So I lost my Inspire 4g and was deeply saddened about it. Couldn't find it with Plan B or any tracking app by downloading from android market; because I changed my password out of caution first, I don't think the apps downloaded to the phone and since Google won't let me change my password to a previous one, I can't do a single thing. :/
Anyway, I'm thinking about buying the Atrix off of craigslist, but I've never used it. Is there anything I should worry about? Like, if it's stolen or he does some shady stuff and I put in my SIM card, will it just leave me with a brick? I'm still planning on using AT&T and if the phone isn't rooted, I plan to root it.
I traded an iPhone 3G for Samsung Focus with some dude on Craigslist. He had the box, USB cable, power adapter and showed me the thing working on his SIM before he handed it to me. Let me fiddle with it before I left. I've also sold some stuff on Craigslist too, just use your brain when dealing with people you don't know. Ask to see it working, and stick your SIM in it (or use theirs) and make a call before you walk away with it.
I always like to meet in a public area with a lot of cameras. I usually do Starbucks or a Bank of America ATM. No one will think of pulling a fast one on you in an BoA room.
Well I was reading about and was wondering about IMEI blocking and stuff like that (don't really know what it means). I remember suspending my phone online through AT&T. Does that only block the sim card or the actual phone? Can the person block the IMEI later if he decides to be a douche or do you need more information?
imhuy said:
I always like to meet in a public area with a lot of cameras. I usually do Starbucks or a Bank of America ATM. No one will think of pulling a fast one on you in an BoA room.
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Click to collapse
Good advice, use what's around ya. Oh, no personal checks. I won't take one, nor will I give one to someone I don't know. Most people won't mess with you, anyway, because they're afraid you'll do something to them. Just make sure the product works the way you would expect it to before you walk away.
---------- Post added at 11:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 PM ----------
Chowlz said:
Well I was reading about and was wondering about IMEI blocking and stuff like that (don't really know what it means). I remember suspending my phone online through AT&T. Does that only block the sim card or the actual phone? Can the person block the IMEI later if he decides to be a douche or do you need more information?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEI blocking also cancels the SIM. He'd have to be a real douche to go out of his way to go pick up a new SIM just to screw with you.
I bought my 2nd Atrix off of craigslist.
I met the guy at a well lit truck stop. I asked for him to walk inside to meet me. (Lots of cameras and people). We then walked outside and I called ATT to check the IMEI and make sure he owned the phone he was selling. ATT also told me who the phone was registered to and that the phone was purchased in June... I then confirmed the sellers name.
I checked out every thing that I could to make sure that the phone was fully functional, it was.
Couple days later I noticed that I couldn't get HDMI out to work. After further investigation, I noticed that there was a single pin broken off in the HDMI. I called ATT up and they replaced the phone via warranty. Of course I played dumb and just said HDMI out didn't work, not mentioning anything being "broken." The likelihood that they can pin a broken pin on me is very rare. (no pun intended) They shipped me a phone that arrived 2 days after I called, I sent them my "broken" phone back.
I bought a greatly discounted phone off of craigslist and ended up getting a refurbed phone that looked brand spanking new from ATT.
*Oh, and the guy paid with cash.*
My transaction went better than expected, despite the inconvenience of not having HDMI right away.
treehumper said:
Good advice, use what's around ya. Oh, no personal checks. I won't take one, nor will I give one to someone I don't know. Most people won't mess with you, anyway, because they're afraid you'll do something to them. Just make sure the product works the way you would expect it to before you walk away.
---------- Post added at 11:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 PM ----------
IMEI blocking also cancels the SIM. He'd have to be a real douche to go out of his way to go pick up a new SIM just to screw with you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn... so I can be screwed over even way later? I'm still confused, so let me get this straight.
I suspended my lost phone online. Does that make the sim card unusable, the phone unusable (i.e. even after putting in their sim card), or both?
Is the IMEI number linked to a person's phone number/account? I know that on the AT&T website, it shows what type of smartphone I had. Does it automatically change to whatever phone I have? Also, is there a penalty for using another smartphone? I'm really insecure about buying a used phone if i can get ****ed later.
Once you put your SIM in it reports the IMEI to your account. Believe it or not, the risk is low. Most people just want the money and don't want the trouble, because you could technically call customer service right there and say you bought the phone from the original owner right there on the spot and tie the IMEI to your account and you're good to go.
Yes, the IMEI reports to AT&T's network within the first few seconds of the SIM being in the phone.
And if you say it's stolen, they lock both the IMEI and the SIM as well as the account. If someone tried this on you, they would be unable to get a new SIM until they unlock the account, which also unlocks the IMEI and invalidates their old SIM since they get a new one. If he screws you, he can't keep it up for long if he wants to keep his contract.
I used to work for AT&T, not on the mobile side but I've made enough contacts to know how it works.
---------- Post added at 11:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 PM ----------
antuus said:
I bought a greatly discounted phone off of craigslist and ended up getting a refurbed phone that looked brand spanking new from ATT.
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Click to collapse
Perfect example. The old owner can't really screw you.
Watch out for the crazies lol! And meet in a public place!
treehumper said:
Once you put your SIM in it reports the IMEI to your account. Believe it or not, the risk is low. Most people just want the money and don't want the trouble, because you could technically call customer service right there and say you bought the phone from the original owner right there on the spot and tie the IMEI to your account and you're good to go.
Yes, the IMEI reports to AT&T's network within the first few seconds of the SIM being in the phone.
And if you say it's stolen, they lock both the IMEI and the SIM as well as the account. If someone tried this on you, they would be unable to get a new SIM until they unlock the account, which also unlocks the IMEI and invalidates their old SIM since they get a new one. If he screws you, he can't keep it up for long if he wants to keep his contract.
I used to work for AT&T, not on the mobile side but I've made enough contacts to know how it works.
---------- Post added at 11:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 PM ----------
Perfect example. The old owner can't really screw you.
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Click to collapse
Well, I already know he's using a different phone. He says that the phone he's selling is his wife.
If both he and his "wife" (obviously, I'll call at&t and double check this) are using different phones, then the IMEI number shouldn't be linked to anyone and I'd be okay to use it afterwards? I'm just trying to find the scenario where I can't get BS'd.
Chowlz said:
Well, I already know he's using a different phone. He says that the phone he's selling is his wife.
If both he and his "wife" (obviously, I'll call at&t and double check this) are using different phones, then the IMEI number shouldn't be linked to anyone and I'd be okay to use it afterwards? I'm just trying to find the scenario where I can't get BS'd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll be fine, for sure, then. The Atrix has been removed from the network, it's yours for the taking.
Related
I didn't see a thread on this so I thought I'd warn anyone who doesn't know.
AT&T now blacklisting stolen phones.
AT&T is now blacklisting all reported stolen phones, or devices they say were "Improperly scanned" out of inventory and major retailers such as Best Buy or Wal-Mart. What this means is that sometime after inserting your SIM card into one of these phones, AT&T will lock your SIM card and you will either get a message stating the device is blocked from the network, or the phone will only call AT&T's security division. Even if you put it back in another phone.
This lock is supposed to occur within minutes according to AT&T, however we have seen it take up to weeks for the lock to occur. This also applies to any pre-paid service such as Straight Talk and Red Pocket who use AT&T phones. If you are on one of these plans, you must call your carrier, not AT&T and request the account be unlocked.
Sounds like a good plan right? The only problem with this is, at this time, unlike Verizon, Sprint, and other carriers, there is no way to call in and check the IMEI before you purchase a used or refurb phone. Thus, if you buy a phone from Craigslist, Ebay, or a local used phone store, its imposable to check the esn like you would a CDMA phone to determine if it has been reported lost or stolen.
The best you can do is put your SIM in the phone and try it out before you buy it and, more importantly, make sure there is a return policy at the store you buy it from. At this time there seems to be no sure fire way to determine if a phone you buy from an individual or online has been reported lost or stolen, and AT&T will not unblock any phone reported stolen except by the person who reported it.
The only exception is if you have purchased a phone from a major retailer. In that case AT&T security division reports that if you take the phone back with the receipt, they will unblock it.
Just reading this reminds me about insurance scams where someone would sell their old phone on some site and then call in the phone as stolen. To me: this is just another risk for buying used phones now. Then again: I recall reading a very recent article about a iphone theft ring in San Francisco. Maybe it's better off this way.
Puts ATT in hard spot. They can either let the thieves sell the units and then the end customer's are unknowingly screwed or let the units work. I suppose their rationale is that if the unit stops working they can report who sold them the phone?
I think they very well should blacklist phones reported as stolen. They've been doing it in Europe for years. My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it. This doesn't punish the thieves so much as the person who unknowingly buys it.
killgorian said:
I think they very well should blacklist phones reported as stolen. They've been doing it in Europe for years. My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it. This doesn't punish the thieves so much as the person who unknowingly buys it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's reported stolen that's one thing - but what about the phones that somebody hasn't paid their bill to on the major carriers - the money owed goes on that person's SS# anyways for life until they settle up - I see bad esn's being sold on ebay all the time. I don't feel bad flashing a phone to cricket with a bad esn since it's tied to somebody's social. If it's stolen by thieves of course - lock em down. I'm just sayin'
mook_ said:
the money owed goes on that person's SS# anyways for life...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. 7 years max.
killgorian said:
My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. This service should have been offered FIRST and then a couple of years later they should have introduced the banning practice. As it is I can see a lot of people making honest mistakes.
You can call into att and have them check the numbers on the phone ...I just did this a week ago with my one x after getting.burnt on one
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Some online stores have a very efficient and reliable pre-purchase customer care.
I bought my AT&T phone from europe from negrielectronics.com and I clearly asked to know the IMEI of the device before placing the ordere since we have some specific IMEI issues here n Europe.
They could immediately email me the code.
So just ask if you want to purchase on the internet; maybe you'll be lucky.
We can actually deactivate stolen / lost phones,
I`m not sure about blacklisting, savedesk knows that,
After we make reports on lost/stolen phones we just send them to savedesk
It has always been a long before practise to ask the customer to rescan again to where you have bought the phone in cases of phones tagged as warehouse are not deactivated
this post is approved by the national potato safety regulation
hey guys - so i just got taken. bought a phone on CL and turns out it's blacklisted. do you know if there's anyway for ATT to check who this phone belonged to based on IMEI? my long shot is maybe contacting original owner (i know ATT doesn't give out information) but could THEY possibly contact original owner and tell him someone found his device?
i figure this is better than me tossing the device?? any thoughts?
piotrus22 said:
hey guys - so i just got taken. bought a phone on CL and turns out it's blacklisted. do you know if there's anyway for ATT to check who this phone belonged to based on IMEI? my long shot is maybe contacting original owner (i know ATT doesn't give out information) but could THEY possibly contact original owner and tell him someone found his device?
i figure this is better than me tossing the device?? any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have any of the seller's info you can report it to authorities.
The only info i have is a cell phone number. Which was a pay as you go number. So i dont think they can do anything if sim card has been tossed right?
What will they authorities do? Dont they have more important things? Ill they confiscate the phone? I just realized i could sell it for use in Europe potentially?
piotrus22 said:
The only info i have is a cell phone number. Which was a pay as you go number. So i dont think they can do anything if sim card has been tossed right?
What will they authorities do? Dont they have more important things? Ill they confiscate the phone? I just realized i could sell it for use in Europe potentially?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's IMEI programmed.
so no matter what SIM you'll use it will still be blacklisted,
as long as a stolen phone can receive a signal and passes through AT&T's database it will automatically send out a code to lock out the phone,
it is n "as-is" basis though,
depends entirely on the phone
deathnotice01 said:
it's IMEI programmed.
so no matter what SIM you'll use it will still be blacklisted,
as long as a stolen phone can receive a signal and passes through AT&T's database it will automatically send out a code to lock out the phone,
it is n "as-is" basis though,
depends entirely on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, my first post here.
I have a customer (I do computer repair, not cell phones) who unknowingly bought a "blacklisted" att phone an HTC one x from craigslist. Is there anything he can do? I told him I would look into it to try and help him out. But I know nothing of cell phones. The guy's like 60 trying to make a few bucks while in retirement buying and selling cell phones.
He used it for a day or so then it just stopped working. when his att sim was deactivated he went to att as he knows the folks who work in the local store. They cleared his sim card, but not the phone. They weren't interested in taking the phone from him either. They said it could be blacklisted for several reasons from non-payment, to stolen or some other reason, but they couldn't tell him the reason. Some advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Would unlocking the phone make any difference (to use on another carrier) or is he just basically screwed with this one?
Thanks,
Chris
SIM unlock it and have it on T-Mobile.
Lil Chris said:
Hi, my first post here.
I have a customer (I do computer repair, not cell phones) who unknowingly bought a "blacklisted" att phone an HTC one x from craigslist. Is there anything he can do? I told him I would look into it to try and help him out. But I know nothing of cell phones. The guy's like 60 trying to make a few bucks while in retirement buying and selling cell phones.
He used it for a day or so then it just stopped working. when his att sim was deactivated he went to att as he knows the folks who work in the local store. They cleared his sim card, but not the phone. They weren't interested in taking the phone from him either. They said it could be blacklisted for several reasons from non-payment, to stolen or some other reason, but they couldn't tell him the reason. Some advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Would unlocking the phone make any difference (to use on another carrier) or is he just basically screwed with this one?
Thanks,
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T is very strict with matters pertaining to blacklisted phones,
reactivation of a valid sim card is possible but not the phone,
i never had actual experience with AT&T phones since i'm not in the US and we only had experience navigating them during our training at AT&T tech support,
but you can try flashing the stock generic firmware from a AT&T HTC one X and using a T-mo sim instead of a AT&T sim to prevent execution and authentication of IMEI protocols which are nessesarry to deactivate the blacklisted phone,
Welcome to the bad ESN world
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
cell128 said:
Welcome to the bad ESN world
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And corporate controlled america
--------------------------------------------------------------
By staring at this post you have waived your right to privacy
Complaints will be trolled accordingly
Im a bit confused. Maybe someone could shed some light. Can a at&t iphone that is not in good standing with at&t be used on straight talk. If so must it be a ST Tmobile sim?
Im buying my mom an at&t iphone 4s off CL and want to make sure it can be activated. Thanks!!
themow said:
Im a bit confused. Maybe someone could shed some light. Can a at&t iphone that is not in good standing with at&t be used on straight talk. If so must it be a ST Tmobile sim?
Im buying my mom an at&t iphone 4s off CL and want to make sure it can be activated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it is not reported lost or stolen it can. If it has been blacklisted, no it cannot.
I am moving over to Straight Talk here in a month from Verizon, and will be using an AT&T SIM for service. I have been reading up on this "Blacklisting" that AT&T is doing with stolen/lost phones, and how some folks are being scammed from Craigslist/eBay.
My question, then, is if I were to meet someone at an AT&T store, have the IMEI checked, and it comes back clean, and make the transaction, with the seller still there, will AT&T be able to put a note on their account that the phone was sold, so the seller cannot go back a week later and claim the phone was lost or stolen (fraud)? By doing that, wouldn't the folks at AT&T who Blacklist, see that on their account, and you, as the buyer, would be in the free and clear?
Anyhow, I am just looking for thoughts and suggestions about this, and anything else someone might provide. Thanks!
You can get it checked but it always can be reported stolen later on. It's just like ESNs on Verizon/Sprint. But as long as you verify it you should be fine.
MrObvious said:
You can get it checked but it always can be reported stolen later on. It's just like ESNs on Verizon/Sprint. But as long as you verify it you should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess what I am asking, is while I am at the AT&T store, can I have the associate put a note on the seller's account that states the phone is being sold to me, while the seller is there in the store, and consents to this being put on his account? I would think that it would be impossible then to blacklist the phone, as its there.
I guess I am looking for the best way to protect myself from scam, without having to buy a retail phone at full price. Although, honestly my gut feeling is, is that most folks will not scam you... but, I could just see me being one of those unlucky few with a $300 paperweight!
You'd have to ask AT&T unless someone has that experience. Sorry.
We decided that we are going with new Nexus 4 (16gb) phones instead. This way, we can also use a T-Mobile SIM card if we decide AT&T service with Straight Talk isn't doing it for us. Better to have piece of mind!
why not a Xperia X8? haha
Hey, wasn't sure where to post this, but anyway....
I had a ST account with 2 AT&T sims on it. Before they AT&T dropped ST I kind of saw the writing on the wall with that 2GB limit, and since I tend to go over and the other person does too I just switched to T-Mobile.
I'm wondering if I can try and profit off this a little? Could I sell someone the rights to the account/sims? or better yet is there a way to remove the sims from the account, still have them work, and sell them stand alone?
NOTE: If you have a problem with my attempt to try and profit off still having two of these, I don't care, move along, thanks.
Are they used? If so, how old are they? I think straight talk sims "expire", so to speak, after being used... I think it's between 1-3 months...
Edit: OK upon further research, service cards expire a year from date of purchase but sims do not... Again, idk if it matters whether or not they were previously activated or not...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
They are used. One was last used about 3-6 months ago. The other we just stopped using this past weekend. The numbers associated with them were ported off.
They stay in the account ready to be activated again. I think I'd have to sell the "account" with the 2 sims, change the password, and let them activate them how they want.
How is this topic related to nexus 4?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Underground_XI said:
How is this topic related to nexus 4?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, wasn't sure where to post this, but anyway....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please, tell me where you would have posted it.
I would say it doesn't really fit anywhere on XDA to be honest. But, a lot of Nexus users have experience with ST. Thanks for the complaint withotut any good suggestions by the way.
gpgorbosjr said:
Hey, wasn't sure where to post this, but anyway....
I had a ST account with 2 AT&T sims on it. Before they AT&T dropped ST I kind of saw the writing on the wall with that 2GB limit, and since I tend to go over and the other person does too I just switched to T-Mobile.
I'm wondering if I can try and profit off this a little? Could I sell someone the rights to the account/sims? or better yet is there a way to remove the sims from the account, still have them work, and sell them stand alone?
NOTE: If you have a problem with my attempt to try and profit off still having two of these, I don't care, move along, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One thing is for certain you can't sell the sims and activate them on another account and I think they can only be reactivated using the number associated with them when you first activated them. When I first used StraightTalk I didn't port my number over and used one they assigned to me, when I finally wanted to port my number over they said I had to use a new sim as you couldn't change the number on the existing sim card, it was permanently associated with the first number assigned to it or so it was explained to me. I think the sim can only be written to once after that its read only so any account info on it can't be changed.
---------- Post added at 09:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 AM ----------
gpgorbosjr said:
Please, tell me where you would have posted it.
I would say it doesn't really fit anywhere on XDA to be honest. But, a lot of Nexus users have experience with ST. Thanks for the complaint withotut any good suggestions by the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can discus phone plans here no problem, there are plenty of them already and it has everything to do with the Nexus 4 as its carrier unlocked. And since it was a question it does belong in Q&A. You could have posted it in the other StraightTalk thread in the General Section but who really cares (except it seems one person).
kzoodroid said:
One thing is for certain you can't sell the sims and activate them on another account and I think they can only be reactivated using the number associated with them when you first activated them. When I first used StraightTalk I didn't port my number over and used one they assigned to me, when I finnaly wanted to port my number over they said I had to use a new sim as you couldn't change the number on the existing sim card, it was permanently associated with the first number assigned to it or so it was explained to me.
---------- Post added at 09:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 AM ----------
You can discus phone plans here no problem, there are plenty of them already and it has everything to do with the Nexus 4 as its carrier unlocked. And since it was a question it does belong in Q&A. You could have posted it in the other StraightTalk thread in the General Section but who really cares (except it seems one person).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response....
I think I'ma just abandon this idea. It's too complicated lol. I was trying to see if I could keep some ST AT&T sims in circulation and make a little coin on top, but with them activated already it doesn't make sense. Plus you can still get activation kits around $50 if you really want.
gpgorbosjr said:
Thanks for the response....
I think I'ma just abandon this idea. It's too complicated lol. I was trying to see if I could keep some ST AT&T sims in circulation and make a little coin on top, but with them activated already it doesn't make sense. Plus you can still get activation kits around $50 if you really want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like you originally said you would have to sell the account and I don't think that is allowed in the TOS. They might let you transfer it to a family member but that would be the extent of it. IMO It would be a huge pain in the butt to try and sell it as who really wants to go through that huge a hassle to try and save a couple bucks at best. And you would also have to give any buyer the phone number associated with the sim card which is the one you ported. I've got all kinds of used sims from carriers laying around too I just put them in a box to grow dust.
I didn't know where else to post this question...
I'm about to buy a NEW Galaxy S4 Active from a guy on Craigslist that's going to get one new from the ATT store today. The selling price to me? $400.
That's a great price, so I'm wondering...
Is there anything that I need to be aware of? Can I lose out on this deal? I'm assuming that he's going to get an upgrade and extend his contract, because that's the only way he can make money on this deal. But what if he cancels his contract or doesn't pay his bill, won't the phone get blacklisted and I'll end up with a brick in a few months?
No blacklisting on att phones. The only way you can lose out is if the guy has insurance on his phone, sell it to you, then calls att reports it stolen. Then the phone becomes a glorified paperweight.
Alot of people run this Craigslist scam, because the insurance deductible is cheap, and they make a large profit selling it, then reporting stolen and get a brand new device, meanwhile you get scammed.
To prevent that from happening you can meet the guy at an att store and let them know you are purchasing the phone from him, and they will transfer ownership to you and he can't file a stolen device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
I would be very careful when buying an expensive phone from Craigslist. Tell him you only want to meet at an at&t store so they can make a note on his account that he sold you the phone. Then I would have them activate the phone there and then for you. If it's legit then he'll have no issue doing what you suggest. $400 is a good price for an active. But sometimes if it seems too good to be true, well you get the point.
Great advice you guys! That's what I'll do is meet him at the store and make sure I'm notated and the ownership is transferred to me. I didn't realize ATT would do that for me!
That is two good pieces of advice. Benefit of Craigslist over EBay is one-on-one contact. I would add, and you probably already decided, is if he doesn't want to meet with some excuse--don't buy it--
I just bought an iPhone for a family member. I met the seller at the AT&T store and I went in and had AT&t run the IMEI. they said it was not reported stolen but that is all they could do. According to the sales person there is no way to transfer an IMEI and that an original purchaser could theoretically still report the phone stolen.
I am not sure if I believe the second part but it could be. I can't see att trying to track every IMEI as phones change hands.
alphadog00 said:
I just bought an iPhone for a family member. I met the seller at the AT&T store and I went in and had AT&t run the IMEI. they said it was not reported stolen but that is all they could do. According to the sales person there is no way to transfer an IMEI and that an original purchaser could theoretically still report the phone stolen.
I am not sure if I believe the second part but it could be. I can't see att trying to track every IMEI as phones change hands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's wrong. Basically an imei cannot be on two accounts at the same time. So going in to a store with the seller they could remove it from their account and it would be put on yours. With ATT however, there is very little ways for them to "blacklist" a phone. Sure it may not be able to be placed on your account but a sim will still work just fine in it. Verizon is different due to the way their activations work.
sent from just the tip
imitenotbecrazy said:
Yeah that's wrong. Basically an imei cannot be on two accounts at the same time. So going in to a store with the seller they could remove it from their account and it would be put on yours. With ATT however, there is very little ways for them to "blacklist" a phone. Sure it may not be able to be placed on your account but a sim will still work just fine in it. Verizon is different due to the way their activations work.
sent from just the tip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure why you say they can't blacklist. They can and are now doing so. EU has done it for years. No one in the USA did it in the past but the carriers are doing it now, and they are working on a shared database. So once a phone is blacklisted it will be unusable on any carrier.
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
The phone sends its IMEI when it connects to the network and AT&T can easily block it if it is reported stolen. There are other threads about people buying notes and s4 that are blocked.
alphadog00 said:
I am not sure why you say they can't blacklist. They can and are now doing so. EU has done it for years. No one in the USA did it in the past but the carriers are doing it now, and they are working on a shared database. So once a phone is blacklisted it will be unusable on any carrier.
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
The phone sends its IMEI when it connects to the network and AT&T can easily block it if it is reported stolen. There are other threads about people buying notes and s4 that are blocked.
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Weird. I've never seen a phone not connect to the network like that. I haven't told ATT I've switched phones since my OG Note a year and a half ago. That phone has long since been gone. The only thing that seems to be reporting to ATT is the sim. What happens when you use an imei from outside their database? How does it access their network then?
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imitenotbecrazy said:
Weird. I've never seen a phone not connect to the network like that. I haven't told ATT I've switched phones since my OG Note a year and a half ago. That phone has long since been gone. The only thing that seems to be reporting to ATT is the sim. What happens when you use an imei from outside their database? How does it access their network then?
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I switch phones all the time and I don't "tell" AT&T - this works fine without issue, but they do see the IMEI - this is easy to verify. Log into your AT&T account and look at your devices - it shows the actual phone that is being used on that number. I am not sure how often they update this, but it shows the system automatically sees the IMEI.
They only keep a database of Blocked or blacklisted IMEI. It is impossible for them to keep a database of approved phones, it just wouldn't work and it would piss people off. It is easier to keep a short block list.
On my account, I have 2 other family lines for dumb phones and they have data blocks. But these lines are using other smart phones, and they listed by brand and model when i log into my account. The IMEI can be used to detect brand and model. I still don't know why the CSRs ask for IMEI when this info shows up automatically, but i never give it to them.
And like I said, when i bought the last phone, I walked in the store and the guy knew what i wanted and looked it up to see if it was reported stolen. When it was not, he said everything was good. A few years ago, they would not have cared either way.
alphadog00 said:
I switch phones all the time and I don't "tell" AT&T - this works fine without issue, but they do see the IMEI - this is easy to verify. Log into your AT&T account and look at your devices - it shows the actual phone that is being used on that number. I am not sure how often they update this, but it shows the system automatically sees the IMEI.
They only keep a database of Blocked or blacklisted IMEI. It is impossible for them to keep a database of approved phones, it just wouldn't work and it would piss people off. It is easier to keep a short block list.
On my account, I have 2 other family lines for dumb phones and they have data blocks. But these lines are using other smart phones, and they listed by brand and model when i log into my account. The IMEI can be used to detect brand and model. I still don't know why the CSRs ask for IMEI when this info shows up automatically, but i never give it to them.
And like I said, when i bought the last phone, I walked in the store and the guy knew what i wanted and looked it up to see if it was reported stolen. When it was not, he said everything was good. A few years ago, they would not have cared either way.
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See that's where I'm having this issue. I log into my ATT dealer site and it still shows me on the OG Note. When I log into my account it shows OG Note. My account doesn't update with what phone I'm using currently. Not sure if mine is an anomoly or not. AFAIK though ATT told us there was nothing that could be done when one of our ATT display phones was stolen. That's part of where my assumption that blacklisting was not a real thing with ATT.
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imitenotbecrazy said:
See that's where I'm having this issue. I log into my ATT dealer site and it still shows me on the OG Note. When I log into my account it shows OG Note. My account doesn't update with what phone I'm using currently. Not sure if mine is an anomoly or not. AFAIK though ATT told us there was nothing that could be done when one of our ATT display phones was stolen. That's part of where my assumption that blacklisting was not a real thing with ATT.
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I admit I never blocked a phone. But there is thread that has lots of details of a few users experience:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2315935
According to AT&T only the original owner can report a phone stolen - so maybe only new activations get treated this way. The AT&T rep said i could not add the IMEI of the used phone to my account to prevent someone from reporting it stolen, so their system has lots of limits.
I wish I knew more, but AT&T is not the most forthcoming with how things work.
alphadog00 said:
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
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I read just the other day that Tmo and ATT are sharing their blacklists. And once a phone has been blacklisted on one carrier, the other will follow suit.
So I purchased my phone from Sprint and would like to do the domestic unlock. I have read around that if you insert another carriers sim card before turning the phone on initially it will be unlocked. I unfortunately did not do this.
My question is, if I were to re-flash the stock firmware (whenever that releases) would I be able to insert another carrier's sim card and reproduce the initial out of the box unlock process?
Just take it to Sprint and have them unlock it for all carpets. As I understand it, they are required by law to do so if asked.
mrcooter said:
Just take it to Sprint and have them unlock it for all carpets. As I understand it, they are required by law to do so if asked.
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The problem is that I got the phone on the sprint lease and i'm paying it but would like to use it on a different carrier.
Droidz said:
The problem is that I got the phone on the sprint lease and i'm paying it but would like to use it on a different carrier.
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That shouldn't matter as long as you don't cancel your Sprint service, otherwise then of course they would bill you for the remainder of the phone. If you look on your about phone settings, there is an option for UICC unlock where you would update the PRL etc. They put in a code which then allows other SIMs and activations, but you could switch back and forth after that even. Leased or not they should unlock this for you no questions asked if requested.
mrcooter said:
That shouldn't matter as long as you don't cancel your Sprint service, otherwise then of course they would bill you for the remainder of the phone. If you look on your about phone settings, there is an option for UICC unlock where you would update the PRL etc. They put in a code which then allows other SIMs and activations, but you could switch back and forth after that even. Leased or not they should unlock this for you no questions asked if requested.
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Where is the UICC option? I remember seeing it when I was playing around with the phone but now I don't see it anymore?
I bought one off of craigslist, sprint "locked" I took a gamble thinking it would be able to be used on a different network. Unfortunately, I am unable to make it work with AT&T.
Anyone with ideas on how to unlock a sprint phone (clean IMEI) for AT&T?
PlasticsDoc said:
Where is the UICC option? I remember seeing it when I was playing around with the phone but now I don't see it anymore?
I bought one off of craigslist, sprint "locked" I took a gamble thinking it would be able to be used on a different network. Unfortunately, I am unable to make it work with AT&T.
Anyone with ideas on how to unlock a sprint phone (clean IMEI) for AT&T?
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About phone / OMADM updates / UICC unlock
Sprint will either need to put in the code for you, or they will give you the code. Haven't looked into it much since I'm staying with Sprint. Even if they aren't your carrier, probably would still do it when asked. Just go to local store front and try.
mrcooter said:
About phone / OMADM updates / UICC unlock
Sprint will either need to put in the code for you, or they will give you the code. Haven't looked into it much since I'm staying with Sprint. Even if they aren't your carrier, probably would still do it when asked. Just go to local store front and try.
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Thank for your reply. Unfortunately, they won't unlock it. CSR said its common that people make fake accounts to get free phones and sell them. Is there any other possibilities?
PlasticsDoc said:
Thank for your reply. Unfortunately, they won't unlock it. CSR said its common that people make fake accounts to get free phones and sell them. Is there any other possibilities?
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Hopefully someone else will know and comment. If it were me, I'd use the excuse of you travel and Sprint coverage isn't supported everywhere therefore you need to be able to swap SIMs. If it were me, I'd research the law requiring them to unlock it and see the best way getting this done, maybe a second tier rep over the phone would be another option to try, sometimes people in the store just say things thinking they know best. You could try a factory reset and put in the other SIM before 1st boot but not seeing that actually work in my opinion.
The only way I see working is flashing stock firmware and inserting another sim card at that point. A regular wipe wont work.
Also the international unlock doesn't allow it to work domestically, like with T-Mobile or Verizon.
Droidz said:
The only way I see working is flashing stock firmware and inserting another sim card at that point. A regular wipe wont work.
Also the international unlock doesn't allow it to work domestically, like with T-Mobile or Verizon.
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Still no way to flash stock firmware is there?
So if you purchase a phone direct from essential but put the Sprint sim in it the phone will be locked to Sprint?
Final-Mac said:
So if you purchase a phone direct from essential but put the Sprint sim in it the phone will be locked to Sprint?
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Doubt it.
Sprint locks the batch of phones they lease out. Just like anything you lease, it's not yours until you pay for it.
PlasticsDoc said:
Still no way to flash stock firmware is there?
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nope, that's what I've been waiting for as well.
Droidz said:
nope, that's what I've been waiting for as well.
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I just flashed stock firmware (NMJ20D) over my sprint locked phone, still locked...
Only way Sprint will unlock the devices is after 50 days and it's paid off.
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Sprint.com/unlock
There has to be a way to unlock the phone through software. If they come unlocked out of the box before being activated, then it must be some sort of software switch.
This means that there must be a way to get the phone back to its out of the box state and have it unlock.
If there is anybody who can chime in on this and let me know otherwise it would be very much appreciated.
networx2002 said:
Only way Sprint will unlock the devices is after 90 days and it's paid off.
---------- Post added at 04:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:35 AM ----------
Sprint.com/unlock
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Actually, it's 50 days. The device needs to be active on the Sprint network for 50 days and also fully paid off. You can then request the unlock.
So if you got in on the Sprint flex lease deal and ended up with a Sprint locked phone, your options are:
1) Sell it as a Sprint locked device
2) Use it on Sprint for 50 days, then request the unlock
3) Keep haggling Sprint CS to try and get it unlocked before 50 days (some users have had success with this)
Sprint customer support says hell no. I spent all day trying. All DAY. I talked to over 12 reps with no solution
I originally have att... Went and signed up with Sprint to take advantage of their price... Paid my phone off... And got them to unlock it a day later... You do NOT need to have the phone on 50 day service to get it unlocked...
What I think may be happening with the different outcomes is how people talk to the support... I don't think it helps if you're aggressive or not friendly.... Or course, this is just my weak guess.... The support gave me no issues getting it unlocked but did ask if I was keeping the service still... Which I said yes, but to be honest, Sprint LTE is slow.... So now I dunno if I want to keep the service...
joewoo said:
I originally have att... Went and signed up with Sprint to take advantage of their price... Paid my phone off... And got them to unlock it a day later... You do NOT need to have the phone on 50 day service to get it unlocked...
What I think may be happening with the different outcomes is how people talk to the support... I don't think it helps if you're aggressive or not friendly.... Or course, this is just my weak guess.... The support gave me no issues getting it unlocked but did ask if I was keeping the service still... Which I said yes, but to be honest, Sprint LTE is slow.... So now I dunno if I want to keep the service...
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I didn't have issues either. I had it unlocked within 12 hours of receiving the phone. I'm assertive and speak like I know the rules, because I do. But I ALWAYS say yes sir or no sir, please, thank you, and talk to them like they're actual human beings. I almost never have issues with customer service.