ok i dont want this to look like the typical stolen phone wanting a new imei to get around !
right here i have 1x t-mobile galaxy s3 , working condition, bought with a bad imei he cancled through t-mobile.
and then i have a t-mobile galaxy s3 wiith a completely destroyed digitizer/screen.
if anybody knows a way i could get around this let me know ,ive been searching but maybe somebody has some good links
Why do an IMEI swap? Just swap the mainboard and you're good to go. I'm guessing if you knew enough to at least ask about IMEI-swapping, you know a bit more about disassembling. That which iFixit gave a very modest rating of 8
alpha-niner64 said:
Why do an IMEI swap? Just swap the mainboard and you're good to go. I'm guessing if you knew enough to at least ask about IMEI-swapping, you know a bit more about disassembling. That which iFixit gave a very modest rating of 8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey thats a good idea! i thought of this already , but! my galaxy s3 that has a good imei motherboard is shot with the "Sudden death syndrome" which is common. i beleive this problem is in the motherboard, so if i swapped it id be swapping in a shot motherboard, but it has a good imei, if not,ill go ahead and swap it so let me know . thank you
update: i tried the motherboard swap, and the sudden death syndrome follows, so i need to use my imei thats on my SDS'd motherboard. thanks
the ptoblem here is that even though you bought the phone and did nothing wrong, it is still considered stolen property.
as for sds, can you be more specific? sudden death was specific to the original firmware for the I9300. even if it exhibts simikar symptoms, its not really sds as its not sn isdue plaguing our devices like it did for them.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
DocHoliday77 said:
the ptoblem here is that even though you bought the phone and did nothing wrong, it is still considered stolen property.
as for sds, can you be more specific? sudden death was specific to the original firmware for the I9300. even if it exhibts simikar symptoms, its not really sds as its not sn isdue plaguing our devices like it did for them.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know what you mean, but its really not stolen property its is mine, i paid full price for this phone but t-mobile wont help me because my account is in bad standing.
i read that is is legal to clone/swap the imei on two phones that belong solely you to.
i know theres gotta be a way!
gottapaybills9640 said:
i know what you mean, but its really not stolen property its is mine, i paid full price for this phone but t-mobile wont help me because my account is in bad standing.
i read that is is legal to clone/swap the imei on two phones that belong solely you to.
i know theres gotta be a way!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
otherwords i know its not a legal option to tamper with your imei alone, but i beleive this should be a legal action since i own both phones, if someone can help i can send a tag'd pic of both of them too to prove their mine, please help me thank you
before this goes further, please understand that this thread is probably already violating xda rules. discussion about cloning devices is not allowed. i too hsve seen claims that what you wsnt to do is legal, but no one has ever been able to provide me definitive proof of this, so it is nothing more than a guess.
in your op you said you bought a blacklisted device from someone who stopped paying. this makes it stolen property, whether you paid full price or not. If someone stopped making their car payments, then sold that car to you, would it not still be considered stolen, and you forced to return it to the rightful owner?
Or say someone stole your TV, or whatever you want as an example, then sold it to someone. is that buyer the new legitimate owner? or are you?
dont take offense to any of this. im not against you at all. but i just wanted to explain why you cant discuss this here, and why you will be very hard pressed to find soneone willing to risk helping you.
even if device cloning is legal as you want to believe, it likely would not be in this specific case because the phone would still be considered stolen property.
i am sorry to have to give an unwanted answer, and i do understand where youre coming from, but i dont think there is any information here that will help you. Sorry...
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
Related
how do i chang the imei on blue angel xda 2s
I doubt u can do it easily
Also, isnt it illegal in the UK to change the IMEI of a handset?
numanoids said:
Also, isnt it illegal in the UK to change the IMEI of a handset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It certainly is. On the grounds that there is only one reason why you'd need to!
Actually, it's very easy!
DISCALIMER:
I take no responsibility for the procedure.
If you loose data, not my fault!
If your device gets borken, not my fault!
If this is illegal in your country, not my fault!
Ok, here we go!
1. Open phone app, and dial *#06#
2. Write down your current IMEI number.
3. Make complete backup.
4. Buy a new device
5. Restore backup.
6. Open phone app, and dial *#06#
7. Confirm that your device now has a different IMEI..
And for the future: Don't buy stolen goods!
I can do this for you, and it will only cost you 750€
:lol: LOL sound about right :shock:
Bassey said:
numanoids said:
Also, isnt it illegal in the UK to change the IMEI of a handset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It certainly is. On the grounds that there is only one reason why you'd need to!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actuallly, there are a number of very valid reasons why you may want to change the IMEI of you phone. For Instance.
I have a PDA2k and a Vodafone 7100v with blackberry enterprise account. I recently installed the Blackberry Connect software onto my PDA2K and went to the website to enter the New IMEI number and PIN cod for my PDA2K. This was refused by vodafone because it is not a "Vodafone phone IMEI". So my thinking was to take over the IMEI of the 7100v and the the problem goes away.
Haven't achieved anything yet and if it IS illigal to use one of my IMEI numbers in another of MY phones then the law is an ass.
Kindest regards,
Derek
hi
to those of us that dont live in UK and this rule does not apply (as no legal legislation exists where i live that says this is illegal) we actually might wanna try yhis just for fun.. so does n1 know how to change the imei?
This topic also applies to those who baught a used device and didn't know that the emei was blocked by one carrier because of bad credit that was never resolved by the original owner.
Now IF the original owner sold the unit to an unaware buyer, then the buyer would be SOL. IMO, it is NOT the buyer's fault, NOR it is assumed that the unit was "stolen". Some guys here seam to jump into there own conclusions.
still no news on the IMEI changing ?
It is illegal in the UK to change the EMEI, it doesnt matter why you are doing it, its just illegal. End of story. If you get caught doing it, you get arrested.
To be honest, there are NOT loads of reasons youd want to legally change the emei, so far 2 have been presented,
1> vodaphone emei required to do something on phone
2> previous owner had bad credit and sold on phone
Case one, rare. A pain, yes, but rare so I dont think anyone will go to all the effort and law breaking to solve just this.
Case two, even rarer. And for the person in this situation, they could just call the network and explain it to them, its possible the block would be lifted if its not actualy a stolen phone.
I beg people to stop asking about EMEI changes on here, we dont want this board shutdown, and I can garantee that will happen if an emei tool appears. Its GOOD that you cant change the emei because this board isnt a place for criminals as it would be if emei tools were supplied.
Yes it's illegal. IN YOUR COUNTRY. In your Case 2, the network would be glad to meet with you so they can confescate the phone since it was not paid for. The original owner left the country and never came back. Anyway, I seam to recall there was a way to change the EMEI on the MDA I.
Unless there is a rule posted on this board about asking for something like this, people will always ask. I think it should not be a board rule because it doesn't apply to most counties.
And because its illegal here then its ok for people in other countries to help criminals here?
I was posting to a UK person, trying to help them avoide legal trouble, and it does apply to people in many other countries. Its just not a good thing to do, has little legitimate merit, and is a lot of work for little reward.
I dont know of any country that welcomes reprogramming of phones so why not stay away from it to avoid bringing trouble on the board?
Just because some countries havent made a specific law against it, it doesnt mean its a good idea.
And it the original owner of a phone sold it without paying for it, then it IS a stolen phone. Buying stolen goods is buying stolen goods, if the network would confiscate it back, then you ARE doing something dodgy by reprogramming the emei, therefor removing case 2 from my legitimate reasons list. So we are left with this one bizare rare case where its needed.
All that legal risk for that?
If you were trying to assist member from the UK, then state so. But making it a board rule affect every board member, not just the ones who live in the UK. I guess the site admin you have to decide about the rules. Neither you or I admin of this site, so I guess we have no say either way. If you are an admin, then you can keep me from posting the EMEI changer when or if it is released.
You have just insinuated that I knowingly bought stolen goods from the original owner. If I had know that there was a problem like this before hand, I would not have given my $600 to the person that sold it. Would you give back the unit knowing that you will not get the money back from the original owner? What sane person would? If the network told me that they would refund my money, I would gladly give it back and buy a new one. Since that isn't happening anytime soon, I will not not be discuraged and make the best out of my predicament. If the Johnny Law catches up to me, then so be it. At least I knew what the consequences are and that I had a choice. No one on any forum can tell me what I can and can't do to anything I own.
Slight misunderstanding, I never said you KNOWINGLY buight stolen goods, but at the end of the day, as far as im aware the law is the same in most places, stolen goods are not legitimate even if you didnt know. Many people are put on the rough end of a point stick when they get caught out like that.
I myself have lost lots of money from not knowing something was stolen, then having the police take it back. It sucks. Im sorry it happened to you.
EMEI numbers are tightly controlled because of all the different kinds of fraud that get associated with changing them.
Its like changing the VIN on a car, its your car, but its still not allowed.
Im really sorry you got caught in the situation, but you have to get your money back from the seller. If you cant, There isnt much you can do.
Yes I agree that "stolen goods IS stolen goods", no matter how you acquire it. It's not only the law but common sense. Don't get me wrong. I do understand your point of view and respect it. In a place such as local auction sites, you don't get lucky every time you make a transaction and I don't have the luxury to throw $600 out the window. The seller lives on the other side of the world. I refuse to waste my resources to track the seller and try to get my money back. If the network wants the phone back, they can certainly offer to refund the $600 so I can buy another unit from them.
Changing the VIN on a car is not a good example. As there is absolutely no reason why anyone would remove or replace the VIN. Then they would have to replace/remove the chassis and engine block numbers.
The way I see it, the EMEI changer is a tool.. like a gun for example. It depends on how you use it. If you get busted using it other than legitimate reasons, then you dug your own hole. I am certainly not an angel and if this tool is released, I will use it so that I have 1 more choice of carrier I can use.
I do not gave a cr*p about stupid, british laws , nor do I understand why this should be illegal. (cant see any resonable harm by doing this)
It sounds like british goverment is worse than Moussolini and Mao together at this point .. I must ask WTF are those dumb bastardz thinking when they assume that by changing some numbers I do something illigal ? .. this is exacly as stupid as assuming that anybody that buys a knife is a killer.
Now--- can we move on and get back to subject ?
AlCapone said:
I do not gave a cr*p about stupid, british laws .....It sounds like british goverment is worse than Moussolini and Mao together at this point .. .....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, and don't forget about Quisling, too!
fpmacko said:
Yeah, and don't forget about Quisling, too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes ...i could say *especially* Quisling !!
but he was a traitor - while the others forced thir way upon people ,that's why I compared the situation to tham
Hey,
Here's my situation, i have a company which repairs phones, we also do retail and we're buying gsm and cdma phones, but the problem with cdma (sprint or verizon) phones is that when we call the provider to check if phone is ok they say that yes, and that it can me connected to the network, so as i believe, the ESN is "clear"...but after a week or 2 weeks it becomes "reported lost/stolen"...
And then the phone is actually worthless, the only thing is that we can use it for parts.
So finally, my question is:
can i "unlock" "lost or stolen" htc diamond, or any other locked sprint/verizon phone to work with another carrier.
i know that ESN changing is prohibited, so do i have any choice, what can i do?
thanks
greg
Stop stealing phones....lol the short answer is yes you can unlock that phone...I know I am a bit late in a responce but hey at least you got one
f*** you asshole...don't call anybody a thief if you don't know what's going on.
bommerlunder said:
f*** you asshole...don't call anybody a thief if you don't know what's going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are they being reported lost or stolen. If what you are doing is legitimate then you shouldn't have any issues, right?
I'm doing???
WTF? At the time I asked this question I was actually in New York, working for this company http://us.webuy.com/ but as I'm an apple technician I had no idea about CDMA phones but WeBuy.com was buying CDMA (in a legitimate way) and then the phones were reported as stolen which is ridiculous in my opinion, if the phone was stolen it should have been locked right away, don't you think?
Anyway, I don't work with them any more and i never stole or bought a stolen phone, (I guess you did?) so i believe you guys really should apologize...
I don't think anyone here is actually saying you are stealing, just curious as to why they would be lost/stolen if they were not actually lost/stolen. You need to chill out. Bad language gets you nowhere but banned here.
if we assume that this was a reply "Stop stealing phones" it's pretty obvious what you meant.
we checked all imeis and ESNs in MEND so if they were stolen they should've been reported earlier, not just after selling them...i guess people just want to get some money back from providers, no idea...that's why i was wondering about the unlock. i don't care about being banned on the forum with people like CR1T1C4L718....That's just lack of respect and basic knowledge
I was just kidding with you dude..no need to get all huffy puffy and start peacocking...lol
bommerlunder - you are a tool.
bommerlunder said:
if we assume that this was a reply "Stop stealing phones" it's pretty obvious what you meant.
we checked all imeis and ESNs in MEND so if they were stolen they should've been reported earlier, not just after selling them...i guess people just want to get some money back from providers, no idea...that's why i was wondering about the unlock. i don't care about being banned on the forum with people like CR1T1C4L718....That's just lack of respect and basic knowledge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you cant take a joke?
Hello,
I have found various ads on ebay.co.uk with users selling htcs that are not functional to UK (It's shows no service when inserting a sim card in UK) but are functional to the rest of the world, or so they claim. How can this be true? Anybody knows anything about this? Please follow these links and have a look if you wanna help. Should I bid on them in order to use them in europe (not uk)? Can they be stolen or ?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HTC-One-X-3...=487860465136872654&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&
and
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140793541131&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123
I strongly recommend that you do not buy one of these. They are likely to be phones that have been lost or reported stolen and the IMEI has been blocked by the network operator. Network operators share the block between all carriers here in the UK and most of Europe I believe. I would steer well clear personally.
Those phones are either stolen or written off by an insurance company.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Stay away.
Sent from my HTC One X
Thank you for the replies. I will stay away.
For the record this is the reply I got "as i have stated on the listening i had bought this for me to use, and is open to all network, some how the network has been locked in for uk use, but it dose work other part of the world with any Sim card you put in.
many thanks"
tzic said:
Thank you for the replies. I will stay away.
For the record this is the reply I got "as i have stated on the listening i had bought this for me to use, and is open to all network, some how the network has been locked in for uk use, but it dose work other part of the world with any Sim card you put in.
many thanks"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone with half a brain that had had their phone locked for no reason would be straight on the phone to their network operator and going berserk! I would never just accept that "Oh, my network's barred my phone, oh well guess I'll just sell it then". Yeah right, pull the other one!
Parva4 said:
Anyone with half a brain that had had their phone locked for no reason would be straight on the phone to their network operator and going berserk! I would never just accept that "Oh, my network's barred my phone, oh well guess I'll just sell it then". Yeah right, pull the other one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed... stay away from it OP...sure you can find a deal which does not mean you get ripped off.
As a general consensus, if a phone is barred in the UK it will work abroad, if a phone is barred in Turkey it'll work in the UK.
All barred phones emit a signal and when you enter a UK sim it checks it against the database and it will know it's barred.
2 main reasons why a phone could be barred, 1) It's stolen 2) It's been insurance scammed. Either way if you are the legit holder of a barred phone the only way it would have been barred is if you insurance scammed it yourself, or you bought the phone privately and it was stolen/scammed and it got barred whilst in your possession without realising it was either.
This happened to my sister, the SGS2 she bought privately was listed due to an insurance scam, although it wasn't blocked the IMEI had been listed which was odd!
Stay away, these days phones are smuggled out of the country for illegal purposes.
STAY AWAY. It will do you more harm than good.
it will be better to not buy HTC!!! totally crap!! used my NEW HTC ONE X for only 10 days. it its bricked itself. lcd quolity is poore!!
real77055 said:
it will be better to not buy HTC!!! totally crap!! used my NEW HTC ONE X for only 10 days. it its bricked itself. lcd quolity is poore!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this is the whole reason threads like this one should not be opened. Attracts all kinda idiots. If you have an expensive toy do bit research first before start messing with it. Cause most of the times users like to be spoonfed with info on how to do things. Basically if you do not know what your doing get an iPhone instead and troll away from here
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Goku80 said:
And this is the whole reason threads like this one should not be opened. Attracts all kinda idiots. If you have an expensive toy do bit research first before start messing with it. Cause most of the times users like to be spoonfed with info on how to do things. Basically if you do not know what your doing get an iPhone instead and troll away from here
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe your idiot but not me!!!!!\i know what to do with my phone !!im using android phone mor than 2 years! i'm very well experienced!!! and you can confirm that yellow dots in lcd is my foult???? the phone bricked by itsself. also my friend phone bricked(it was stock htc nothing changed!!) totally crap not a phone!! and be a little bit quite with your words!!
Guys please stop flaming, I got my answer!
real77055 said:
maybe your idiot but not me!!!!!\i know what to do with my phone !!im using android phone mor than 2 years! i'm very well experienced!!! and you can confirm that yellow dots in lcd is my foult???? the phone bricked by itsself. also my friend phone bricked(it was stock htc nothing changed!!) totally crap not a phone!! and be a little bit quite with your words!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
of course mate you know what you are doing with your phone..just with the way you come out with your answers says what kinda person you are. regarding the OP i am sorry for the rant was not mean't for you..just saying with opening threads like this one you attract all kinda trolls...Like i said no way a phone can get bricked by itself as it is always down to a user fault. yellow spots on lcd then fine but just return it back instead of moaning...
anyways said what i said...
it would be good to know which phone is best to use with each carrier for using the SPH-L710 on those carriers and will allow ACTIVATION.
i think there is a problem with some donor phones only having esn/meid and not having an imei like the S3 does.
same thing about some donor phones only have "3G" while the S3 has "4G LTE" and that is actually a GSM built-in sim card isnt it?
anyhow there are definately some wrong combinations you should not do if you want to do activation.
i just noticed i posted this in the "General" section when it needs to go in the "Q&A"
if a moderator could move it i would appreciate it.
sorry and thanks
Well, I think ib4l describes what this thread will be.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
im just trying to consolidate whats alerady in all these forums/threads into one thread with a "basic database"
what phones have high success rate of "activating
shouldnt be locked if some ppl post the donor phone and then what actually was working in the end or what was not working.
en11gma said:
im just trying to consolidate whats alerady in all these forums/threads into one thread with a "basic database"
what phones have high success rate of "activating
shouldnt be locked if some ppl post the donor phone and then what actually was working in the end or what was not working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since it involves cloning an ESN I'm guessing that it will. I get that most people asking about this are legit, but it hits a big gray area.
shane6374 said:
Since it involves cloning an ESN I'm guessing that it will. I get that most people asking about this are legit, but it hits a big gray area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first i never said that at all
second there are tons of threads on here about getting a phone working on another network
you can transfer phones that are unlocked you do know this right?
just want to add one more thing so please stay on topic
phones with carriers
that is all that really has to be put in this thread
en11gma said:
first i never said that at all
second there are tons of threads on here about getting a phone working on another network
you can transfer phones that are unlocked you do know this right?
just want to add one more thing so please stay on topic
phones with carriers
that is all that really has to be put in this thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really was trying to be nice in how I said it an warn you of where you were going with this thread, but clearly you would just rather argue.
Yes, there are plenty of threads about getting phones working on other networks, but they tend to stay away from the subject of doner phones which is ESN cloning.
BTW, if it turns out I'm wrong, I'll be the first to apologize for my mistake.
shane6374 said:
I really was trying to be nice in how I said it an warn you of where you were going with this thread, but clearly you would just rather argue.
Yes, there are plenty of threads about getting phones working on other networks, but they tend to stay away from the subject of doner phones which is ESN cloning.
BTW, if it turns out I'm wrong, I'll be the first to apologize for my mistake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all i want is the PHONE Model and results
what you are trying to do is get threads closed and start arguments.
phone model and results.
nothing more nothing less
Modifiying ESN, MEID, IMEI among other things is illegal as such discussing it isn't allowed. Thread locked.
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!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not something they allow discussions on here.
scottusa2008 said:
That is not something they allow discussions on here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
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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