Database Develop

Optus Customer Service

I rang up trying to get a second hand handset (Sony k800i) SIM unlocked, cos i dont have a cable for it.
they said i would need to know the number of the sim that activated the phone to determine whether it had $80 of recharge or 6months use (which it has had both, but not on the original sim).
This is fine except i have no idea who was original activator. it is essentially now unfindoutable.
after explaining this to the girl (whom i assume was not in a call centre on this continent) 5 times, she repeated that i had to find it several more times, to which point i just hung up, because she was not willing to accomodate that i could not do it.
does anyone have a work around for this? (aside from spending money on a cable or on the online unlockers, i.e. get optus to come to the party?)
Cheers,

With my experience (used to be a supervisor in a call center), I handled several accounts (telecommunications, gaming console and some technical account) what they usually do is give you an unlock code if you are the original owner of the phone, but if not they will keep on asking you some information that you "really" don't know just like that girl asking you. For the reason "security purposes", they are thinking like you stole the phone or some what like that. They have the unlock code for that but they just won't give it to you. With samsung phones, it goes like this...if you got a second hand phone from someone and it is locked with..let's say verizon...and you want to use it with AT&T..first you have to call verizon to ask for their permission so you can use their phone with a different network, if you are lucky enough they'll give it to you and they'll advise you to call the manufacturer of the phone so you can have the rest of the unlock code. When you call the manufacturer of the phone, they'll ask you if verizon gave you any unlock codes and if you do have they'll give you the rest. Well, that's how it works with samsung. I am not particular with SE. Here's the thing man, if you think that their customer service is from a call center, never hang up the phone, stay on the line as long as you can, if you stay longer let's say more than an hour and keeps on insisting, that agent will give up on you, one of the reason is that in a call center they have this what they called "AHT..average handling time..etc" of course if differs defending on the account that they are handling so for example that girl is allowed to talk to you and resolved your issue in anyway (as in anyway like brush you off) within 8mins and you stayed longer than 8mins that will ruin her AHT, her score for that day, she will fail her daily AHT, weekly AHT, monthly AHT and so on and she might lose her job. So to make it short since I am explaining it too long already and since you want some other ways to unlock the phone by not paying online unlockers and buying a data cable just to unlock it..just stay on the phone longer, as long as you can, repeat everything but if she still refuses to help you ask for a supervisor/tier 2/level 2 wahtsoever ...she will say "my supervisor will tell you the same thing"..tell her to get lost and still insist for a supervisor/tier 2/level 2 wahtsoever. If you were able to talk to a supervisor then that might resolve that. But if that supervisor is as a**h**e as the agent then you're doom, no way to unlock you SE for free but to buy a data cable or have it unlock online. Whew...in the other hand I am a good supervisor and since I am a good one let me see what I can do to help you out, ok? PM me the SN, IMEI or CDA of that phone and let me see if I can still contact my old folks.
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my friend emailed me this sites, try to check this out but still you need a cable
http://forums.se-nse.net/index.php?showtopic=6118
http://forums.se-nse.net/index.php?showtopic=16338
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well my friend said unlock codes does not work on all phones. some phone needs to be unlock via a software some just codes. k800i needs a software and of course a cable and he said you need a K800i.mbn firware etc...
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try this..maybe...you might find the original activator of that phone...
>*<<*<*
Where < or > are directions on the joystick, and * is the bottom left hand button on the keypad.

Cheers for your indepth response. i knew that it could be done, and i told her, just like you say, she repeated the script.
i had a look in the phone system menu (<*..<*) but not sure where to see how / when it was activated?
the phones IMEI is **
Network simlock is at setting 4, this obviously means locked, but does it mean anything else? is there some sort of code level list?

Optus customer service is crap at best, **** at worst....
Some how they manage to be worse than other fine outfits like dodo

bought my diamond second hand off some guy 2 months ago..

and today when I was looking into unlocking my phone, I noticed that the system IMEI is different from the IMEI label on the back of the phone.
I am using a deep shining ROM. did the ROM flash over the IMEI or was my phone just messed up to begin with?
also is there a soft method of finding out whether or not my phone is already unlocked?

Sorry to say but that guy messed your over by changing the IMEI. Flashing a rom doesn't do anything to IMEI, special tools and software CAN change it, and that is what this guy did. You can't do anything to change that, as changing IMEI is downright illegal and you dont want to get caught up in that.
As for finding out if its unlocked, take another companies SIM CARD, ie if you are with ATT, go and get a Rogers, or whoever else uses a SIM CARD, and find out if it will work in the phone.

so, it is quite possible that this phone is stolen? damn... what are the potential consequences of that? if he switched the original IMEI to the current one that I have, what if someone legitamately uses the imei on the same network, am I going to be screwed?

SUBLIMINALLYINC said:
so, it is quite possible that this phone is stolen? damn... what are the potential consequences of that? if he switched the original IMEI to the current one that I have, what if someone legitamately uses the imei on the same network, am I going to be screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you will not get screwed. {Unless you really want to; then I'm sure we can arrange for it}
IMEI {International Mobile Electronics Identification} Numbers are uniqe to every phone, but the network does not {& I believe Cannot} read the IMEI. ESNs {Electronic Serial Numbers} are a different thing, as the CDMA networks use this # to Identify the devices network authenticity {in other words: Whether or not it's authorized to use the network}. GSM {Global SIM Management} Phones rely on the SIM card to authenticate the devices access to the network. An IMEI is never sent thru the network! That's like posting your social security # online {Mine's 420-69-840} About the only time that a false IMEI is a problem, is when you need to get it unlocked {as you are trying to}; or if you need to report it stolen/lost. If the latter is the case then you will need to provide the authorities with both IMEIs. This is in case the person that has it removes the label in the back. For unlocking the device, you need to give the # that's in the software; as this is the only # the phone knows. Oh yeah, You can't send it in to get HTC warranty service either
Have you tried asking the person you bought it from about this? I would!! I would want to know why he did it, how he did it, & where the other # came from. It is a possibility that he had replaced the Mainboard with another unit, but he should have changed the labels at the same time. I have done this with a few phones {combine a couple bad ones to make a good one}, but I always ensure the IMEI or ESN matches on the back & in the software! If you believe you were defrauded, then contact the authorities & explain it to them. If there is another phone with the same IMEI, they should be able to tell you.

It might either be that he changed the main board or the cover itself.. (hopefully he did not steal it..)
I wouldnt worry too much about it though. Just go with the IMEI that is displayed on your screen not on the back of the phone.

well i tried to get an unlock code by using the IMEI read off the system page on my diamond and the guy couldnt get aan unlock code; is there anyother way to get the correct code>?

SUBLIMINALLYINC said:
so, it is quite possible that this phone is stolen? damn... what are the potential consequences of that? if he switched the original IMEI to the current one that I have, what if someone legitamately uses the imei on the same network, am I going to be screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Maybe it is or it isn't (but it is possible). It depends on which country that person bought this phone and maybe he used warranty service. I had this issue myself.After 2 month My Diamond didn't recognize my simcard, i sent it for warranty and when it came back GPS didn't work. so i sent it again , when i received it, at repair center they said that they replace mainboard, so imei changes and i received written document that they replaced mainboard (my back panel imei and the imei that phone shows are different now).
for checking it , Goto this site : http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis&sub=imeinr
enter both imei and check them, if both are for diamond i think your mainboard is changed before, but if the imei that phone shows is belong to another handset (for Ex : a nokia one or another htc model) i can say 99% percent your phone is stolen.

i'd probably bet he's bought an "original" housing from auction site. i've done it many of times but i usually rip the imei sticker off, bear in mind the imei on the diamond is only on a metal plate, he may have forgot to change this part, he may have damaged his old imei sticker/plate, as stated above he may have changed his main board also, there is many possibilities.
don't worry about it, if your still a bit worried try the CheckMEND online service here:
http://www.checkmend.com/uk/
It costs £1.99 per go, (which you'd want to do both imei's) but you get a certificate telling you wahts dodgy or not about your phone.
it a great service if you feel a little worried.

[Q] Why Do I Have 2 Different IMEI Numbers?

While a new member, I've been following the community a bit and have flashed my Captivate successfully several times.
It started acting weird earlier this week (lagging and shutting itself off) so I decided to re-flash it and re-apply SRE with all the goodies it brings.
Since my last flash, the phone works fine (calls, messaging, and Internet) except for one problem - the Android Market.
I can access the market but am unable to download anything. I've tried many different solutions, ROM's (JF2, JH2, and JH3), 3G/WiFi, internal settings, clearing the Market cache, Dalvik cache, etc., using Market Access and going outside of AT&T's allowed applications, all to no avail. It's the same whether I attempt to download after a fresh flash or after applying SRE. I've also tried Unleash the Beast.
Finally I decided to call AT&T to find out if there was a problem somewhere on their end.
Here's the weird thing:
The IMEI I have on the sticker under my battery is that of a Captivate and matches what they have on record. The representative I spoke to told me that the IMEI I have in my phone's menu is an iPhone IMEI.
With all that being said, I have two questions:
1) How did this happen?
2) How can I fix it?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

FrstdOne said:
While a new member, I've been following the community a bit and have flashed my Captivate successfully several times.
It started acting weird earlier this week (lagging and shutting itself off) so I decided to re-flash it and re-apply SRE with all the goodies it brings.
Since my last flash, the phone works fine (calls, messaging, and Internet) except for one problem - the Android Market.
I can access the market but am unable to download anything. I've tried many different solutions, ROM's (JF2, JH2, and JH3), 3G/WiFi, internal settings, clearing the Market cache, Dalvik cache, etc., using Market Access and going outside of AT&T's allowed applications, all to no avail. It's the same whether I attempt to download after a fresh flash or after applying SRE. I've also tried Unleash the Beast.
Finally I decided to call AT&T to find out if there was a problem somewhere on their end.
Here's the weird thing:
The IMEI I have on the sticker under my battery is that of a Captivate and matches what they have on record. The representative I spoke to told me that the IMEI I have in my phone's menu is an iPhone IMEI.
With all that being said, I have two questions:
1) How did this happen?
2) How can I fix it?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does your imei start with?

madjsp said:
What does your imei start with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one in the software starts with 004999
The one on the sticker starts with 351863

Iphone imei starts with 011. That rep doesnt know what hes doingp

did you ask them to update youe imei number? would likly fix it, could have just been an accident, from what i have read about 10% of imei number are not unique so somehting could have gotten messed up server side

vinunleaded182 said:
Iphone imei starts with 011. That rep doesnt know what hes doingp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also a quick google of the 0049 imei shows that there are several iphones with that imei

The rep who I've been working with is off today but she said she'd call me tomorrow. I'll ask her to update the number and hopefully she can.
Unfortunately, while I'm pretty much a noob to all this, I've found that I still know more than most of the people on the AT&T side and the rep I've been working with is the most knowledgeable of the group.

Did you go from an iphone to the samsung if so, it could be a translation issue on atts side which means the billing system never updated the imei to the switch because it errored out on the billing side happend all the time when i use to be a switch tech for att simple to fix just need to file a ticket with a certain department but can be a pain if the rep is new.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I thought the phone read its IMEI number from its own hardware. This thread implies that something on the network is telling the phone what its IMEI Number should be.
I know there are a lot of Ebay phones with bogus stickers - the stickers have one SN/EMEI number, but the phone internally says another.
Where did you get your phone?

I've never owned an iPhone and I purchased the Captivate from a corporate store, not from an authorized reseller or ebay.

wait cant this be useful if we can change the imei to a vibrant one we can get money off of data or would most of you feel bad for doing that (one good thing about that though for 10 dollars we get unlimited data)

labbu63 said:
wait cant this be useful if we can change the imei to a vibrant one we can get money off of data or would most of you feel bad for doing that (one good thing about that though for 10 dollars we get unlimited data)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You gotta pay to play. If you don't want to pay smartphone fees, don't get a smartphone. I'm sure we'd all like a break on price, but when it comes down to it, we can't get one, so we make do.
And unless the modmyi forum was wrong, that's illegal.

yeah i know but im just saying if someone isnt scared to go to jail

If the IMEI shows as 004999010640000, you might check out this thread. Good luck.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=777288
PS: you might want to look at this specific post in that thread.....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=8060884&postcount=33

BigJayDogg3 said:
You gotta pay to play. If you don't want to pay smartphone fees, don't get a smartphone. I'm sure we'd all like a break on price, but when it comes down to it, we can't get one, so we make do.
And unless the modmyi forum was wrong, that's illegal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually i was just looking at the library of congress's recent ruling on the DMCA and their new excemptions and read this
"
(3) Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.
"
sounds like to me that changing the imei is legal as long as the only reason you are doing it is to connect to a network that you are already authorized to use

xatrekak said:
actually i was just looking at the library of congress's recent ruling on the DMCA and their new excemptions and read this
"
(3) Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.
"
sounds like to me that changing the imei is legal as long as the only reason you are doing it is to connect to a network that you are already authorized to use
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changing The imei is illegal and has nothing to do with the DMCA. changing The imei is fraud like changing a car's vin number.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

alphadog00 i was wondering that, you wouldn't happen to be able to point out to me which law that is contained in, i have heard it was illegal like a million times but havn't seen the law yet. but i have always liked reading the actual laws that make the things i want to illegal

how do you know its illegal the DMCA was changed and said it was legal so until you find something that says its illegal we will never know

labbu63 said:
how do you know its illegal the DMCA was changed and said it was legal so until you find something that says its illegal we will never know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are confusing unlocking with changing your IMEI. It is legal to unlock and hack, it is not legal to change the phone's network id.

xatrekak said:
alphadog00 i was wondering that, you wouldn't happen to be able to point out to me which law that is contained in, i have heard it was illegal like a million times but havn't seen the law yet. but i have always liked reading the actual laws that make the things i want to illegal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't point to you an exact law, but cloning phones has been considered fraudulent for years and people have been prosecuted. In changing the IMEI number, you are in essence cloning a phone - it may not exist yet, but it could. So once a new phone is made with the new EMEI number you created, you have created fraud.
After doing some research - this is the section of federal code that is used to prosecute cell phone cloners:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00001029----000-.html
U.S. Code: TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 47 > § 1029
§ 1029. Fraud and related activity in connection with access *devices
You may not get arrested for changing your IMEI (not one person anyway) but at some point the carrier will probably just black list your device or your account.
Changing the IMEI or ESN basically makes your device a counterfeit access device. Some debate that if they own 3 phones they should be able to let them all share one IMEI if only one is active at a time.
Personally, I can see no valid reason to change your IMEI - swapping sim cards is easy enough.

Unbranding vs. Unlocking vs. Rooting

I don't where to put this thread specifically but I know there is some confusion in the HD7 forums. So I'm here to explain the difference between Unbranding, Unlocking, Rooting.
Unlocking:
Unlocking your device simply allows you to use it with any other GSM carrier in the world. It is a good way for you to not incur roaming charges since you can travel out of the country(or inside for that matter) and pick up a prepaid SIM card and use it. It does not damage your phone, disable any features or functionality and does not void the warranty. Unlocking your phone can also increase its value, because the phone can be transferred to a non-CDMA based company (CDMA is, in basic terms, phones that have SIM card built-in, but don't rip apart your phone, there is no SIM card; Sprint is an example of a CDMA based company). There are some carriers, who allow you to unlock your phone, for example, T-Mobile will give out unlocking codes for some phones, if you tell them your travelling outside of the country. This is because this specific carrier does not have an international call plan.
Unbranding:
Unbranding, or debranding as it is some times referred to, is where you remove the carrier branding from your device. This will void your warranty since you are essentially removing all carrier affiliation, besides the logo physically printed on your phone, from your device. It is possible for you to "rebrand" your device with your carrier again, although there is no point to unbranding if you're going to do this. One thing unbranding will do is that it will remove the carrier splash screen that is displayed when your phone is booting. It will also revert your device back to the factory defaults, so back-up your hone if you plan to. The process of unbranding your device is not illegal, although for a small number of devices(like Blackberries) the software is!
Rooting[?]:
The reason I put a question mark in brakets is because for Windows Phone, rooting isnt the correct term. Jailbreaking was the first instance of this type of software modification, and freed iPhone users of the incredibly limiting way the iPhone was set-up. Androids were later 'jailbroken'; however, due to the fact the OS is Linux based, they called it rooting due to the way the files were set up and named{I don't know the full reason, go google it}. Anyways, rooting{which is what I'll call it in this thread} is when a device is totally released from all restraints set by the manufacturer. In the case of the iPhone and Android phones, it allowed to install 3rd party application(applications that weren't allowed to be in their respective marketplaces), change the appareance and layout of the phone, and even change the splash screen(what's seen when booting the phone; i.e. for the HD7 its the T-Mobile and Windows Phone logo ). Usually this process voids the warranty, however, in some cases like the iPhone, reseting the phone through official provided software will revert back.
I hope this helped

great info. just wanna say thanks.
: )

Someone needs to come up with a better word for "rooting." I hate the term jailbreak but it looks like we might be getting stuck with it. Maybe if we made the difference clear by calling one "SIM unlocking" and the other just "unlocking."

Call it Sideloading
that'd do for me

so using chevron will void my warranty is what your sayin?

Lost Galaxy Note 9 Japan Docomo OS. Is there a way to track the phone by IMEI number?

Hi There,
I have lost my Galaxy Note9 Docomo SC-01L in Taxi in Japan.
Usually the Lost phones are recovered by Police and carrier within 2 to 3 days.
However, my phone is missing for a week now and no sign of Switch On. (Find my phone shows the phone is switched off)
I have temporarily terminated my Sim card services. I am considering to activate the sim services just in case someone may charge the battery and switch on the phone so that, I can send messages to handover the phone or to get access to its live location.
My Phone has strong 6 digit pin and finger & face recognition security for unlocking the screen.
My question is, in case the phone is in custody of bad person,
1. would it be possible to to flash the phone with new IMEI number.
2. would it be possible for a bad person to access my personal and bank account / electronic(NFC) payment information?
3. What precautions I should Consider to secure the data and any remote assistance to actually locate the phone encase the sim card is changed.
4. Can I track the phone only from IMEI number if bad person crack the phone and use with wifi or changed sim card?
Thanks you very much for your help in advance for being able to recover my phone.

Hey there! Sorry to hear that. I have also got my stolen some weeks ago and it's surely the worst feeling.
Have you found your phone?
Here are the brief answers for your questions:
1.Yes. With the right tool and knowledge, unfortunately, IMEI can be changed. But it is illegal in most of the countries and difficult to do. Only pretty tech people/thieves have knowledge about such things.
2. If you haven't rooted your phone, bootloader is locked and phone is password locked, no one can access your data.
3. For lost phone, I don't think you can do anything remotely unless Find My Phone is connected. For future precautions, you can make use of Cerberus apps (I'm not associated with this app). What you can only do is put IMEI into track with the help of cops (you gotta plead them).
4. If the person connects to wifi only and doesn't enter SIM card, you can't track the phone with IMEI. Only if he inserts SIM card, old IMEI is not changed (which is quite unlikely) and IMEI is on track, cops can find your phone (if they want to).
Do acknowledge my post and please tell any other potential method you know which is helpful in finding lost phone. Have a great day