
Now, that is slightly freaking me out as to why has this been done.
Could anyone shed some light on it, as I've 7days left, within which i can return the phone to the seller.
hsyasin said:
Hey all,
I've just bought a used G3 online, everything is perfect and almost new as stated:good:. But, when i excitedly opened the phone's back cover and removed battery to put my sim card and sd card in, I found out that the IMEI tag has been part torn/cut off with a blade (pic attached).
Now, that is slightly freaking me out as to why has this been done.
Could anyone shed some light on it, as I've 7days left, within which i can return the phone to the seller.
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Looking on my G3, the removed part is the serial number.
Maybe the seller had a refund offer and had to send the S/N ? (usually it's the box one but hum....)
I had 20€ off for a Quick Circle Case, but I sent the label on the box.
Thanks for that raptor2003..
I'm just wondering, can it cause some sort of an issue in the long run, like if i need to get something done under warranty from lg...
FYI: I don't know if i've valid lg warrantly.
In fact is there a way to find out when the phone was manufactured or if i've lg warranty?
hsyasin said:
Thanks for that raptor2003..
I'm just wondering, can it cause some sort of an issue in the long run, like if i need to get something done under warranty from lg...
FYI: I don't know if i've valid lg warrantly.
In fact is there a way to find out when the phone was manufactured or if i've lg warranty?
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I know there is that with Apple's products, but I don't know if other manufacturers do that.
I've looked a bit to see if we can find the S/N in some software menu. But I haven't found anything. Nothing in the famous hidden menu.
Did you get the phone from Smartfonestore as a refurb?
Thelargeportion said:
Did you get the phone from Smartfonestore as a refurb?
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Yes i did, and it was a grade A.
Likewise. And mine has the same sticker taken off. I emailed them but got a crap reply; fingers crossed it doesn't break.
Most likely the motherboard was swapped and a new imei was issued
In Australia serial removal usually means the device has been repaired/serviced/not new. These devices are no longer new/ownedby original owner so serials are removed, so can no longer be sold as new. Serial and IMEI are different things. Typically serial is for manufacturer to identify devices. IMEI are for unique device tracking across world/country. IMEI you can check in ABOUT in settings, missing IMEI sticker i wouldn't worry about, make sure it is NOT registered as stolen tho.
Hi all!! Please be gentle, I'm new to all of this awesomeness. So I have a note 10+, it was given to me because they couldn't get it to work. Idk what they did to it, but they really did a number on it!! The model number on the back says sm-n9700, in the about phone stuff it says sm-n9750. I'm pretty positive the imei has been changed as well as the serial number. it's locked to tmobile I assume since that's the carrier that shows when powering on. HELP!!
badgett77 said:
Hi all!! Please be gentle, I'm new to all of this awesomeness. So I have a note 10+, it was given to me because they couldn't get it to work. Idk what they did to it, but they really did a number on it!! The model number on the back says sm-n9700, in the about phone stuff it says sm-n9750. I'm pretty positive the imei has been changed as well as the serial number. it's locked to tmobile I assume since that's the carrier that shows when powering on. HELP!!
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What shows up on the splash screen doesn't necessarily mean it's locked to the carrier. It would be if the phone was financed/leased... But I have other concerns based on what you said.
Personally I would strongly suggest you just give the phone back.
It's really nice that someone gave you the phone, but this has the "too good to be true" ring to it.. Especially if the model number is not correct, that would be a major red flag. At the same time if you think that the IMEI was changed then I would definitely give the phone back. Absolutely no reason would exist to change the IMEI other then the phone was blacklisted, financed, lost/stolen or a warranty return that wasn't returned.
scottusa2008 said:
What shows up on the splash screen doesn't necessarily mean it's locked to the carrier. It would be if the phone was financed/leased... But I have other concerns based on what you said.
Personally I would strongly suggest you just give the phone back.
It's really nice that someone gave you the phone, but this has the "too good to be true" ring to it.. Especially if the model number is not correct, that would be a major red flag. At the same time if you think that the IMEI was changed then I would definitely give the phone back. Absolutely no reason would exist to change the IMEI other then the phone was blacklisted, financed, lost/stolen or a warranty return that wasn't returned.
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kinda what I was thinking, but was hoping to get a different answer. Thanks though...
The only legal way is to pay the balance, just like that
maxpunj007 said:
i am having the same problem i bought it second hand and now phone is financial locked is ti possible to make it unlock.
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Only way is to pay company fully to unlock IMI of the phone. Nothing else going to work
Return it, buy from reliable source, easy
Well after digging deeper I have discovered that it's a freaking counterfeit (I guess that's what you'd call it). Oh well...that's my luck. But on the bright side I've managed to learn quite a bit, thanks to me being so determined, that otherwise I never would have educated myself on.
How do you change the IMEI of a phone?
I agree with the others though, give it back. If the person who gave it to you won't take it back, or is not around to take it back, and if you didn't pay any money for it, then recycle it.
Sent from my SM-T727V using Tapatalk
gernerttl said:
How do you change the IMEI of a phone?
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That is not something they allow discussions on here.
scottusa2008 said:
That is not something they allow discussions on here.
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Yeah, I figured as much. I was just curious. In my opinion, this thread smells a little sketchy.
gernerttl said:
How do you change the IMEI of a phone?
Sent from my SM-T727V using Tapatalk
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When someone asks for things like this, most surely the device is an illegal matter, what a shame with these guys
winol said:
When someone asks for things like this, most surely the device is an illegal matter, what a shame with these guys
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Yeah.
Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk
winol said:
When someone asks for things like this, most surely the device is an illegal matter, what a shame with these guys
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I suppose these days with carriers opening their networks to other carrier's phones....
But in the past i did this a few times. Boost mobile for instance didn't have the device i decided i wanted, bought a used Boost branded phone and changed my chosen phone to that boost imei. Put the boost phone away (still have it).
I did this maybe 3 different times to 3 different phones on different carriers....was really the only way to have the device you wanted on the carrier you had......
Again, that was when carriers had too much power and most networks were all cdma....a dark time.
To be clear, i owned the phones/imei's outright.
I used to dream about the day we'd get gsm phones....the cellular world is much better now so no need for imei swaps (on legit devices)
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louforgiveno said:
I suppose these days with carriers opening their networks to other carrier's phones....
But in the past i did this a few times. Boost mobile for instance didn't have the device i decided i wanted, bought a used Boost branded phone and changed my chosen phone to that boost imei. Put the boost phone away (still have it).
I did this maybe 3 different times to 3 different phones on different carriers....was really the only way to have the device you wanted on the carrier you had......
Again, that was when carriers had too much power and most networks were all cdma....a dark time.
To be clear, i owned the phones/imei's outright.
I used to dream about the day we'd get gsm phones....the cellular world is much better now so no need for imei swaps (on legit devices)
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imei changing/swapping is illegal in the US.. are u sure ur not talking about sim swapping lol..
i suppose if u owned the devices outright then y not.. but its still illegal.. devices have an imei for a number of reasons so manipulating that i can also understand why its illegal some places..
think of it like a car.. if u got a cheap pinto and take that license plate with the tags n all and swap it onto a sports car to avoid paying higher insurance or w.e then if u get caught u pay the price lol..
its an identifier.. for networks, global imei blacklists, financing etc. etc. its like an ssn for a phone lol.. ppl dont go changing their ssn when they feel like it lol..
i can see both sides but more so the carrier side since most ppl (not all) that r changing imeis are for nefarious reasons.
Exactly, imei changing is illegal, any way you look at it, it is illegal
Never suggested that it wasn't...and while i had my reasons back then, these days the only reason i would imagine someone doing it would be in the case of a "stolen" device. I don't condone that
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