Related
I read the other posts about changing IMEI and people tell you that you have stolen the phone or bought from a person who have stolen but it is not my case.
Well my country just recently entered a new system where no cell phones that you bring to my country can be used only allowed importers or distributers can sell you and you can use..
I have a imate jam which is broken ant I know its IMEI number..if i can change the IMEI number of the new imate jamiIN from my broken jam IMEI then i can use jamin in Turkey because my broken jam is registered and you can buy it in Turkey but not jamin.
Please help me, if it is possible then i will buy it from UK when i visit there in a week.
No-Comment, as this board is not about teaching users to commit crimes or aid them in illicit acts.
Is there not a registration process you can go through to get your phone onto the database?
not yet there is no...
and the dumb distrubuter of imate has just brought kjam to turkey. and i talked with them they said we have no plans yet to bring jamin...
it might be illegal to change but if you ask to me the thing that i am doing is legit. i am not playing with anyones money or device.
please tell me if i am wrong
Hi, emreee!
You asked for opinions here is mine:
Even if some one on this forum has the information you requested, they are not likely to publish it here du to the potential damage it can cause.
Also posts about hacks (for TomTom) have been previously removed from this site by the administrator at the request of the company officials and I believe that the information you requested will suffer the same fate immediately.
So, I'm afraid you are wasting your time here, despite the name this is a legitimate forum and the only hacks here are to improve device operation or add functionality.
Finally, keep this in mind: even if you find a way to change the IMEI, you will never be able to get any support for the phone or its software, not even under warranty because if you are caught with the modifications you will be punished under your countries law (some one may correct me, but as I understand it, changing IMEI is illegal even if you own both devices).
thanks for your answer...it is logical...if you guys have a solition please pm me
IMEI Change??
The IMEI no is unique number assiged to each mobile GSM device. Like netork device mac address it in a read only register so chnaging will be difficult.
However it is the network operator not the device manufacturer that blocks IMEI numbers on their netowrk. I would advise to contact your carrier and ask for them to unblock/register the IMEI number. Providing the IMEI is legit and the device is compitable to thier network they should accomodate you after all you pay them for the telephone and data services.
i find it HUGELY ironic that folks would attempt to censor somebody asking about how to edit an IMEI # when there are all sorts of posts talking about hacking the device to sim unlock, etc. The defense that "we're" protecting some poor innocent guy who may have had his phone stolen is pretty stupid when you consider that the phones that are sim unlocked could be viewed as stolen from the carrier. Why? Suppose you buy a sim locked phone from Cingular for $300. Suppose it is the 8125. That phone would retail for $700+ if Cingular didn't sell it locked. They want your business and think they're gonna make up the difference in future service sales.
So it's ok to screw Cingular out of a few hundred dollars by sim unlocking the phone and moving to another carrier, but not ok to help somebody learn how to edit an IMEI?
Shoot - I'd send the guy directions in a flash if I knew how to do it...
The problem of your line of thinking is that
1st - Normaly you have a contract where you have to pay a fine during one or two years when you buy a locked phone (like in germany where you buy phones for 1 euro) so they get their money and you are locked
2nd - If you buy a locked phone for half the price with no contract the company who sold it to you has no lost money with the deal
3rd - For 99,9% of the worlds population its more important that when your mobile is stolen you can find it again or getting it blocked by the operator by the IMEI than a big company loosing some euros...
Yes, i am one of the poor innocent guys that works hard for his money, who had his phone stolen and found it by the IMEI
imei changing is illegal in most european countries, and others are considering it. a few months ago, there was a news item that the dutch government is looking into starting a test-trail to see if the current law can be used to prosecute imei-changing, ... we don't want to be their guineapig.
removing simlocks is not illegal in most countries.
willem
It's all a bit of a grey area when it concerns SIM locks. They SIM locks are based on a business model like game consoles; often they make a loss on the device which they expect to recuperate on kickbacks from games and accessories. You could make the same argument that anybody who would hack their game console to run Linux (for some ungodly reason) is 'stealing' from the console developers. However, it's a conscious business decision to take a loss on the console, knowing full well that there may be hacks to do so. Moreoever, they know full well that somebody might buy it, play a game that comes with it, decide they like a different console better, and trash their existing one. Now this person also hasn't provided the console developer with what they expected to recuperate from fringe sales. So are they stealing, too?
All in all, it is the phone carriers that choose to go with one of typically three plans...
1. prepaid; get the device for cheap, with sim lock, and they recuperate costs - with any luck - from selling top-ups / prepaid cards / etc.
This is a business model that has success only through numbers, much like the console business. There are, however, plenty of already unscrupulous people who will buy such a device to use once, and then discard it. Then there are those who might not call enough to full recuperate the actual cost of the device. Nevertheless, I do think that usually unlocking the SIM for these devices is a bit on the black end of the grey area.
2. contract plans; get the (typically more advanced than prepaid) device for relatively cheap, with sim lock, and they recuperate the costs on your plan.
Now this is where I think a SIM unlock is perfectly valid *if* and only if you can't terminate your contract early - which you usually can't. So if you're already stuck paying $20/month for 2 years, and paid $200 for the device itself, that's $200 + $480 = $680. Now I need to jump to the third one before concluding this 2nd plan.
3. SIM-lock-free; some carriers will sell devices SIM-lock free from the get-go. This means that you get the phone they offer, which may be exclusive to them, but you can use any carrier you want. No unlocking issues here, as there's no lock.
Now here's the kicker. A lot of carriers provide 2 & 3 for the same device. Contract plan works out to be $680, but if you get the simlock-free one, it'll cost you the lump sum of $500. So if you go with the contract plan (and, again, if you can't terminate it), you already paid for the device itself - and then some. So why SIM-lock it? To get even more money... more money than the device normally costs, and even more money than you're already paying them thanks to the contract. But what validation do the carriers have for this - as they recuperated the costs, they made no loss, etc? Just more profit. So I wouldn't consider that "stealing" - that's a void of potential revenue.
And if they really, really wanted to stop you from using an unlocked phone, they can have the IMEI blocked. Unless, of course, somebody changed it.
So let's compare the pros/cons of SIM-unlocking and IMEI changing...
SIM unlock:
- carrier loses money if it's a prepaid
- carrier has a void of potential revenue if it's a contract
- consumer gets free choice of carrier
IMEI change:
- carrier can't block phone if it is stolen
- carrier can't block phone if it is being used unjustly
- networks may go wacky over two the same IMEIs if they happen to be on the same cell
- police cannot track phone in case of crime (yes, I know that anybody with enough will can do it, 'if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have gun', yaddayadda - any proper criminal uses a disposal-worthy prepaid anyway)
- consumer loses all hope of getting their phone back
- some consumers can use their device on a network where it would otherwise be blocked for some inane reason - such as emree over here. Though they can usually apply to have their IMEI entered into the carrier's database anyway, but that's something for emree to investigate.
So from both the consumer -and- the carrier's point of view, an IMEI change is vastly more damaging than a SIM-unlock. Almost the only people who win from an IMEI change procedure are those who have stolen a phone, or found it and have no intention of returning it to the rightful owner. The people who win from a SIM-unlock is mostly the consumers, as they get free choice. Though I do suggest consumers get the contract thing or just get the non-locked devices - prepaid unlocking to me is still kinda whack.
Emree: I hope you've inquired with your carrier by now, and that the outcome is good. I see that since you posted this, you were still looking into actually buying the phone (correct me if I'm wrong), so for all we know the phone you buy will work just fine where you're at. Good luck either way
Hello everyone.
I've been searching the forums and have yet to find a solution (at least one that I can perform).
Any way, I have a Softbank X01HT which is a re-branded HTC Hermes.
I purchased the phone in September 2007 from a shop in Hong Kong. I live in the UK and have been using my phone happily for the past 5 months. My phone was blacklisted bout 2 days ago and despite having kept the original box and receipt from the store as a proof of purchase, it seems there is nothing my network (T-Mobile) is able or willing to do.
Is there anything I can do to legally lift this Blacklist of my phone? If not does anyone know how to change the IMEI.
At the moment, I feel very upset about all this because I have bought this phone legitimately and have been using it for 5 months, and NOW... someone can just blacklist my phone?
I have read that there is a solution by using 'Wizard Service Tool' but I need to do something like change it's SPL to 1.1.1. Does anyone know where to obtain the SPL 1.1.1 and how to install it?
Thank you for much in advance and please please please spare me from comments like 'ITS ILLEGAL'. I realize that by UK law it is a crime punishable by 5 years imprisonment. However I have a genuine phone that was purchased legally and I have everything to go with it! If changing the IMEI of a phone that I own to an IMEI of another phone I own is illegal.. well.. thats just stupid.
dont know of any way to change the imei but
you could try to contact the police and ask their advice
being that it's usualy them who have the stolen phone's
imei's reported to and who have them blocked
i would likely have some advice
screen rotation icon for imate jasjar
after having my imate jasjar upgraded to wm-6, i lost 2 things, my video calling and the screen rotation icon. does anyone here in the xda family have a link that will restore my screen rotation icon back
Isnt that a bit off-topic harrio?
Thanks for the advice Rudegar but I have already contacted the police. They can find no record of a stolen phone with that IMEI and they even reffered me to the Mobile Crime Unit, who dont have any idea about the number being blacklisted. They recomended I talk to my network who said they cannot/will not do anything.
it would make sense to be that there would be some higher place to take it
to make sure that no phone company blacklisted phones of people who simunlocked and
left the company for the compatitions
maybe thats a thing to look into
first step would prob be to try another network sim to make sure that it's a general blacklist
Yeh I have tried. It seems to be blacklisted on most netwokrs but works on Orange.. strange? The funny thing is I bought the phone without a contract already unlocked in Hong Kong so there would be no reason for the network to even blacklist it.
In Australia, we have a "Telecommunications Ombudsman" who we can escalate matters to after exhausting options with our phone company.
Is there something like that for you?
It does sound unfair - good luck with it.
Oggy.
Contact the Citizens Advice Beaurau. There must be something you can do.
If all else fails get the police/mobile unit to give you some kind of written confirmation on headed letter paper that there is no ban on your number.
Send t-mobile a friendly worded but grievence stating email about there having banned your phone for an undescernable reason. State in it the dates and times of your previous calls.
Then get your hands on a legal 'Cease and Desist' letter template from somewhere and send something like this:
WITHOUT PREJUDICE: IMMEDIATELY CEASE AND DESCIST.
Dear Sir,
I am contacting your company (Herafter refered to as 'You') on behalf of *your name* (Hereafter refered to as 'The Client') to inform you that Your blacklisting of The Client's phone is unlawful. This letter calls for you to immediately cease and descist from all such unlawful actions.
Blah blah blah
You'll find templates and guidance for drawing them up on the net. Works much better if you can find the name of some applicable law to drop in.
Make sure you don't specifically state that legal proceedings will definately follow. State that if they fail to comply then legal actions 'may' follow and that their case will be refered to the business ohmbudsman, trading standards, and your local MP.
I should state right off the bat that I'm not a lawyer - I'm a medic. But I have found that cease and desist letters are sufficient to make most organisations instantly start behaving themselves.
Don't forget the 'Without Prejudice' statement - I believe it means something along the lines of you do not wish anything said in the email to harm your rights to compensation etc....It's a very lawyerly phrase anyway so it's always good to chuck in the mix.
You should be able to find guidelines/templates for cease and descist letters on the net
Good Luck!
Citizens Advice Beaurau? Never heard of them. Are they a British organization?
Just to clarify, here is what I've done.
Contacted my provider T-Mobile. Provided them with Receipt of purchase and a box. They did nothing.
Contacted the police. They have no record of a phone being stolen with my IMEI number. They recomended contacting my provider T-Mobile.
Contacted the mobile crime unit in the UK. They said that that I would have to take it to my provider also as only the mobile phone companies in the UK can unblacklist.
Anything else I can do?
Does T-Mobile UK have shops like in Germany (called "T-Point")?
The people there were always friendly to me and helpful.
Randvegeta,
I would walk down your nearest high street, find a T-Mobile shop, walk in with all your evidence and don't leave until they have sorted it. It is essential that you are polite but firm.
One thing that puzzles me; you live in the UK but have never heard of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)? Strange.
WB
wacky.banana said:
Randvegeta,
I would walk down your nearest high street, find a T-Mobile shop, walk in with all your evidence and don't leave until they have sorted it. It is essential that you are polite but firm.
One thing that puzzles me; you live in the UK but have never heard of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)? Strange.
WB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a hypothesis... it is only a hypothesis so please don't take offense. It can be tested, but maybe not easily. Here it is. You have been scammed, your hermes is not genuine it is a device that failed QC and was discarded by HTC. Your vendor in HK is dishonest. Contact HTC somehow and ask them about the IMEI, explain your situation and find out if they know anything. They should have a record of every phone they manufactured and may be able to tell you whether yours was sent to a retailer or to the garbage bin.
If I'm right at least you'll know for sure what's wrong.
If I'm wrong... well you know that too and maybe you can advance the ball a bit.
Good luck
Ive already been to a T-Mobile shop. Not helpful at all. I beleive Ive almost exhausted all legal options in the UK at least. I think there are only 3 more options.
1: Contact my supplier and ask for help/replacement.
2: Give up on my phone and let it be lost at my expense.
3: Hack/spoof the IMEI.
I think you'll find that T-Mobile don't have to help you as you purchased the phone from an indipendant supplier unless of course it was them who locked it, you are well within your rights to demand a copy of your account information under the Data Protection Act, this could include your account managent info which may identify whether they locked the IMEI or not. I guess the other option is to try and locate who exactly locked the IMEI, not even sure where to start unless you can find a very helpfuls service engineer at T-Mobile.
As said above, contact HTC, they may be able to help, but your first port of call should be the guy who sold you the device.
The shop I bought from.. im fairly sure is quite reputable. It has been arround for a while and is in in the Wan Chai Computer center. I will of course ask but I do not for a moment believe that they sold me a dodgy phone. And it certainly wasnt defective. It was in perfect condition and everything worked. Besides, there are hundreds of legit shops in HK selling the exact same phone. I just bought it from them cuz they had it in Black.
IMEI Barring.
The Flaw Is In The IMEI Blocking Procedure.
I Used To Work For Vodafone And All That Is Required To Bar A Handset, Is An E-Mail Containing The IMEI Only.
Unblocking A Phone However Is A Very Difficult Procedure. The IMEI Ban Database Is Shared Between All Countries Of The EU. Because Of This Most "Stolen" Phones Are Shipped To The Middle East And HK CH JP etc Who Dont Use This Database.
That Said And Done Tho They Should Know The Reason For The IMEI Ban And If Its Because Somebody Reported That IMEI As A Stolen One They Could Check Your Account And See That Your Account Has Been Using That IMEI for The Last 5 Months. And Therefore Couldnt Possibly Be The Stolen One As The IMEI Has Only Been In The Database A Short While.
Its TOO EASY To Make A Typo And Blacklist A Non Stolen Phone.
Prime Example. Your Phones Broke And Gone In For Repair, You Borrow Your Friends Expensive XDA For 2 Weeks While Your Phone Is Repaired, You Give Your Friend His XDA Back and Then Your Newly Repaired Phone Gets Stolen, You Report Your Phone As Stolen And When They Check The System Your Friends IMEI Is The Last One You Were Using On The Account, Employee Doesnt Check Propperly (Copies And Pastes Your Friends IMEI Into A Blacklist Email) And Your Friends XDA Gets Banned.
It Could Prove Quite A Pain To Resolve This Issue..... But...
Call Your Customer Support Desk For Your Mobile Network.
Ask For A TEAM LEADER/MANAGER ( They Can Do Anything For A Customer To Keep Them Happy, Their Privaledges Exceed Those Of Normal Staff And They Can Sort Problems Beyond The Means Of Your Average Callcentre Staff)
If A Problem Gets Escalated To A TEAM LEADER/MANAGER It MUST Be Dealt With. (Company Policy)
They Might Offer For A Team Leader To Call You Back As Their Usually Busy, Althought Your 100% Guaranteed To Get A Callback By A Team Leader As Long As They Werent Jus Fobbin You Off.
I Wish You The Best Of Luck Sorting Out This Mess.
Hey OllieD,
Sound very in depth. Ive already spent hours with T-Mobile with no luck.. but will Vodafone help me out? At least tell me who blacklisted me.
As for this database, is it only Europe wide? Or is is World wide? And if it is EU wide.. are you 100% sure?
Just to clarify to people reading, I am using a SOFTBANK, (Japanese Brand) purchased in Hong Kong, and have been using it since September.
If it is an EU database and not a world wide one, I will need to find out who blacklisted it and contact them.
Thanks very much!
Since you are using Softbank, so it should not be blacklist as it should not be used in EU before. please check carefully your IMEI on the phone label match your IMEI inside the ROM, I think the shop clone a English rom to your phone before selling to you (original Softbank should be Japanese rom) and this clone the IMEI also which IMEI reported as blacklisted. (they clone the rom because of sim locked and change English, what they called it is hard-modify not soft-modify)
I stayed HK and I had 2 phones with same situation (label IMEI were difference to the ROM) but still can be used in China and HK, 5 more phones buy from another shop without problem.
The shops you buy the phone with the phone came from the same dealer, so no luck to change, only some shops you can trust.
clean imei
Randvegeta said:
Hello everyone.
I've been searching the forums and have yet to find a solution (at least one that I can perform).
Any way, I have a Softbank X01HT which is a re-branded HTC Hermes.
I purchased the phone in September 2007 from a shop in Hong Kong. I live in the UK and have been using my phone happily for the past 5 months. My phone was blacklisted bout 2 days ago and despite having kept the original box and receipt from the store as a proof of purchase, it seems there is nothing my network (T-Mobile) is able or willing to do.
Is there anything I can do to legally lift this Blacklist of my phone? If not does anyone know how to change the IMEI.
At the moment, I feel very upset about all this because I have bought this phone legitimately and have been using it for 5 months, and NOW... someone can just blacklist my phone?
I have read that there is a solution by using 'Wizard Service Tool' but I need to do something like change it's SPL to 1.1.1. Does anyone know where to obtain the SPL 1.1.1 and how to install it?
Thank you for much in advance and please please please spare me from comments like 'ITS ILLEGAL'. I realize that by UK law it is a crime punishable by 5 years imprisonment. However I have a genuine phone that was purchased legally and I have everything to go with it! If changing the IMEI of a phone that I own to an IMEI of another phone I own is illegal.. well.. thats just stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MyeBayAllSelling&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK:MESX
I clean them.
my galaxy s has been blocked by UK network
and hence im selling it
just check out this link
mod can delete this post if it violate the forum rules
Why would it be blocked.... Unless its stolen or reported stolen....sigh
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
He probably invalidated his IMEI.
You are also deceiving people on eBay by not being honest. Why is it blocked?
please refer to this thread guys
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=769071
chasist said:
please refer to this thread guys
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=769071
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should not be discussing getting it unblocked as it is not legally your handset.(unless the blacklist was a mistake)
And yes it will work in other countries unless the plans for an international blacklist come into effect.
also why dont you speak to the police and get them to investigate through gumtree as you and the mobile network have been defrauded..
good luck
Err, isn't this knowingly selling/purchasing stolen goods?
If you aren't the one who stole it then inform the police, report the seller and get your money back.
If the police don't care then you're still going to struggle to sell it. Maybe consider donating it to a developer.
Benjamin Dobell said:
If the police don't care then you're still going to struggle to sell it. Maybe consider donating it to a developer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He wont, because if you check the description, he's planning to deceive someone else (he's simply blocking UK sales). Whilst I feel sorry for him, I don't think this is a good approach..
In Canada we generally refer to these people as hss aoles, fother muckers, etc. He's trying to deceive someone into buying a stolen phone. Mods should delete this thread, ban his account and report this case to ebay.
Buying it for 180 quid, reselling it for 260, not a bad move only if it weren't STOLEN...
Dude, you're a crook!
Who in their right mind will buy a IMEI blocked phone?
you have better chances to chop the phone to bits and sell the parts
you might actually end up making more money that way
the Motherboard is useless as it's IMEI blocked
... wow! too late some poor soul already bought it, he'll find out the hard way the phone was stolen
original topic Blocked Samsung Galaxy S
topic closed due system policies violation:
1) eBay link Not selling in MP
2) potentially getting us into trouble with the law
3) selling a stolen/barred phone (aka rule 13)
for a full list of rules please review The XDA Rules
Where is the IMEI stored and/or branded on an AT&T S4, besides the motherboard and the IMEI sticker? Is it marked anywhere on the internal components that are left? Are there any memory chips or something where it's stored, besides the motherboard?
Thanks in advance!
Why do you need this info? It sounds fishy...
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium
graydiggy said:
Why do you need this info? It sounds fishy...
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^^
It does.
He could have maybe mixed up parts? idk anything else that would be legit
grindcore said:
Where is the IMEI stored and/or branded on an AT&T S4, besides the motherboard and the IMEI sticker? Is it marked anywhere on the internal components that are left? Are there any memory chips or something where it's stored, besides the motherboard?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does sound a bit fishy, as the others stated. However, I've found that it's in two places:
In the firmware of the device.
On the sticker.
It may be permanently burned (fused) into the hardware somewhere, so even a full wipe via JTAG might not even wipe the IMEI. You can check it out yourself by looking up the teardown videos out there. iFixit has released one, and AdamOutler has released another.
Beyond this advice, I don't think anyone is going to speak about this subject with you. Pretty much the only reasons that come to anyone's minds as to why you need this info are:
- Tampering with IMEI
- Warranty fraud
- Insurance fraud
The only legal reason I can think of is:
- Selling parts of your device, and wanting to protect your IMEI information for some reason. .... but if your selling parts of a broken device and wanting your IMEI kept safe, it's probably to avoid being caught for insurance or warranty fraud.
I hate to assume you're up to no good, but it's too easy to with questions like this.
END.
Aou said:
It does sound a bit fishy, as the others stated. However, I've found that it's in two places:
In the firmware of the device.
On the sticker.
It may be permanently burned (fused) into the hardware somewhere, so even a full wipe via JTAG might not even wipe the IMEI. You can check it out yourself by looking up the teardown videos out there. iFixit has released one, and AdamOutler has released another.
Beyond this advice, I don't think anyone is going to speak about this subject with you. Pretty much the only reasons that come to anyone's minds as to why you need this info are:
- Tampering with IMEI
- Warranty fraud
- Insurance fraud
The only legal reason I can think of is:
- Selling parts of your device, and wanting to protect your IMEI information for some reason. .... but if your selling parts of a broken device and wanting your IMEI kept safe, it's probably to avoid being caught for insurance or warranty fraud.
I hate to assume you're up to no good, but it's too easy to with questions like this.
END.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's none of the reasons you mentioned. To make a long story short, I buy and resell phones for a living. Someone scammed me and stuck me with a new AT&T S4 that's blacklisted. I checked and double checked the number and it was clean before I bought it, but it got reported a couple days later. So I was stuck with a new S4 I couldn't get rid of.
Most people have suggested just dumping it on CL to get my money back but I do not want to rip anyone off. I'm not a scumbag like that. I just want to recover as much of my money as possible without screwing anyone in the process.
I ended up finding another broken S4 really cheap and doing a motherboard and IMEI sticker swap with the new blacklisted device hardware. As it turns out, it works perfectly. So basically I now have a brand new S4 with a motherboard in it that has a clean IMEI, so now I can at least sell a working device to someone who will enjoy it and recover the vast majority of the money I invested in it. The thing that I am mostly concerned with is that if he or she brings it in for servicing, if they can somehow recover the original IMEI from the rest of the hardware. I'm assuming they will not be able to as I thoroughly checked the inside of the phone as I did the swap, and didn't find anything. But I wanted to ask and make sure as S4s are not the phones I usually take apart and work on (I usually deal with iPhones). I know that with iPhones, individual parts can be traced back to their original devices, so I was curious if Samsung did the same thing with theirs.
I'm not trying to rip off or scam anyone. I am actually making it a point to do the opposite in order to deal with the awful behavior of someone else without getting screwed in the process.
Thanks for the help.
The IMEI is in the software. It is very easy to get to.
Switching IMEI stickers is illegal just for your information. That can and would be seen as a way to defraud. Even though in your case it is not the intention. You can still sell the phone and list it as IMEI blacklisted. Unlock it first so any GSM carrier can be used. From what you say, it is legitimately bought, but I must ask a mod to lock this thread before someone comes in with either information on how to change the IMEI or asking how. Both are illegal and are not allowed here on XDA.
I also am asking a mod to lock this as I personally find it difficult to believe that one buys and sells phones and is just now getting to XDA... Its nothing personal against you, but I have been around here long enough to catch stuff that most people are oblivious to and find questions like this from any member new or old, somewhat suspicious.
I would like to extend a welcoming hand to XDA and I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors in buying and selling devices.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium
Sorry to hear that you got ripped off. Sounds like an insurance scam on the other dudes part.
Hello, this device around 260$ in USA, and even less in India as far as I know
In my country it costs 600$ (taxes...) So I got this phone the illegal way, I bought it from seller who sneaks the mi9t from foreign countries without tax, yes this not the safest way but considering the money I took the risk and device just runs amazing, the thing is if you want to register the original IMEI of the device (those came from abroad) through paperwork it costs you a nice extra 250$ (sounds like joke right?)
So phone repairmens doing it for 10$ , what they do is they're copying IMEI of dead phone to this phone.
The question is how can I do that?
When you register your IMEI it seems like another phone but it works, I got dead Nexus 5, can I rip off that IMEI and use it in this device?
Thanks in advance.
Conixcit said:
Hello, this device around 260$ in USA, and even less in India as far as I know
In my country it costs 600$ (taxes...) So I got this phone the illegal way, I bought it from seller who sneaks the mi9t from foreign countries without tax, yes this not the safest way but considering the money I took the risk and device just runs amazing, the thing is if you want to register the original IMEI of the device (those came from abroad) through paperwork it costs you a nice extra 250$ (sounds like joke right?)
So phone repairmens doing it for 10$ , what they do is they're copying IMEI of dead phone to this phone.
The question is how can I do that?
When you register your IMEI it seems like another phone but it works, I got dead Nexus 5, can I rip off that IMEI and use it in this device?
Thanks in advance.
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You can't. Every Rhone has his own IMEI.
Out of curiosity, where are you from. Cause, in Brazil, if I import a phone without paying taxes, that doesn't mean the phone won't work. That is strange.
Conixcit said:
...
and device just runs amazing, the thing is if you want to register the original IMEI of the device (those came from abroad) through paperwork it costs you a nice extra 250$ (sounds like joke right?)
So phone repairmens doing it for 10$ , what they do is they're copying IMEI of dead phone to this phone.
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Sorry, I don't understand what do you mean by 'registering' the phone and what for do you need that (and in which country)?
Cannot you just insert SIM card from your operator and use it?
For Xiaomi, Google, etc, the original IMEI will work just fine. And you may have problems with Xiaomi (warranty, OTA...) if you change IMEI
Also, if you have problems with your operator for VoLTE or something, changing IMEI will not help (it will not present the phone as e.g. fake Samsung Note or something) - the operator will still recognize the original Xiaomi model
And if you still need that (?), why don't you pay 10$, and let them change IMEI (if possible for K20/Mi 9T and they know how to do it)
sauliiin said:
You can't. Every Rhone has his own IMEI. ..
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When produced (!), the phones have unique IMEIs.
Actually, dual SIM phones have two IMEIs, one for each SIM slot
And that original IMEI is needed for warranty, it can help police to identify stolen phones (!!!), etc
However, it can happen that people accidentally wipe IMEI.
So they need to flash IMEI info back - and there are methods to do it.
In that case some don't even know their original IMEI, and they just flash IMEI from an old, unused phone (it could be another make and model) - it is only important that there are no two active phones on the mobile network with the same IMEI
You can put IMEI from an ancient Nokia or Ericsson phone to an e.g. Elephone smartphone (with MTK chipset - one can easily overwrite IMEI there, at least it was easily possible in the times of Android 5 and 6 there), you insert SIM card and you can use it on the mobile network with no problem
Tampering with IMEI is illegal in most countries so I would think it will do no good for this forum to discuss it here.
gerhard_wa said:
Tampering with IMEI is illegal in most countries so I would think it will do no good for this forum to discuss it here.
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Similarly like rooting and doing certain things on rooted phones
If you take time to search over XDA, you will find tons of posts mentioning that, guides and tools to do it (on devices where possible)
E.g. google for xda imei change (flash, repair, tool or similar) and you will see that guides and discussions about exist on XDA for 6 or 7 years
Pho e is stollen and police/provider has blocked IMEI, end of story. 1st see what's wrong with IMEI - why blocked, then there are options to do it if phone is legal
zgfg said:
Similarly like rooting and doing certain things on rooted phones
If you take time to search over XDA, you will find tons of posts mentioning that, guides and tools to do it (on devices where possible)
E.g. google for xda imei change (flash, repair, tool or similar) and you will see that guides and discussions about exist on XDA for 6 or 7 years
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Rooting is not illegal, I have no idea where you can get that from. Changing IMEI is what you do to make a stolen phone working. If it is for a legit reason you send it in for service.
gerhard_wa said:
Rooting is not illegal, I have no idea where you can get that from. Changing IMEI is what you do to make a stolen phone working. If it is for a legit reason you send it in for service.
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Rooting per se is not illegal, but once you root the phone, you can do things that are questionable from the legit point
Just like people who install TWRP and don't know what they are doing, and by mistake they wipe everything and then they have to flash IMEI (this is not an illegal case)
For the matter of fact, nobody really posted a solution here for Mi 9T (btw, I doubt it is possible) - and I'm quite curious about the originally mentioned reasons ("250$ to register the phone")
But if talking about cleaning things, then first all the complete guides (with tools), existing on XDA since 2012 (you can spot by shortly googling for) have to be removed (for e.g. One+, or generally for devices with MTK chipsets, where people edit IMEIs by using MTK Eng Tools - original tool from the MTK chip maker, with no need to root the phone or even to unlock Bootloader)
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Btw, there is one thing which is much more etically questionable (because stolen phones can be still used with their original IMEIs)
That are, discussions how to get around the Google account that was not removed from the phone by the previous owner
Just like for IMEIs, you can find similar questions and even instructions on XDA (links to on-line services doing it for few bucks for particular phones) how to remove an old Google account for which you don't know password, where are people start by naively declaring "they bought the phone over Internet, seller did not remove his Google account and now they cannot contact the seller anymore, but because of that they cannot do Factory reset or change Google account, etc...'' - which really smell to stories about the stollen phones -;(
But again, posts and threads about also do exist on XDA forum
If IMEI is blank, then yes - it was damaged and can be repaired with efs backup, so that's the only situation to restore IMEI legally, the rest (99%) are stolen
zgfg said:
Rooting per se is not illegal, but once you root the phone, you can do things that are questionable from the legit point
(…………………….)
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This is like saying that a car could be used for illegal stuff so it is bad to have a car. No one says that.
There are lots of perfectly legitimate stuff to do with a rooted phone.
Switching IMEI is more like putting false plates on the car.
Ok, now I see - read about it on government site - this is sick, you have to pay tax for phone that you own, so they could see who is the owner. Where is this world going?
Thread closed
The original question was answerd and explained that changing IMEI of the board(to save taxes for example) is illegal and not confirm with our FORUM RULES which gets us in trouble:
9. Don't get us into trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things which will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably shouldn't do it here either. This does not mean that we agree with everything that the software piracy lobby try to impose on us. It simply means that you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with the legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users and those that write great code.
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