Possible swapped imei or fake tmobile phone? - T-Mobile Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

A friend of mine purchased a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy note 4 a couple months back and decided it was time to sell the phone. She bought the phone from a third party seller. ( It was a phone repair store that also sells cellphones) The device has T-Mobile software and seems to be a legitimate T-Mobile branded Note 4 , the issue is the imei does not show up on T-Mobile. The note 4 shows up as invalid/not recognized. ( We also called samsung and they did not have the imei in their database for the warranty check) I called T-Mobile for my friend and gave them the imei number and the representative said the phone was not a T-Mobile phone.(based on the imei) I ran the imei on a few safe legitimate websites , swappa being one of them and each website came back as a N910F ( international version) not N910T. Her other note 4 which comes up as a N910T doesnt show up on the T-Mobile website either. Both show up as clean on swappa. My device is also a note 4 the n910T3 version and the imei is recognized by T-Mobile, and shows up as a T-Mobile device. So I'm not thinking it's T-Mobile. My friends note 4 was also rooted without their knowledge, when they bought the phone it came with root and SU , they took it back to the phone store and the phone store removed root. The phone received T-Mobile OTA update just like any other T-Mobile phone after they unrooted it. , we believe at this point the imei is swapped. Could there be tmobile rom on it? It's too late to return it to the phone store , my question is what should she sell it as? What are her options ? As stated both imei are not blacklisted and clean. The note 4 that comes up as N910F is also missing a back sticker. When she purchased it they said it was damaged during cleaning the phone.

Sounds like it might have been a squaretrade refurbished phone. Same thing happened when I had my mother's note 4 replaced, but she had sprint and it seemed to work with sprint. As far as T-mobile, I would assume as long as it had the bands T-Mobile has, it should work
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using XDA Premium HD app

Related

Worldwide Delay in Unlocking ATT Galaxy Note 3??

I have the Galaxy Note 3 for ATT N900A. I used Cellunlocker and the other ones on the internet. Code Not Found each and every time. I researched and read hundreds of posts. Just wanted to see if i was alone or if this is a widespread problem? Or does this have anything to do with the just discovered Region Lock Samsung has on the Note 3?? I wanted to use on my Tmobile simple choice or even prepaid. But cant get the code. So i purchased a GO Phone sim card and signed up for the 60 dollar 2.5 gb plan. The phone activated on the ATT network. I tried other peoples att sim cards and it works just fine. The online unlocker service said i can get the phone unlocked via usb cable and software. What are they talking about.
bronxlcsw said:
I have the Galaxy Note 3 for ATT N900A. I used Cellunlocker and the other ones on the internet. Code Not Found each and every time. I researched and read hundreds of posts. Just wanted to see if i was alone or if this is a widespread problem? Or does this have anything to do with the just discovered Region Lock Samsung has on the Note 3?? I wanted to use on my Tmobile simple choice or even prepaid. But cant get the code. So i purchased a GO Phone sim card and signed up for the 60 dollar 2.5 gb plan. The phone activated on the ATT network. I tried other peoples att sim cards and it works just fine. The online unlocker service said i can get the phone unlocked via usb cable and software. What are they talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Most people who want to get their phone unlocked use Chainfire's app http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2470551 You have to be rooted to use that app. (90%positive its a permanent unlock)
-I've read of a couple people who used used www.unlockunit.com or use the app in the play store.
-Have you tried calling At&t for the code? I've gotten codes from them for majority of my previous phones at no cost! I called right after I bought my Note 3, but they didn't have the codes in the system at that time and told me to call in 15 days. Well I had already rooted and unlocked with Chainfire's app by then so I had no need for the code.
-There is a method where (if they have the right equipment) they can unlock remotely with you phone connected to your computer via USB. I couldn't find and IMEI unlock for my T-mobile s3 so I did that method. Just had to install a few apps on my computer and enable USB debugging on the phone. They connected VPN via Team Viewer and unlocked my phone from there. The phone never asked me for a code, but they gave me it just in case. They most likely use the Z3X box for that (if i remember correctly, thats the one for Samsung devices)
bought 2 note 3's from T-Mobile store directly.
first one was a white Note 3 with a build date of late september. contacted TMO for the code they said I need to have the phone on service for 40days to unlock, ok nevermind.
went to cellunlocker.net, provided me the code in 2 days, unlocked the phone with their provided code no issues.
Bought a 2nd Note 3 Black one, again from T-Mobile store directly. This one with a build date of 10/16/13, contacted Cellunlocker again.
after a few days they apologized for the delay said to recheck the imei and asked if I still wanted it, said another method would take 5 business days.
Not knowing where else to turn, I agreed yes, try another method I'll wait the 5 days.
4-5 days into it they provided me the code, and I successfully unlocked the black Tmo SM-N900T works with my ATT Service.
I thought my note 3 unit was too new or something, but I guess everyone is experiencing this delay?
All I can say is whew, glad cellunlocker.net came through for me!
Unlock success?
I look forward to unlcoking my Note 3. anyone reported any success on AT&T version to unlock phone internationally?
I got my Note 4 from them in a matter of a few hours.
I think they said some orders have a time of 1 or 2 days or something. best to email them.

Non-legit T-mobile LG G4

Hi everyone,
I recently purchased a "new" LG G4 on ebay and the seller said that the phone is locked to T-mobile. Being a T-mobile customer, I thought that I can simply request a sim unlock code for the phone but that turned out not as I expected.
First of all, the IMEI checker was unable to find the device on the tmo website or other 3rd party websites. I found this to be odd as the phone was in a retail tmo box and the software on the phone seemed legit as it also had working wifi calling.
I called up tmo to ask for the unlock and they said it's not a problem and told me to try the built in unlock app. After waiting a day, I tried the app but the unlock didn't work and I kept getting a msg that the phone is inelegible for an unlock.
Again I called tmo and finally a rep said that the phone is a non-tmo phone and called up LG to ask for the unlock. LG told the rep that the phone is already unlocked but I found that not to be the case with after I tried an international simcard. Using that sim card gave me a promt after booting the phone that said I need to unlock the phone to use the network, even though I saw full signal bars.
Anyway, has anyone else had a similar experience with a phone not purchased directly from tmo?
my guess is that it was stolen
Take the back cover off. On the back, there are some numbers and letters in 4 or 5 places. Does your say H815, H812, H811, or something else? A picture without the IMEI and serial would be nice.
mrslax said:
Hi everyone,
I recently purchased a "new" LG G4 on ebay and the seller said that the phone is locked to T-mobile. Being a T-mobile customer, I thought that I can simply request a sim unlock code for the phone but that turned out not as I expected.
First of all, the IMEI checker was unable to find the device on the tmo website or other 3rd party websites. I found this to be odd as the phone was in a retail tmo box and the software on the phone seemed legit as it also had working wifi calling.
I called up tmo to ask for the unlock and they said it's not a problem and told me to try the built in unlock app. After waiting a day, I tried the app but the unlock didn't work and I kept getting a msg that the phone is inelegible for an unlock.
Again I called tmo and finally a rep said that the phone is a non-tmo phone and called up LG to ask for the unlock. LG told the rep that the phone is already unlocked but I found that not to be the case with after I tried an international simcard. Using that sim card gave me a promt after booting the phone that said I need to unlock the phone to use the network, even though I saw full signal bars.
Anyway, has anyone else had a similar experience with a phone not purchased directly from tmo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the imei under the battery and in the settings correspond?
the IMEI on the back and the box match. Here is the pic.
mrslax said:
the IMEI on the back and the box match. Here is the pic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the phone itself? What country/carrier are you trying to use it on?
t-mobile USA
the box is a tmobile box and the ROM on the phone is from tmobile.
Did you put your t-mobile sim card in when you tried to unlock? Can you do a temp unlock?
The h811 can't be unlocked for something like 60 or 90 days so if it was just bought from t-mobile by the person on ebay you won't be able to permanent unlock it for a bit.
I could guess that the IMEI was changed, if its not being recognized as a T-mobile phone. Maybe they changed the stickers. With the IMEI itself, my old third party bought G Flex showed up on the T-Mobile site as a G Flex.
Can't Unlock T-Mobile LG G4
I had the same problem with being able to unlock. Because you didn't buy from T-Mobile, they don't have the IMEI in their database, so you are not registered with them. The unlock can't work, because the program goes against their database and your phone is not in it. After many calls to TMO and LG, it appears that the only way to get unlocked is to sign up for a post-paid account and use $100 plus be in their system for 40 days. The only other way is to borrow someone else's tmo micro sim and use it for a while until the Device Unlock App works. (If you are worried that you are not covered by the LG Warranty, call LG and give them your IMEI.
They will confirm that your device is new and covered by the LG one year warranty.
*#06# in the dialer should bring up the imei the phone is reporting
Sent from my LG-H811 using XDA Free mobile app
thevmax said:
I had the same problem with being able to unlock. Because you didn't buy from T-Mobile, they don't have the IMEI in their database, so you are not registered with them. The unlock can't work, because the program goes against their database and your phone is not in it. After many calls to TMO and LG, it appears that the only way to get unlocked is to sign up for a post-paid account and use $100 plus be in their system for 40 days. The only other way is to borrow someone else's tmo micro sim and use it for a while until the Device Unlock App works. (If you are worried that you are not covered by the LG Warranty, call LG and give them your IMEI.
They will confirm that your device is new and covered by the LG one year warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked a 3rd party imei check and they can locate the phone as lg h811. Called up lg and have them the imei number and they said it has 1.5 years of warranty. So i guess the phone is legit but isnt in the tmobile system. It's is a bummer that I can't unlock it right now.
On another note lg told tmobile that my phone is unlocked. However when i tried a sim card from another country i got a prompt telling me i need to unlock the phone even though it was showing 5 bars of signal. Would that man it is locked or unlocked?
Did you use the imei on the sticker, or pull the imei using *#06#? They could be different if someone changed it
Sent from my LG-H811 using XDA Free mobile app
If you purchased a tmo employee phone from eBay, it doesn't show in their database.

[FYI] UNLOCKED S6A sent for repair and returned LOCKED

Hi guys,
I just thought I should share my experience with SAMSUNG and AT&T.
I've bought my brand new UNLOCKED S6 Active from EBAY about 13 months ago and used it for 11 months with no problems at all. I've never dropped it nor put it under water or anything etc. However about 2 months ago the phone started freezing and randomly rebooting.
I'm an IT specialist so after carefully examining the phone during freeze I realized it's probably a defective motherboard. The phone was under warranty so I shipped it to SAMSUNG USA for repair. They send it back after two weeks with a replaced battery claiming the phone is fixed. Of course it wasn't and I had the exact same issues as before. I had to send it back to SAMSUNG and after another month they confirmed it's the motherboard and replaced it. The service slip states "Replaced PBA".
Since then the issues are resolved but.... as soon as I've put my international SIM card the phone stated "Invalid SIM card. Enter network unlock code". What a surprise! I called SAMSUNG and they claimed it's locked by AT&T (??) and connected me to AT&T rep about it. I've explained everything again and the AT&T guy said since I don't have an AT&T account he'll send me the unlock code after 3 business days to my phone. "How exactly are you going do to do that when my phone is with an international SIM card which is not working on the locked phone?" I asked. "Oh... in that case I'll give you the code now". So in a minute I had the code and the phone is UNLOCKED again.
Cheers!
Hey I am having the same issue with S6 edge. I bought AT&T S6 edge unlocked from ebay. I used it with Tmobile sim. Something went wrong with the phone, sent the phone to repair and Samsung replaced the PBA and sent back. Now it is locked. When I put Tmobile sim, I get this "Invalid SIM card. Enter network unlock code". I called Samsung and they told me to call Tmobile to get unlock code. I don't think it is going to work. How did you get the Samsung to connect AT&T rep to you?
adasse10 said:
Hey I am having the same issue with S6 edge. I bought AT&T S6 edge unlocked from ebay. I used it with Tmobile sim. Something went wrong with the phone, sent the phone to repair and Samsung replaced the PBA and sent back. Now it is locked. When I put Tmobile sim, I get this "Invalid SIM card. Enter network unlock code". I called Samsung and they told me to call Tmobile to get unlock code. I don't think it is going to work. How did you get the Samsung to connect AT&T rep to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SAMSUNG rep told me to call AT&T and request an unlock code. I told him I'm living in Europe and I've never had an AT&T accout which is required in order to speak with AT&T support. So he was kind enough to call them and then to forward my call directly to an AT&T support rep.
It's unexpected to see an AT&T rep provided unlock code so fast. But yours phone came back locked is understandable, since its motherboard had been replaced. I think the IMEI is also changed as well. In the past, usually if motherboard was replaced by Samsung then the IMEI is clean and ready to unlock with AT&T device unlock portal, so even you didn't get it unlock at that time, you can just go to the link above to unlock your phone.

Verizon Note 8 Flashed With T-Mobile Software, But Wont Accept MetroPCS Sim

Hey everyone, my name is Vincent. I'm new to Note 8 Family, so I'm hoping that you could assist me with a problem I have.
I recently bought a used N950U Verizon Note 8 for $400 from a seller on Letgo. It came with a Samsung wireless fast charger, two cases, extra pen tips, and a micro USB to USB C adapter. Not a bad deal, I'm my opinion. It came loaded with 8.0 Oreo and has a version 1 bootloader (I'll edit that if that's b not what is called, I seen it mentioned on one of the guides).
The seller explained that he originally bought it through Verizon, but when T-Mobile offered the deal to pay off your phone if you switched to their service, it paid off the lease. The phone's IMEI is clear, according to Swappa and he was actually receiving messages on the phone when we meet
My problem is that when I put my MetroPCS sim card in, the Note immediately states "Phone not allowed". I thought it was just MetroPCS (where you have to call to have them add the phone to your service), but after adding it, the phone wasn't getting service. I selected the correct APN, but that also didn't seem to work. The network settings don't even bring up MetroPCS when you manually search for networks.
I thought maybe I should try flashing the phone with an unlocked xaa software, but Odin states "[abl] fused 4 > binary 3" and "FAIL! (Auth)" on the output during the first step of flashing.
So, that's where I currently am at the moment. I'm hoping that I can make my $400 investment usable today, because someone already bought my iPhone 7 Plus that I'm using now (don't worry, I've been a long time Android user before this short-lived "experiment") and I've been delaying our meeting to give it to him. Any advice, opinions, or instructions would be greatly appreciated. I'm a bit desperate right now. Thank you guys =]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a N920C, But I don't have a N920C..

So the other day I was looking through my settings and saw that it says sm-n920c as the model number. But, on the backside of my phone it says it's a 920t. I bought this phone off of Amazon as a certified refurb a few months ago. Any help or ideas on how to put it on the right settings/firmware? And I have ATT as my service and I haven't had an issue with service.. the n920t is Tmobile correct? Would I lose any SIM unlock if one is applied?
OregonInfidel said:
So the other day I was looking through my settings and saw that it says sm-n920c as the model number. But, on the backside of my phone it says it's a 920t. I bought this phone off of Amazon as a certified refurb a few months ago. Any help or ideas on how to put it on the right settings/firmware? And I have ATT as my service and I haven't had an issue with service.. the n920t is Tmobile correct? Would I lose any SIM unlock if one is applied?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May be they swaped 920c motherboard so don't rely on what it says on back of your phone, but if imei matches with what's on your back of the phone then probably you will have a 920t model with a os of 920c modified probably. Check if imei is mentioned matches with your phone. If no imei is stated or matches then as said above they might have swaped the 920c motherboard on a 920t mobile.
I checked and the imei doesn't match. Solves that question lol thanks!

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