Hi people I just bought an used Samsung Galaxy S, and I'm worried about the seller, the item works perfectly but I mostly bought it to use it as a game console, means I wont be using it as a cellphone of have a SIM card on it, it's just for WIFI navigation, to listen music, etc.
Since I (We) can't trust people over the internet, the seller will probably will call his/her old cellphone company and ask to block the cellphone by the IMEI, what would happen if I change the current IMEI to "000..000" or any other random number, will the cellphone work even if the seller told his/her company to block the cellphone, as I said before i just will use it for entertainment, not for making calls so it wont be connected to the network.
I'm asking this because my sister bought a cellphone 1 year ago and it was working as usual for 2 weeks or so then it got blocked by the company because the seller blocked the cellphone by IMEI on his cellphone company.
Thanks in advance for any kind of help.
Changing your IMEI is illegal.
If you're worried about the seller, why in the world did you buy it? Seriously.
Maybe the seller didn't contact the carrier about the IMEI, but the person who it was stolen from did. Maybe something to think about.
Like Electrotune said changing the IMEI is illegal (and I doubt anyone would help you with this).
Also you have to understand the IMEI is not just a text file where you change you can probably corrupt it but not change it.
By the way why would the seller do this? Did you buy it from ebay or from someone on the street? There is always some sort of protection if you bought it from ebay for example or used your credit card.
I think you are going the hard way about this....
K.
Why on earth would the seller report the phone stolen after he voluntarily sold it to you? Unless.... the seller stole the phone and you feel the price was so good because of it. And you think the person who was robbed of his phone will report it stolen.
Which means you knowingly bought a stolen phone. And why would you buy a 580 dollar smartphone to use ONLY as a gaming system? There arent that many awesome games for Android.
So who cares if the IMEI is blocked for you stolen phone. If your not going to put a sim in it and use it as a phone it wont matter. Keep enjoying your stolen phone!
I bought several used phones in my life, including galaxy s and my imei was never blocked. I think they do it only when the phone is reported stolen. Why would the seller do that? And even if he did, you go to your network operator and show him the papers that you bought the phone legally.
Wouldn't a tegra2 tablet be much better for gaming? Or even an iPod Touch? There are better games for iOs and an iPod Touch would be cheaper...
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I think the TS is asking for a "how-to" to circumvent theft reporting. This topic should be closed.
radekgers said:
I bought several used phones in my life, including galaxy s and my imei was never blocked. I think they do it only when the phone is reported stolen. Why would the seller do that? And even if he did, you go to your network operator and show him the papers that you bought the phone legally.
Wouldn't a tegra2 tablet be much better for gaming? Or even an iPod Touch? There are better games for iOs and an iPod Touch would be cheaper...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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Actually it happens quite a lot. They buy on contract, sell the phone for a couple of hundred just low enough to make it sweet but not to low to arouse suspicion and then state a non recoverable (non PayPal) payment method. It is a well known scam. Some also do it o
utr of sheer malice for not getting the price they wanted.
The above comment still applies though in the first instance as doing this is fraud and theft from the supplier.
Sheer malice aside, why people do it? They get some kind of insurance money or something? Aren't they afraid that the buyer may make some kind of problems? Like go to the police.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
First of all, changing imei isn't illegal everywhere, but to answer you question if the operator blocks ypur imei you will be able to use it as a game console, as they pnly block the network functions (and not the phone)
Sent from my GT-I5700 using XDA Premium App
Hmmm. I smell horse processed oats in this "use it for gaming" pile...
Blade
ManuCasas said:
Hi people I just bought an used Samsung Galaxy S, and I'm worried about the seller, the item works perfectly but I mostly bought it to use it as a game console, means I wont be using it as a cellphone of have a SIM card on it, it's just for WIFI navigation, to listen music, etc.
Since I (We) can't trust people over the internet, the seller will probably will call his/her old cellphone company and ask to block the cellphone by the IMEI, what would happen if I change the current IMEI to "000..000" or any other random number, will the cellphone work even if the seller told his/her company to block the cellphone, as I said before i just will use it for entertainment, not for making calls so it wont be connected to the network.
I'm asking this because my sister bought a cellphone 1 year ago and it was working as usual for 2 weeks or so then it got blocked by the company because the seller blocked the cellphone by IMEI on his cellphone company.
Thanks in advance for any kind of help.
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hum weird, weird, wierd..... why would you care changing the imei anyway?, if the provider lock it, as you said you won't use the phone part.
Or maybe, you simply try to do a makeup of a stollen phone.... (...since you don't trust the seller, why should i/we trust you?...hum??? fishy anyway)
In all case it's illegal.
I own a Samsung. Gs myself from my carrier its clearly not stolen but I must admit I would like to know this myself
Although I want to know purely out of curiousity and in the case my phone got stolen
In summary it can be done
Is it an easy process because I bloody well hope not
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
If you just wanted something for gaming, why not buy an iPod touch or something? or a PSP Go or w/e
Why indeed!
People are always asking why one would want to change her IMEI other than for illegal reasons. I've got a perfectly legal reason that I share with a rapidly increasing number of others. I changed carriers and want to sell my old phone. I have no idea who will buy it or for what purpose they will use it. Doesn't it seem obvious that I would be utterly foolish to leave anything on that phone that could be traced back to me?
If I can't remove its past link to me I simply will not be able sell that phone without the potential of unthinkable liability (indefinite imprisonment without any due process in the U.S. were it used by the buyer for the purpose of terror.) That currently indelible link to me is its IMEI!
Or you could just get a receipt.......
To remember the most important thing: Your Samsung service center might not accept your phone for repairing. e.g. My Galaxy Tab which has replaced motherboard got bricked. The helper in Hong Kong required a proof that why the IMEI got changed. Fortunately I brought my repair description from another Samsung service center.
Related
Ok, so i managed to loose my phone over the weekend at V in Staffordshire. So there are 2 outcomes to this.
1) The phone got killed as it fell out of my pocket, and then probably got stamped on a few times by people not knowing its there.
2) Someone has found it but not turned it over to lost property. They arent gonna be able to do much with it as it has a flat battery and has now been IMEI blacklisted and the SIM locked.
Thank god for insurance that what I say! However, I wish i had configured RTConfig properly and then I would have atleast got some info from the device if anyone swaps out the sim.
What tends to happen to these phones even though they are IMEI blocked?
Some police forces will recover your phone when the IMEI is blacklisted by triangulating the position.
I have heard about this in the UK on some show and here in romania i know they recover stolen phones because one of my friends got his N95 back.
So how i dont think the police are going to raid a house just to get the phone back.
When you unlock these things so that you can put custom roms on them, does this sim unlock the phone?
I know there are methods available now to sim unlock, but i wasnt sure if the hardspl thing did it as well?
Some little blighter has got all my contacts and calender events, along with some cracking photos of V! That is if the phone wasnt destroyed in the mosh pit.
password on
hope you had that switched on
mine come on at 5 mins
Nope, i dont tend to have the password on otherwise i cant invoke a call from my bluetooth headset, unless that has changed.
or they might find a way to change the imei.
Well if they manage to do that, then kudos to the criminal activity. That or it gets flogged to some terrorist.
buciuman said:
Some police forces will recover your phone when the IMEI is blacklisted by triangulating the position.
I have heard about this in the UK on some show and here in romania i know they recover stolen phones because one of my friends got his N95 back.
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Get real my friend .... no police force will recover the phone...by triangulation.
Yes , triangulation can be done, but for sure no police man will ever hunt down the user of the stolen phone.
By now the pohne has alredy been sold to un unsuspecting user...
did you also wear your best clothes to V as well
phone insurrance? how is that ? i mean, do they give you another phone or the ammount of money youn spent on the phone ?
have to look around too for something like this cause a phone this expensive is not worth loosing over an accident like yours
badaas said:
did you also wear your best clothes to V as well
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Haha, nope, luckily! Got right muddy though! I wouldnt be suprised if the phone got killed by all the mud that would have been stamped into it! lol
iliescu902 said:
phone insurrance? how is that ? i mean, do they give you another phone or the ammount of money youn spent on the phone ?
have to look around too for something like this cause a phone this expensive is not worth loosing over an accident like yours
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Yep, I get phone insurance with my bank account. I have to pay £30 excess though when I make a sucessful claim. The new Sim from T-Mob cost me £10 however that can be claimed back as well. They then send you the same phone back (probably a refurb) or a same spec/better phone if they can't get like for like. That one should be interesting as I will be sure to print the specs of for the Diamond and make sure its either the same or better.
iliescu902 said:
phone insurrance? how is that ? i mean, do they give you another phone or the ammount of money youn spent on the phone ?
have to look around too for something like this cause a phone this expensive is not worth loosing over an accident like yours
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Mine is covered by Orange Care anywhere in the world for £5 per month for loss, damage etc, I think now they charge an admin fee .
As for IMEI ~ these can be changed but is against the law, if not changed then the phone is only IMEI blocked in this country (AFAIK) unless agreements have been arranged with other conutries by now?
Shame about your loss of phone though
I know your pain, mine was stolen a few weeks ago. Bought a new one, but I didn't have insurance. I've bought Sprite Terminator now, gave my girlfriend the phone and told her to go shopping or something.
She was surprised when she found me waiting for her .
Great tracking software .
What the! Ok, the insurance company told me they cant get hold of a compact iv so they have offered me the unbranded version. I want the original one as tmob has nice rounded corners!
Gash!
Anyone have any experience yet getting a Captivate replaced through the warranty department at 800-801-1101?
My sister got her phone on launch day, past few days the screen has really been acting up, and it's now just outside the 30 day store return period.
Anybody try getting a replacement from the warranty department? I'm figuring they have replacements available but I want to check before I waste my time calling in.
When my first captivate was randomly shutting down and the store I purchased it at was having a hard time keeping them stocked I called ATT and the guy said they absolutely could just send me another, but urged me to go to the store, call him back, and let him on the phone with the clerk so he could credit my return immediately and I could go elsewhere to buy another that same day, thus not eating anymore of my 30 days. So yeah, long story short, they can replace it right away from what I was told.
screw att. lol
go to the nearby att service center and replace it.
Several months ago, I woke up one morning to a phone that refused to charge, power on, or otherwise do anything.
Walked into an AT&T Warranty place, 30 minutes later, left with a new phone.
I purchased a captivate back in December at Sam's club and luckily haven't had any real issues with it(1010 build). My wifes been bugging me since then, that she wanted one, so I just bought another one off craigslist (0610 build).
I was curious to see what anyones thoughts are on this.
1st) The craigslist one has a small crack in the plastic casing around the charger door, so the door is kinda sunk in a little, but still works properly. I'm just a little worried that down the road it may become an issue.
2nd) It seams to have some of the gps issues. When running stock it will hardly pick up anything. I flashed a few other roms on it incorporating the various gps fixes, and Paragon seams to work best. But it still wont pull in a tight lock.
So my question is:
Do you think I could do a warranty exchange on the Craigslist one through the Att repair center? Basically pretending its the one I purchased through Sam's or will they be able to figure out that there 2 different phones?
Well, that's fraud but if you feel you must I would just play dumb like you didn't know and must have mixed up the phones. Heh
Not likely since they will have the IMEI record of the original purchaser. But go ahead and try. Come back and tell us how it worked out.
I have seen where many have gotten at&t to warranty their phone even though it was not purchased from them.
Try samsung, their stupider
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
newter55 said:
I have seen where many have gotten at&t to warranty their phone even though it was not purchased from them.
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Of course they will warranty a phone purchased by the original owner from another authorized retailer (I bought mine from Radio Shack and AT$T replaced the first 2), but they have zero obligation to warranty a phone to a 3rd party purchaser that bought the phone used. Most warranties are not transferable and are only good to the original purchaser.
Miami_Son said:
Of course they will warranty a phone purchased by the original owner from another authorized retailer (I bought mine from Radio Shack and AT$T replaced the first 2), but they have zero obligation to warranty a phone to a 3rd party purchaser that bought the phone used. Most warranties are not transferable and are only good to the original purchaser.
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I was referring to people who have bought via Craigslist and eBay as that was what was being discussed. I know they have no obligation but have read many people say they have.
Thanks anyway for your expert insight :/
Fried my phone the other day and had the power off issue.... went into my local AT&T warranty center and they hooked me up with a Refurb in about 20 minutes - no questions asked.
IF you have insurance and it's within the 1rst year of the phone's life they should replace it as long as it's not water damaged related.
(And... I had Serendipity back on it when I got home much to my wife's chagrin)
Note: The kid actually seemed to know what he was talking about too strangely enough. Knew about the IMEI range issue and claimed that the refurbs - even if they have the problematic range should be find as they replaced teh internal hardware.
I have a 1011 build now - and it seems to be working great (sans typical GPS BS)
newter55 said:
I was referring to people who have bought via Craigslist and eBay as that was what was being discussed. I know they have no obligation but have read many people say they have.
Thanks anyway for your expert insight :/
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There are authorized AT&T resellers on eBay. Craig's list is pretty much used only. Since AT$T has acknowledged a manufacturing defect issue with some of these phones, they will probably replace ones that fall within the affected IMEI range regardless where/when it was purchased. You may have to badger them a bit, but they generally prefer to just exchange it rather than lose a customer. Unfortunately, as the OP has told us, this particular phone has some visible physical damage. On that basis AT$T is unlikely to replace it for free as they will probably say any malfunction is related to that damage and not any manufacturing defect. That's my expert insight on it.
ryanmahan said:
Try samsung, their stupider
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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If you don't know how to spell "they're," maybe you shouldn't be calling anyone stupid.
eelton said:
If you don't know how to spell "they're," maybe you shouldn't be calling anyone stupid.
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tenchars
phone return
i bought my phone off craigslist used, and when i bricked it as a newbie, called samsung for any info. as it was under a year old they took it back and repaired it free of charge. thank you! lol!
You'll either be completely out of luck and get a refurbished phone that will break in 91 days, or get a brand new phone with the same 90 day warranty that will take roughly 10 months to break.
I got lucky; the first refurbished replacement that I got was dead on arrival, so it gave me leverage to scream at ATT for being crap.
You can tell if your phone is refurbished or new by looking at the label under the battery cover; if it is white with ugly font and no indication of the Samsung logo, it's refurbished. If the logo is present, your phone is new.
I have purchased phone at known auction. HTC Pure AT&T
Nobody can open it - write bad IMEI (isn't present on the server).
Also what now to do? To throw it about a wall?
PabloE said:
I have purchased phone at known auction. HTC Pure AT&T
Nobody can open it - write bad IMEI (isn't present on the server).
Also what now to do? To throw it about a wall?
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Don't quote me but it sounds like you have bought a phone that may have been stolen / lost and the imei has been blocked . If someone would like to confirm . If it is blocked you just brought a nice coaster for a coffee mug .. Don't fret yet though you could still make some money from it. Sell spares on ebay that might at least get your initial money back
Hi. So I recently bought a used Note 3 on craigslist. The phone works perfect. I inserted my Sim and have been using the phone with no problems. I decided to stick with my G3 and tried to sell the Note online. Come to find out there is something weird about the IMEI number. The number on the status screen comes up as blacklisted. There is a different IMEI number under the battery that comes up as valid.
As I said the phone works fine, but I dont know what is going on. The seller is obviously not being very helpful with my questions.
I have read about people illegally changing the IMEI numbers on phones. Is this what happened?
Why is the number under the battery the valid one? I assumed that if someone messed with the software the number on the status screen would be valid and the one under the battery would be blacklisted. The sticker under the battery looks legit.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you
They could have changed it, but what I think is more likely is that they changed out the screen at some point and left the wrong sticker on it. On most newer Samsung phones the IMEI sticker is on the screen assembly, so when you install a new screen you have to swap the stickers too. I'm a phone tech and I always swap the stickers whenever I put a new screen on a device just to avoid this kind of confusion.
I personally would aggressively pursue a refund cause you could end up with an expensive paperweight even though it works fine at the moment. Involve the police if the seller decides to get salty about it, cause it's technically fraud.
Thank you for the response. Why would swapping out the screen change the IMEI? Which IMEI is the phone currently using?
The seller is no help.
Open the dialer screen and press *#06#
Don't press send. It will give a notification of what imei the phone is using.
I did this. The blacklisted one comes up.
I don't doubt what you're saying is true. But who says it's blacklisted? If it's an internet source I'd call the carrier. The carrier can tell you why it's blacklisted, and depending on the case it can un-blacklist it.
I also don't understand how a blacklisted device is working.
Unfortunately if it is blacklisted, you've been scammed. Contact the police. The more info you have, the more they can help you. If you have the sellers phone number, address, and description of them you might have a chance. Otherwise all you can do is sell it as a blacklisted device.
You are as confused as I am. Hence my post. Lol
I used Swappa to verify.
The number on the Status screen is definitely different than the one under the battery.
kabuk1 said:
They could have changed it, but what I think is more likely is that they changed out the screen at some point and left the wrong sticker on it. On most newer Samsung phones the IMEI sticker is on the screen assembly, so when you install a new screen you have to swap the stickers too. I'm a phone tech and I always swap the stickers whenever I put a new screen on a device just to avoid this kind of confusion.
I personally would aggressively pursue a refund cause you could end up with an expensive paperweight even though it works fine at the moment. Involve the police if the seller decides to get salty about it, cause it's technically fraud.
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440bro said:
Open the dialer screen and press *#06#
Don't press send. It will give a notification of what imei the phone is using.
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Click to collapse
Green1534 said:
You are as confused as I am. Hence my post. Lol
I used Swappa to verify.
The number on the Status screen is definitely different than the one under the battery.
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Click to collapse
Ignore the IMEI under the battery it's just a sticker I think what @kabuk1 is saying is that it could be different because of a careless error during a repair. The IMEI that shows up on the device is the IMEI of the phone and the one you should care about. If that is the one that swappa says is blacklisted then you should take @440bro and @kabuk1 s advice and investigate further with the carrier or just contact the police.
Sucks if you got scammed, but if you bought it through swappa they're really helpful with whatever you need. I bought a phone from a seller who turned nonresponsive immediately after the paypal payment cleared and they guys at swappa were really helpful getting my money back...slightly different situation but there is hope!
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
Just weird the phone works perfect.
Green1534 said:
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
Just weird the phone works perfect.
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Click to collapse
It could be blacklisted on a different carrier than the one you're using. Usually what happens is that if a phone is blacklisted by T-Mobile, you won't be able to use it on their network but if the phone is unlocked you could still use it on other GSM networks.
The phone is AT&T model and I am using it on AT&T
Hi guys,
I bought an used note 8 and used for 3 months, then "phone not allowed" started to show up in the top corner.
After I went to sprint store and they ran the imei #, they said this device is locked by sprint because it's reported stolen or lost and there is nothing we can do :crying:
Any help to save my money please?
Thank You
looking forward
kahtan said:
Hi guys,
I bought an used note 8 and used for 3 months, then "phone not allowed" started to show up in the top corner.
After I went to sprint store and they ran the imei #, they said this device is locked by sprint because it's reported stolen or lost and there is nothing we can do :crying:
Any help to save my money please?
Thank You
looking forward
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to either get a hold of whoever you bought it from or there's not going to be anything that anyone can do about it because whoever sold you the phone waited for 3 months after you got it and then they reported it stolen and the reason they do that sh¡t is because they'll be given another phone for free usually or a small fee and then they'll turn around and do the same thing all over again! That's why you don't buy from people unless they're willing to meet you in the carriers local store that way they'll know for sure that you bought it and the person won't be able to do that.. If you can't get your money back or find the person you bought it from then you'll have to accept it as a lesson learned and don't do that again..
kahtan said:
Hi guys,
I bought an used note 8 and used for 3 months, then "phone not allowed" started to show up in the top corner.
After I went to sprint store and they ran the imei #, they said this device is locked by sprint because it's reported stolen or lost and there is nothing we can do :crying:
Any help to save my money please?
Thank You
looking forward
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are a great deal of sites that can fix a blacklisted IMEI for a fee. Usually around $35 to $50 or so. The blacklist fix does work when obtained from reputable sites. Double edged sword there tho, youre needing a "reputable" site to do "not reputable" stuff for you.
MrMike2182 said:
You need to either get a hold of whoever you bought it from or there's not going to be anything that anyone can do about it because whoever sold you the phone waited for 3 months after you got it and then they reported it stolen and the reason they do that sh¡t is because they'll be given another phone for free usually or a small fee and then they'll turn around and do the same thing all over again! That's why you don't buy from people unless they're willing to meet you in the carriers local store that way they'll know for sure that you bought it and the person won't be able to do that.. If you can't get your money back or find the person you bought it from then you'll have to accept it as a lesson learned and don't do that again..
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Click to collapse
some of what you said is right. Always get the IMEI from the seller and check it yourself. Do not believe what the seller tells you. Its actually very fast and easy to check for blacklisting. Even at the time of purchase, boot up the phone and triple check the IMEI and once youve done that and purchased the phone, thats pretty much all you can do. Also make sure that its not currently attached to an account. And when you buy it, you can dial the *86 (i think thats the star key combo to get customer service) and verify that the phone doesnt have a balance on it. Of course, all of this is best if done in person for obvious reasons.
youdoofus said:
there are a great deal of sites that can fix a blacklisted IMEI for a fee. Usually around $35 to $50 or so. The blacklist fix does work when obtained from reputable sites. Double edged sword there tho, youre needing a "reputable" site to do "not reputable" stuff for you.
some of what you said is right. Always get the IMEI from the seller and check it yourself. Do not believe what the seller tells you. Its actually very fast and easy to check for blacklisting. Even at the time of purchase, boot up the phone and triple check the IMEI and once youve done that and purchased the phone, thats pretty much all you can do. Also make sure that its not currently attached to an account. And when you buy it, you can dial the *86 (i think thats the star key combo to get customer service) and verify that the phone doesnt have a balance on it. Of course, all of this is best if done in person for obvious reasons.
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Yeah I understand the IMEI thing but the IMEI will come back clear in the beginning because the person who sold the phone didn't report it stolen right away they purposely wait 3 months that way whoever they sold it to is long gone and can't prove they bought it from them so it gets black listed and then the seller gets a new phone and the buyer has a paperweight if they can't get it off the blacklist.
MrMike2182 said:
Yeah I understand the IMEI thing but the IMEI will come back clear in the beginning because the person who sold the phone didn't report it stolen right away they purposely wait 3 months that way whoever they sold it to is long gone and can't prove they bought it from them so it gets black listed and then the seller gets a new phone and the buyer has a paperweight if they can't get it off the blacklist.
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reason #732,155,289,001,914 why i hate humans detailed in this gentleman's post above. Unscrupulous people trying to pawn their bullshyte off on other people for their own gain and waiting 3 months to intentionally f*ck a person out of their hard earned money by putting a phone up on offer and letting a person buy it in good faith and letting them use it happily for 3 months then eff the buyer right in the a by reporting it stolen for their own pathetic gain
I was totally unaware that this could happen.
Thanks for the valuable information. If you all could be so kind to give me your opinion. I was considering buying a phone from ebay advanced as having a. clean IMEI with 30 day free returns. Therfore, am I correct in assuming that the prof of purchase from PayPal and ebay will prevent a seller from blacklisting imy phone in the future? Will, the carrier accept this as prof of ownership? Thank you.
Ps. Sorry to here about your phone