Develop Bugs

My IMEI got blocked by T-Mobile

I bought my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone off craigslist 2 months ago brand new in box as of Saturday my IMEI has been blocked. This must have been a stolen phone or something. Yeah I was really mad but oh well.. Any suggestions at this point?? Can I unlock it and sell it that way??

HOw did you get notified. And it's good to check esnimei before buying
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

sell it on eBay or craigslist. Yes you can unlock it first and list that as one of the features
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 06:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:13 AM ----------
I have one more piece of advice. Such a phone was probably stolen by a T-Mobile employee. Why not call and ask for the customer retention center? They can hook you up.
When I bought 2 s3s and switched my mom to my Hercules they jacked all the 32 and 64 gb cards. They know they are not paying their employees enough.
Insinuate you feel the phone was sold to you by a T-Mobile employee. extremely likely
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

bipoler said:
HOw did you get notified. And it's good to check esnimei before buying
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't get notified..At first I thought I did a bad flash or something because I wasn't getting signal through out the day so I back tracked on everything I did. I went back to stock and started the process over again to root and ect.. I was still not getting signal or data so the next day I called T-Mobile and asked was something wrong with my account they said no all paid and up to date then they asked for the IMEI# and then the T-Mobile rep said " Oh I see what the problem is your imei/phone is blocked. Then right away I knew this must have been reported stolen.

Android_Monsters said:
sell it on eBay or craigslist. Yes you can unlock it first and list that as one of the features
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 06:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:13 AM ----------
I have one more piece of advice. Such a phone was probably stolen by a T-Mobile employee. Why not call and ask for the customer retention center? They can hook you up.
When I bought 2 s3s and switched my mom to my Hercules they jacked all the 32 and 64 gb cards. They know they are not paying their employees enough.
Insinuate you feel the phone was sold to you by a T-Mobile employee. extremely likely
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This guy knows nothing of what he is talking about! Your phone was blocked because someone bought the phone and split it into payments on their account! Most likely their account was cancelled or couldn't pay it, so they figured they would sell the phone to offset what they owe. Only only only way to get it unblocked is to get a hold of the seller and have him reactivate the account or pay off what ever they owe for the phone on the account. This is starting to happen a lot now! So much everyone be careful! Another thing also is the guy did an insurance claim and sold you the phone that was supposedly lost. I would hit up the guy! Good luck!
You can unlock it and sell it for people to use on any other GSM service but T-Mobile!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

deviusdragger said:
This guy knows nothing of what he is talking about! Your phone was blocked because someone bought the phone and split it into payments on their account! Most likely their account was cancelled or couldn't pay it, so they figured they would sell the phone to offset what they owe. Only only only way to get it unblocked is to get a hold of the seller and have him reactivate the account or pay off what ever they owe for the phone on the account. This is starting to happen a lot now! So much everyone be careful! Another thing also is the guy did an insurance claim and sold you the phone that was supposedly lost. I would hit up the guy! Good luck!
You can unlock it and sell it for people to use on any other GSM service but T-Mobile!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be right, however the OP is a paying customer who (hopefully) is in good standing with T-Mobile. If you have a _napkin_receipt (or invent one...) you could get with retention and email them your information.
OP, you made a purchase in good faith and hoped to pay for T-Mobile service in good faith. You want to continue paying T-Mobile and regardless if you were scammed, they could accommodate you.
Otherwise I would unlock the phone and try to sell it to a Wind subscriber. At least make a trade and get a decent phone in return, like a note. If you were honest with me and I was on Wind with a Note or GS2 or whatever they have, I would consider a trade.

You guys must think that T-Mobile is stupid, the invoices are all the same through all locations, and they track them and verify in their systems that the phone was paid. No way around, no matter what you do! You can call and cry and tell them you were ripped off! Phone will no get unblocked unless it shows in their system that the installment plan that was started on that device is paid off!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

And that's why you don't upgrade through T-Mobile... If you want a phone it's cheaper to go to like Wal-Mart or some other store (Not Best Buy) pay it in full.. It's screwed up people screw other people over like this...

konceptz said:
You may be right, however the OP is a paying customer who (hopefully) is in good standing with T-Mobile. If you have a _napkin_receipt (or invent one...) you could get with retention and email them your information.
OP, you made a purchase in good faith and hoped to pay for T-Mobile service in good faith. You want to continue paying T-Mobile and regardless if you were scammed, they could accommodate you.
Otherwise I would unlock the phone and try to sell it to a Wind subscriber. At least make a trade and get a decent phone in return, like a note. If you were honest with me and I was on Wind with a Note or GS2 or whatever they have, I would consider a trade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It don't matter how if he is in good standing with Tmobile, the phone he bought off the craigslist person account is not. That's what's scary about buying from CL. You can try to talk to customer Service, but I think you are screwed.

How i unblocked my imei from o2.
you may get lucky i had the same issue with o2, all i did was got lucky to be honest i unlocked the network and have since been useing a 3 sim works fine cheap to try like £1 so not breaking the bank if not try a few networks like vodafone as they dont piggyback from anyone so they may not get notified that your imei has been blocked.

It probably wasn't stolen but purchased on an EIP and never paid for.. stop buying phones on craigslist unless you have a receipt and proof that it's not on an EIP

that is what happens when you buy second hand, trying to save money cost you alot more than you think. you better find out if it is stolen, first off.

sell it to some developer or someone .. that way you could recover some money

sorry man but now you have an expensive media player. but I see many ppl trying to sell their phone with IMEI blocked.

help ASAP
[hey my cusin locked up my phone{reason i told him im saling it an he wanted to buy it an i said no} its a tmobile galaxy s is there a way tht i can unlock it

Very scary. I bought mine on CL new in box also.

asr10user said:
Very scary. I bought mine on CL new in box also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe legit, but keep in mind, alot of carrier employee's will steal phones, and those places are exactly where they can get rid of them, I have a friend that got burn twice....I told him stop looking on CL. Just becuase it is new in box, don't mean a damn thing. It may take 2-3mo for the carrier to do inventory, and bingo, that is when they will block it.

Ugh.. the chances of it being an employee are slim. The chances of it being a defaulted Value EIP are most likely.

jmares214 said:
I didn't get notified..At first I thought I did a bad flash or something because I wasn't getting signal through out the day so I back tracked on everything I did. I went back to stock and started the process over again to root and ect.. I was still not getting signal or data so the next day I called T-Mobile and asked was something wrong with my account they said no all paid and up to date then they asked for the IMEI# and then the T-Mobile rep said " Oh I see what the problem is your imei/phone is blocked. Then right away I knew this must have been reported stolen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
deviusdragger said:
This guy knows nothing of what he is talking about! Your phone was blocked because someone bought the phone and split it into payments on their account! Most likely their account was cancelled or couldn't pay it, so they figured they would sell the phone to offset what they owe. Only only only way to get it unblocked is to get a hold of the seller and have him reactivate the account or pay off what ever they owe for the phone on the account. This is starting to happen a lot now! So much everyone be careful! Another thing also is the guy did an insurance claim and sold you the phone that was supposedly lost. I would hit up the guy! Good luck!
You can unlock it and sell it for people to use on any other GSM service but T-Mobile!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey OP, what happened to this phone eventually? Did you get it to work? Do you know if it works on Straight Talk with Tmobile based SIM?
I am buying an S3 tomorrow off Craigslist and not sure what's is going to happen. I have a Tmobile based straight talk sim I don't know what happens when Tmobile blocks the IMEI does it affect the straight talk users too?
---------- Post added at 09:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:32 PM ----------
heygrl said:
Ugh.. the chances of it being an employee are slim. The chances of it being a defaulted Value EIP are most likely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know if tmobile blocked s3 phones work on straight talk with Tmobile based sim cards? (or AT&T)

Just unlock it and go to att or tell tmobile customer service there going to lose a paying customer.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

Paying off my note 2?

So in nov I signed up with tmobile and got the note and a gs3 for my wife. I plan on selling the note and getting the s4 in march. I call tmobile to pay it off and they tell me I have to pay both phones off? This isn't what the agent told me when I signed up. He knew I swap phones about every 6 months. So my question is why can't I pay the note off separate? My wife never upgrades her phone plus it would lower my bill per month down. Tmobile is ending the subsidiaries anyways so I don't see what the issue is? The reason I went gsm is to be able to put any phone on the carrier as I like, such as international versions.

Talk to a different rep. Cause that rep is an asshole
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Nope just spoke to customer relations and was told it cannot be done until tmobile ends the subsidiaries in a few months. No way in hell I'm paying $700+ for both phones. Basically the rep I signed up with flat out lied to me. If I would of known this I would of just bought my note full retail. Really ticked off right now.
$720 for both phones + $600 or so for the s4 is just too much for me.
3rd damn carrier that seems to lure their customers in with lies. Who would refuse me paying off a phone today? Basically I was told their systems cannot allow only one device to be payed off until may when they change their policies. This is really going to screw over a lot of people. I just don't get it.
Can anyone explain tmobiles logic in this? I'm baffled.

I've heard that since it was Even More Plus. The credit line is for everything combined, you can't separate them out. No idea if that's the truth, but they have been consistent in telling me that. If you were lied to, that really sucks and, IMO, they should try to do something for you. No idea what, but they could offer something.
Not much help, but at least confirming what they are telling you now anyway.

ttabbal said:
I've heard that since it was Even More Plus. The credit line is for everything combined, you can't separate them out. No idea if that's the truth, but they have been consistent in telling me that. If you were lied to, that really sucks and, IMO, they should try to do something for you. No idea what, but they could offer something.
Not much help, but at least confirming what they are telling you now anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have it in writing too from the original kiosk rep. I'm really ticked as I talk to this guy all the time when I'm at the mall. Tmobile is investigating what he told me and I've notified his manger. This really screws anyone who wants to get another phone anytime before may. I just don't understand the logic. Why would they care if I decide to pay the device off? Now I'm screwed if I wanted to get the s4 in a few weeks unless I add a 3rd line.
Now I can see why so many go prepaid. To avoid all of the carrier BS. This is worse then what I dealt with on both sprint and Verizon.
There has to be a loophole for this. Any ideas guys?

It does make sense that the credit extended is put into one loan. I'm sure it makes it easier on the accounting for them....... BUT...... If that guy told you something different, I would go straight to him and have him help you get this sorted out immediately. He's the one that gave you misinformation, I would make him spend time working to correct it also.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

yeah, this really makes no sense to me why they would require this just because the phone accounts are linked? Just to be sure though, I'm going to make sure I buy my phone and my wife's phone separately.

Im told its becuase both phones were purchased together but that was becuase thats the day i switched from verizon to tmobile. The rep knew i switch devices often and told me it wouldnt be an issue. I got an email from the manager that they are investigating. If any of you bought the phones together id check on this. Im glad they are ending the pay per month on the phones BS. From now on ill pay full price.

This happened to me too. Opened a tmo business account and bought an S3 and a cheap text phone for the wife. Financed $500 between the two, and was told I could pay them off seperately. The note 2 comes out, so I go to pay the balance of the S3. I was told the same, you have to pay both off because they where contracted at ths same time. But I still had enough available credit to finance the note 2, swap the sim from the S3 in to the note 2, put the S3 on Craigslist, it sold the next day for the $400 balance I had on the note 2. Walked in to tmo the very next day and paid the note 2 off.

This is just an idea, I don't know for sure if it will work, but when I bought
my Note and my wife's phone, they told me that is no penalty if I pay
the phone(s) in advance OR if I pay more per month to shorten the pay
period of 20 months.
So, I guess you can go into the store and tell them you want to pay, let's say
$300 in the account for the phones. That will lower your montly payment, just
like you payed yours out and not "mess" with they're account number.
It's worth a try anyway....

Wait. So I have a $2000 credit on my account for devices. There's like $700 available. Your saying they won't let me pay a partial payment towards that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

I think you can make a partial payment, but your monthly bill stays the same until its all paid off

mikeyinid said:
Wait. So I have a $2000 credit on my account for devices. There's like $700 available. Your saying they won't let me pay a partial payment towards that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
i was told flat out i cannot pay off just one device, it has to be all of them or none until they end the subsidies and change their systems in may. im waiting to hear back from the store manager.

stevessvt said:
I think you can make a partial payment, but your monthly bill stays the same until its all paid off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the way tmobile does business is BS. never had this issue on sprint or verizon, i could swap phones when ever i wanted without penalties. knowing me the s4 will be announced and ill get impatient and just pay the $720 off and get the new phone lol. from now on ill always just buy my devices outright.

You could do what I did. Pay the deposit on the new phone and finance the rest, sell the old phone, then pay off the new phone.

premiatul said:
This is just an idea, I don't know for sure if it will work, but when I bought
my Note and my wife's phone, they told me that is no penalty if I pay
the phone(s) in advance OR if I pay more per month to shorten the pay
period of 20 months.
So, I guess you can go into the store and tell them you want to pay, let's say
$300 in the account for the phones. That will lower your montly payment, just
like you payed yours out and not "mess" with they're account number.
It's worth a try anyway....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i get what your saying but until these phones are payed off i wouldn't be able to activate the s4 or whatever phone on the current lines without penalty. id have to open a 3rd line. if i cannot get this resolved i guess ill just have to wait until they change their systems in late april or may.

stevessvt said:
You could do what I did. Pay the deposit on the new phone and finance the rest, sell the old phone, then pay off the new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's when tmobile gets the s4, i was planning on buying the international version as it will ship much sooner than the US carriers will get it. plus from now on i won't finance phones from tmobile, ill buy them outright. if that's what you meant buy putting a deposit down.
it's my fault for believing the rep and not reading all of the fine print. the dude must be like a car salesman. says anything for a sale.

fix-this! said:
i was told flat out i cannot pay off just one device, it has to be all of them or none until they end the subsidies and change their systems in may. im waiting to hear back from the store manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the case, which I will call tomorrow and find out, me and tmobile are gonna have a huge problem. I upgrade very often. If I can't pay a portion of that off to free up space for a new device there's no point.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

mikeyinid said:
If that is the case, which I will call tomorrow and find out, me and tmobile are gonna have a huge problem. I upgrade very often. If I can't pay a portion of that off to free up space for a new device there's no point.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here man, i upgrade very often. go ahead and call and i bet you get the same response i was given. once they end the subsidies and change the policies you will be able to pay just one device off. "take that with a grain of salt". to me this just doesn't make much business sense. if i finance two cars at the same time for lets say 2 years and decide to pay one of them off early i doubt anyone would be complaining getting their money early.

fix-this! said:
Nope just spoke to customer relations and was told it cannot be done until tmobile ends the subsidiaries in a few months. No way in hell I'm paying $700+ for both phones. Basically the rep I signed up with flat out lied to me. If I would of known this I would of just bought my note full retail. Really ticked off right now.
$720 for both phones + $600 or so for the s4 is just too much for me.
3rd damn carrier that seems to lure their customers in with lies. Who would refuse me paying off a phone today? Basically I was told their systems cannot allow only one device to be payed off until may when they change their policies. This is really going to screw over a lot of people. I just don't get it.
Can anyone explain tmobiles logic in this? I'm baffled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Business 101.... get it in writing otherwise it's hearsay
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 05:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 AM ----------
fix-this! said:
same here man, i upgrade very often. go ahead and call and i bet you get the same response i was given. once they end the subsidies and change the policies you will be able to pay just one device off. "take that with a grain of salt". to me this just doesn't make much business sense. if i finance two cars at the same time for lets say 2 years and decide to pay one of them off early i doubt anyone would be complaining getting their money early.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummmm a car and a cellphone are two different anomalies... .
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Galaxy S4 from Craigslist - IMEI Blacklisted...options?

Hi All,
I searched and saw many threads about a similar problem, but my specific question is what can I do about this as far as getting rid of the phone? I learned my lesson the hard way - I dropped my HTC One and broke it a day before a business trip and I needed a phone. I am planning on switching to T-mobile in a month when my AT&T contract is up, so I decided to purchase a T-mobile variant of the Galaxy S4 on Craigslist. It was new, sealed, and cost $500 from what seemed like a somewhat reputable seller.
I got the phone and all was great. It was unlocked and worked perfectly with my AT&T SIM. I got home from the business trip, put in a T-mobile prepaid SIM card (so I could test the service at my house before switching) and got the dreaded "Not registered on network" error message when I tried to make a call. Sure enough, T-mobile said the IMEI had been blacklisted for "fraudulent activity." I believe the seller opened an account and then simply didn't pay the bill for the phone. I've bought quite a few used phones, but I learned my lesson this time. I even asked T-mobile if I could pay the remaining balance, or if they even wanted the phone back. I received a prompt "no" to each question. I asked if the phone was "stolen" and they said no as well - it was marked as fraudulent, but not lost of stolen. Whatever they want to call it, it don't work!
So my question is this (and sorry for the long-winded vent): can I sell this phone? I just want it gone. I look at it and I get angry and upset with myself for making this mistake. I know I will lose a ton of $$$, but I would rather sell it on eBay while FULLY disclosing the phone's history and let someone overseas use it or someone on AT&T use it. Am I violating any rules by doing this as long as I fully disclose everything I know? Also, if this is the wrong forum, I apologize. Thank you for any insight and to save you all the trouble - yes I screwed up and I'm an idiot. But, I'm not the thief here. I sure wish I could get a hole of the seller!
-Collin-

i had the same happen to me this weekend i bought a sealed s4 from cl i also payed 500$ it was for great for 3 weeks up until this weekend i wasn;t getting 4g data so i called tmobile and they told me that that they blocked the imei sue to the person deciding not to pay for the phone..i learned my lesson NEVER TO BUY any phones from Cl. i went to the store and paid retail price for a s4 and i have the receipt just in case tmobile comes back and try to screw me
CollinFX45 said:
Hi All,
I searched and saw many threads about a similar problem, but my specific question is what can I do about this as far as getting rid of the phone? I learned my lesson the hard way - I dropped my HTC One and broke it a day before a business trip and I needed a phone. I am planning on switching to T-mobile in a month when my AT&T contract is up, so I decided to purchase a T-mobile variant of the Galaxy S4 on Craigslist. It was new, sealed, and cost $500 from what seemed like a somewhat reputable seller.
I got the phone and all was great. It was unlocked and worked perfectly with my AT&T SIM. I got home from the business trip, put in a T-mobile prepaid SIM card (so I could test the service at my house before switching) and got the dreaded "Not registered on network" error message when I tried to make a call. Sure enough, T-mobile said the IMEI had been blacklisted for "fraudulent activity." I believe the seller opened an account and then simply didn't pay the bill for the phone. I've bought quite a few used phones, but I learned my lesson this time. I even asked T-mobile if I could pay the remaining balance, or if they even wanted the phone back. I received a prompt "no" to each question. I asked if the phone was "stolen" and they said no as well - it was marked as fraudulent, but not lost of stolen. Whatever they want to call it, it don't work!
So my question is this (and sorry for the long-winded vent): can I sell this phone? I just want it gone. I look at it and I get angry and upset with myself for making this mistake. I know I will lose a ton of $$$, but I would rather sell it on eBay while FULLY disclosing the phone's history and let someone overseas use it or someone on AT&T use it. Am I violating any rules by doing this as long as I fully disclose everything I know? Also, if this is the wrong forum, I apologize. Thank you for any insight and to save you all the trouble - yes I screwed up and I'm an idiot. But, I'm not the thief here. I sure wish I could get a hole of the seller!
-Collin-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hey Collin. I had a similar issue with an HTC one being blacklisted but thankfully I bought it from eBay and their buyers protection came into play and I got a full refund. Because blacklisting is a very effective way to lose a heck load of money, I now suggest not getting phones from craisgslist or actually meeting at a carrier store to check phone status before the purchase is made. I'd stick to buying on eBay or swappa..now my suggestion is selling the phone overseas where the blocked imei doesn't really work. That would be the best option for now and you'll lose money but because it is basically a relatively new phone, you should not loose too much. Hope this helps.
-piterson
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Thank you guys for the thoughts. It's terrible that this sort of thing happens and personally, I wouldn't risk jail for 500 bucks. Hell, I wouldn't risk jail for any amount of money. It just blows me away that these people do this.
I guess what I will likely do is list it on eBay internationally with a full disclosure. Thankfully, my HTC One repair is finally complete and the phone should be back in my hands any day now. But, it's the developer edition and doesn't work well on T-mobile, so I'm back to square one for a T-mobile phone!
Anyway, sorry that this happened to you guys as well. It's just not as simple as it used to be, is it. Though I guess blacklisting has been used for a while now.
-Collin-

i listed mine on ebay with full disclosure and its not looking good..so far i have 4 days left in the auction and 1 day has passed & no one bid on it yet lol your best bet to purchase a new phone is go straight through tmobile unless you want to risk swappa or ebay then a month later if they cancel or don;t pay for the phone for it to happen again ... i would n;t risk it
CollinFX45 said:
Thank you guys for the thoughts. It's terrible that this sort of thing happens and personally, I wouldn't risk jail for 500 bucks. Hell, I wouldn't risk jail for any amount of money. It just blows me away that these people do this.
I guess what I will likely do is list it on eBay internationally with a full disclosure. Thankfully, my HTC One repair is finally complete and the phone should be back in my hands any day now. But, it's the developer edition and doesn't work well on T-mobile, so I'm back to square one for a T-mobile phone!
Anyway, sorry that this happened to you guys as well. It's just not as simple as it used to be, is it. Though I guess blacklisting has been used for a while now.
-Collin-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Romcrazguy said:
i listed mine on ebay with full disclosure and its not looking good..so far i have 4 days left in the auction and 1 day has passed & no one bid on it yet lol your best bet to purchase a new phone is go straight through tmobile unless you want to risk swappa or ebay then a month later if they cancel or don;t pay for the phone for it to happen again ... i would n;t risk it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a bummer. Did you list it internationally? I know you probably can't link to eBay, but can you give me the auction number? I want to watch and cheer you on
-Collin-

There are services on ebay that will change the IMEI for $50.

lancemoreland said:
There are services on ebay that will change the IMEI for $50.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate that information. Unfortunately from my limited research, I think this thread will get locked if we even go down that road since it is illegal. Argh.
-Collin-

Wow. that sucks so much. The worst I have experienced in craigslist is some guy tried to scam me out of an iPod touch that i found. I still remember the email. It said something along the lines of:
Can you please send this device to my son in Africa? I will pay you full price for the phone + $50 dollars of shipping!
I knew it was a fake because 1) the email they sent was a very random email. (like [email protected]) and 2) PHONE? it's not a phone. thats how i knew that he was scamming multiple people and just copying and pasting.
Oh craigslist is full of scammers and idiots.

Yeah that's what these scammers are doing, buy the phone on a payment plan and not make the payment. A lot of times unknowing buyers get the phone and it will work for a month till payment is due but not paid. I see great deals on CL but steer clear.

The best thing to do is unlocked the device and sell it Internationally via eBay. I have a GS3 in my possesion that my wife's little brother bought from CL and was later blacklisted since the person reported it stolen two hours later after he took the cash.

lancemoreland said:
There are services on ebay that will change the IMEI for $50.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is right it is illegal and if caught could face jail time.
Wayne Tech Nexus

i just got a s4 on ebay for 420 i call tmobile they told the imei is clean that dont worry about future non payment fraud or blacklisted the lady told me when i get the phone is going to be in my account so the owner will have to pay any remaining balance but they cannot block the phone idk know im worry

Whenever I buy something from craiglist I always ask for 2 valid ID and have them photocopy.

I'll buy it for parts. If interested inbox me. Thanks!

I had the same damn thing happen but with a Galaxy S2 a while back. What I had to do is buy a used motherboard from a cracked screen one on eBay. Spent way more on the phone than I intended but all I did was switch the motherboards and voila. Good as new.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

Just sell try and sell it on Craigslist and ebay. Specify that it is blacklisted with tmobile but it ia unlocked so you can use it with att. Here's one and it's at almost 300 with 17h left on the auction
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=200948373767
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4

elflip88 said:
Just sell try and sell it on Craigslist and ebay. Specify that it is blacklisted with tmobile but it ia unlocked so you can use it with att. Here's one and it's at almost 300 with 17h left on the auction
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=200948373767
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read not long ago that AT&T and T-Mobile started sharing IMEI blacklist. Not sure if the policy is in effect yet or not.

baseballfanz said:
I read not long ago that AT&T and T-Mobile started sharing IMEI blacklist. Not sure if the policy is in effect yet or not.
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Op said he used it on att network so my guess is no
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4

rona809 said:
i just got a s4 on ebay for 420 i call tmobile they told the imei is clean that dont worry about future non payment fraud or blacklisted the lady told me when i get the phone is going to be in my account so the owner will have to pay any remaining balance but they cannot block the phone idk know im worry
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No.
Walk away.

Tips buying a T-Mobile note 3 on Craigslist?

Any tips or suggestions on how I can buy a tmobile note 3? How can I be sure it's a good esn/imei without it being reported stolen from tmobile?
Sent from my C6602

snoopycr said:
Any tips or suggestions on how I can buy a tmobile note 3? How can I be sure it's a good esn/imei without it being reported stolen from tmobile?
Sent from my C6602
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My best advice would be to ask the seller if he/ she would be willing to meet at a T-mobile location to make sure the handset is legitimate. Tell the seller a friend or relative of yours was ripped off in the past and you just want to make sure. Best of luck to you friend.
sent from my note 3

Meet in a Tmobile store and have the seller have the tmobile rep look at their account and verify the phone is not on an equipment installment plan and the imei is not reported as lost or stolen. Also get a signed recepiet (with both parties printed name and the description of the item sold)from the seller stating they sold you the phone. There are many stories where a phone is reported lost or stolen after the sale and after the imei was checked to be in good standing.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

If meeting at a store isn't possible you can call T-Mobile and have them switch it over to you over the phone while standing there with the guy before any money exchanges hands.

Shouldnt there be less problems with this now? I mean, even if someone cancels, they are charged the remaining value on the phone, right? So none of these phones should be blacklisted at all, ever. I mean, they cant make you pay if you leave and still blacklist the phone. Even if u never pay the final bill, if its even on your credit report, you're responsible for it. Is my train of thought here wrong?

tony yayo said:
Shouldnt there be less problems with this now? I mean, even if someone cancels, they are charged the remaining value on the phone, right? So none of these phones should be blacklisted at all, ever. I mean, they cant make you pay if you leave and still blacklist the phone. Even if u never pay the final bill, if its even on your credit report, you're responsible for it. Is my train of thought here wrong?
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Tmo will block the phone until the bill is paid in full. So if they never pay the bill with the phone balance due the phone bought will not work. And now tmo and att share a blcklist so cant use it on att network either. Also as stated even after the sale some people report the phone as lost or stolen and claim a warranty on it making the phone sold useless.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

blakkheartt12 said:
Tmo will block the phone until the bill is paid in full. So if they never pay the bill with the phone balance due the phone bought will not work. And now tmo and att share a blcklist so cant use it on att network either. Also as stated even after the sale some people report the phone as lost or stolen and claim a warranty on it making the phone sold useless.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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What happens when the bill goes to collections? Tmo gets paid by the collection agency but when the collectors get paid will they unblock the phone?
Besides, if they were to report it stolen 2 months later, who would believe you would wait 2 months to report a stolen $700 phone?

tony yayo said:
What happens when the bill goes to collections? Tmo gets paid by the collection agency but when the collectors get paid will they unblock the phone?
Besides, if they were to report it stolen 2 months later, who would believe you would wait 2 months to report a stolen $700 phone?
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Apparently people do. Just search on xda for phone stop working or phone doesnt get service after working for a few months (there were a lot of threads like that in the tmo note 2 forum). Many said tmo wont unblock it until the original owner pays it off. They wont even allow you to pay it off if you wanted to. So its better to have all the evidence as possible that the phone was sold to you.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I personally wouldn't buy new T-Mo phone on craigslist nowa days, and I would be super careful and do due diligence when purchasing on eBay. Even eBay is subject to these issues, just look at how many people are selling Note 3(s) on eBay that are listed as having bad IMEI(s). Why do you think that is? People are are doing multiple different scams and such that involve the IMEI getting blacklisted after a while.
One involves people selling the phones and then not paying their bill after it was purchased on a payment plan. Once they don't pay their bill they blacklist the IMEI. The ONLY way to unblacklist the IMEI is for the original purchaser to pay their payment plan bill. Even if you legitimately purchased the phone they will not unblock it for you. I know of more then one person that has tried to resolve this with ZERO success. Going to a T-Mobile store to do the transaction will not help in this situation because often the account is not in a negative standing yet and doesn't happen till a later date. The only thing a T-Mobile store can help with is identifying if the phone is stolen or not, which doesn't help with these latest scams.
The only way to avoid this is to 100% make sure that the phone you purchased was paid for in full at full price and not on a payment plan. Even then I have heard of sellers providing photoshopped receipts to buyers only to get their phones blacklisted months or weeks later because the phones were not really paid off. One might think that eBay is safer from a seller that has feedback but no not really. Often by the time you get blacklisted you cannot leave bad feedback or file a dispute. However with that said, most card companies (VISA, MC, ETC) allow you to do a chargeback within six months of a purchase if its some type of fraud that happened as a result.
The other way involves a more scammy way that I will not explain, with again the outcome being a blacklisted phone that the 2nd purchaser cannot resolve. However these are happening all over the place and there's not a sure fire way to avoid it. The best way to avoid this is to simply buy a phone directly from a authorized seller like T-Mo, or to trust your buyer 100%.
Just saying.

There is no way to be 100% sure that a T-Mobile phone is a safe bet, unless it is coming from someone you trust.
Even if you go to a store with the seller and verify that the phone is fully paid for, they still have 30 days from the incident date to report it stolen or lost if they have insurance or JUMP! Yes it is fraud, but it is almost impossible to combat. Police will record your incident and file it, but will not actively pursue a situation such as this in most cases. T-Mobile will suggest that you contact your local police and will not do anything to help you.
Another note: If you call or go into a store and ask them to check the IMEI number, they can't give you information regarding financing unless the phone is being financed under your name or a authorized account manager. You will need the phone seller to go in to the store to verify this information for you.
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there trying to sell their TMO phones honestly, but do you want to take a high percentage chance that you are being ripped off? That percentage rises if the phone is brand new selling at a huge discount. EX. Craigslist in my city shows a guy selling 4 TMO Note 3's brand new for 550.00 each. I can almost guarantee that those phones will be blacklisted sooner or later.

buy it on swappa

There is a certain amount of risk involved. It all depends on how good of a deal you get. I've bought quite a few phones from CL then sold later on Ebay. Right now I'm using a Note 3 bought on CL for $400. I could sell it with a bad IMEI on Ebay and still make a good profit. I always disclose in my auction that the phone has been verified as clean at the time of sale but that could change in the future since I don't know the history of the phone. it doesn't seem to stop people from buying the phones.
Just last weekend I found a great deal on a S4 international version, or so I thought. After getting home and messing with it I found out it was a fake! The owner never answered my calls or texts, go figure. I was able to sell it on Ebay fully disclosed as a fake and only take about a $40 hit. If you're going to use CL you better be willing to take some risk.
Also my research leads me to belive that Tmo and att do not SHARE blacklist info for phones that the bill is not paid on, only units reported lost or stolen. Nobody had been able to prove to me they do. Since I use Straight Talk with att sim card that eliminates some risk of my phone becoming blacklisted. In my mind anyhow it makes me feel better!
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app

snoopycr said:
Any tips or suggestions on how I can buy a tmobile note 3? How can I be sure it's a good esn/imei without it being reported stolen from tmobile?
Sent from my C6602
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Best way to buy it is to PRESUME the phone you are buying is ALREADY blacklisted. Next is to buy it at the lowest price you think it fair. For example, I bought a Note 3 T-Mobile from craighstlist for 525. The guy said it had a clean IMEI but I was skeptical of it but since it was at 525, I could not have cared less since I was planning on using it with AT&T. I later unlocked it using RegionLock Away and everything is SMOOTH. Love the phone.

i wouldnt trust craigslist.. i had bought a phone on it that i thought worked. when i came home it bricked.

Just thought I'd share my craigslist experience this morning. I wanted to post a screenshot but cannot for some reason so copy and pastiing.
Me: you still got the note 4 for sale?
Him: yes
Me: Can you provide a reciept to show that its fulky paid for and a bill of sale with your name and id number? I'm just trying to avoid insurance scammers.
Him: It's not fully paid off. I just got the phone because it came with the line which is all i needed at no additional cost to me.
Him: But I'm not eligible for insurance because I've used my two for the year up already.
Me: Well if you're selling a phone that isn't fully paid off tmobile will block it when you stop making payments. Which makes the phine useless and you're trying to sell it is fraud.
Me: lol good luck man
Him: Umm your wrong
Him: but ok
Funny how his insurance is already used up, i wonder what became of those phones hmmm. So I would encourage anybody buying off craigslist to ask the same questions i did. They're are some genuine sellers i buy and sell from Craigslist all the time.

Make sure the box is a genuine t-mobile box the phone will set in a recessed form fitted area and not just on top of flat paper.

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.
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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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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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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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.