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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.
Hello I have a HTC G2 and i lost it a few days ago so i reported it to tmobile and they sent me a new one
Now after receiving the new one My friend cleaning out his car found the phone and called me letting me know
My question is can i use this phone still even though i have a new one
is there a way to mod the phone so that TM will not know its the one i reported lost.
Please let me know as i will like to give this to my daughter thanks.
I'm guessing they would have the ESN/IMEI of the phone marked as bad so it cannot be used or activated anymore by a thief if it was stolen. There may be a way to get it work, but it would probably be illegal =/
what will be the procedure as if its a sim card how would they now what phone it is
Well, the most honest thing to do would be to call TMobile and ask which one they want back.
A less honest thing to do would be to call 611 from the old phone, which will probably work, say you found this phone and would like to know where to send it. At least you get to keep the newer phone.
Or, you could keep both and see if the old one is usable using a different SIM. But what kind of example does that set for your daughter?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
Well I understand sending the phone back will be good but as i spent 150 dollars to get the replacement. I was told it will not be refunded so whats the point of sending it back.
I figure since i have a few tm phones and at times i switch phones it will not be a problem.
Well if putting custom software will that hide the phone as they say rooting the phone is not exceptable and you can void your warrenty. And when putting custom roms they never now also apps that are downloaded.
storres6981 said:
what will be the procedure as if its a sim card how would they now what phone it is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ESN/IMEI are hard coded in a very deep level of the phone software somehow I think, so it doesn't matter what SIM you have in it; the network knows its being used. I'm sure there are [illegal] ways to change the ESN
For example if you look at phone people sell on Ebay, they are always labeled as "Clean ESN" or "Bad ESN". The bad ones are phones reported as stolen, etc and won't be able to be activated no matter what.
c00ller said:
The ESN/IMEI are hard coded in a very deep level of the phone software somehow I think, so it doesn't matter what SIM you have in it; the network knows its being used. I'm sure there are [illegal] ways to change the ESN
For example if you look at phone people sell on Ebay, they are always labeled as "Clean ESN" or "Bad ESN". The bad ones are phones reported as stolen, etc and won't be able to be activated no matter what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is correct. If you've reported the phone lost/stolen, or the phone is associated to a delinquent or unpaid account, the provider (T-mo) will mark the phone as such, and the phone will not work with any other SIM card. So its only worth what it could be sold for for parts...
You spoke of rooting the phone, this won't clear the ESN, and this really isn't something we talk about at XDA (or most other reputable forums, for that matter) because it is highly illegal/frowned upon/etc.. Really no need for this thread to go in that direction...
Now the right thing to do would to call T-mo and ask which one they wanted back... maybe you can work something out with them even though they cant do a full refund. It would also mean that your account wouldnt be docked the cost or mark of having been given a phone under warranty, because most plans only allow a certain number of claims per time period.
Not true...you could change the esn and imei on blackberry. I did it because I was in the same situation. I just wanted to give mine to my bro. I'm sure if you could on blackberry you can with android. Android is more open I would think
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
popimp315 said:
Not true...you could change the esn and imei on blackberry. I did it because I was in the same situation. I just wanted to give mine to my bro. I'm sure if you could on blackberry you can with android. Android is more open I would think
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never said you can't, just said its something we don't talk about here.
It should still work on networks outside of the USA (or which ever country it is you're in). So I suppose you can unlock and debrand it and sell it to someone abroad.
Have you tried putting your replacement sim on the old phone? You really should call tmobile to see what can be done.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
It will work just fine. I did the same thing and I asked the lady that worked for the phone's insurance before I ordered my replacement what would happen if I found it and she said you have 7 days to send back the replacement for a refund. She said if I find it after the 7 days it would work and be 100% usable but I wouldn't be able to send in the replacement for the refund... it is currently being used with no issues right now actually.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Hi guys,
New to the forum having just spent a few pound coins on a streak, its locked to o2 at the minute but i want to use it on orange, i have searched online and found numerous places that will unlock it for £20+, just wondered has anyone got a tried and tested method from anywhere with a link if possible?
Looking forward to testing this out as to be honest never knew they existed until i was looking for a cheaper alternative to the SGN which is too expensive for me at the moment, i have seen all the custom rom stuff but not sure i am confident enough to do something like that, but all advice is welcome.
So anyway hello to all
Regards
Steve
Hi there,
Like yourself, my Streak is locked to o2. People around here said they have got their Streak's unlocked for free by emailing certain companies, even Dell themselves. This has not worked for me, even trying to sugar talk O2 hasn't worked!
R.e custom roms, it took me a while to try and comprehend things and sometimes, despite all the amazing work that people do on here, its not the most inexperienced friendly place. But eventually I got there, plucked up the courage to fiddle around and I haven't looked back since.
When things like "getting used to using fastboot" are said, it really is that. the more you try things the easier they get.
SuperKeeper said:
Hi there,
Like yourself, my Streak is locked to o2. People around here said they have got their Streak's unlocked for free by emailing certain companies, even Dell themselves. This has not worked for me, even trying to sugar talk O2 hasn't worked!
R.e custom roms, it took me a while to try and comprehend things and sometimes, despite all the amazing work that people do on here, its not the most inexperienced friendly place. But eventually I got there, plucked up the courage to fiddle around and I haven't looked back since.
When things like "getting used to using fastboot" are said, it really is that. the more you try things the easier they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm totally scared of "bricking" my phone, i have asked o2 and they are sending me a sim card that i have to put £15 credit on and the make a call or send a text so it registers with them, then go on there website and fill out the unlock form, apparently it can take up to 7 days but then its officially unlocked.........so they reckon!!!!
Well to unlock you need a code, so not sure how a new sim would unlock it. Am I missing something?
That's because they need the phone to register on their network at least once, because as per their policy they only unlock phones that are active on their network. However, a lot of us did get our phones unlocked without being on their network! Heck, I'm not even in the UK! I sent multiple emails to [email protected] and after nearly two months of emails back and forth, I got lucky and got a guy who finally gave me the unlock code. I remember a lot of us getting the codes around the same time. I would assume it would be easier for them to give you the codes now, but there's only one way to find out, I guess! Email them the IMEI number. If they refuse to unlock it, wait a couple of days and send an email again!
Edrill said:
That's because they need the phone to register on their network at least once, because as per their policy they only unlock phones that are active on their network. However, a lot of us did get our phones unlocked without being on their network! Heck, I'm not even in the UK! I sent multiple emails to [email protected] and after nearly two months of emails back and forth, I got lucky and got a guy who finally gave me the unlock code. I remember a lot of us getting the codes around the same time. I would assume it would be easier for them to give you the codes now, but there's only one way to find out, I guess! Email them the IMEI number. If they refuse to unlock it, wait a couple of days and send an email again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O2 seem to have this fixation about not unlocking phones, well as i said to the customer services bloke i can understand a brand new phone not being unlocked, but why a phone thats not exactly brand new? Anyway as i had been through the whole online chat with an o2 guru who told me order a sim top it up to the tune of £15 and then fill out the unlock form, hey presto unlock code in 7 days, then i had an email to say they wouldn't unlock the phone as it wasn't registered on the network.....jeus i said i topped up £20 notes made a few calls sent a few texts and it still wasn't registered? Well then the customer service bloke had the cheek to tell me that i spoke to the o2 guru after i had topped up so it was my fault that i had basically spent £20 on a top up for no reason.....but ahhhh i had the chat transcript sent to me via email so i had proof this guy told me the procedure before i bought the top up, so then it all changed ohh well ok let me speak to me line manager he said, so 5 minutes later he comes back and says as a gesture of goodwill they will send me the unlock code like they are doing me a favour but still charging for lol, anyway suffice to say, i am waiting for the unlock code which they say will be here within 7 days, so guys if you want your streak unlocked from o2 persist with the harassment, just make sure you get the transcripts sent to your email as o2 are obviously a little economical with the truth!!!
i got a streak that had a cracked screen from a fellow member here...
after replacing the screen, and inserting my sim, i realize it's locked...
he said it's at&t...
i tried contacting a couple of people on ebay with the imei, and service tag too, but they returned my payment stating code not found...
the imei is clear, no issues.. is there another way to verify what network is it locked to?
i'm in india, so no way to check/verify t-mobile, at&t blah blah...
also, would spending 29$ be my only way of unlocking it?
thanks
:good:
i contacted [email protected] and this was the reply ii got...
Dear Customer,
The below device is a retail piece. Please contact carrier with proof of payment in order to procure the code also do let the carriers know that the below device is a retail piece.
Please visit the link to get the contact details of the Carrier:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?docid=269106
Tmobile : Contact
http://www.t-mobile.com/Contact.aspx
http://locator.t-mobile.com/
Regards
Mobility Unlock code Team
Ahmed
anyone here on at&t who could obtain the same for me?
i'd be willing to add like 10$ for the person....
Out of the blue (I did nothing to the phone) I lost my network connection - no calls, no internet.
My phone is unlocked. I've been using it for months without problem.
The phone is originally from Videotron but I unlocked it and been using it with Bell for months.
Now the weirdest thing: If I put my simcard in other people's phones, it works. If I put other people's simcards in my phone, they also work, but only as long as they're not from Bell. Somehow, Bell simcards don't work on my phone anymore, for no apparent reason.
I went twice to the Bell store, bought a new simcard and no progress. I get the message: Unregistered SIM.
I've never heard this happening to anyone before.
..
That's the thing. I bought the phone a few months ago from someone. But he gave me receipts and everything. He had the phone on videotron. Of course my first thought was that something fishy is going on and that it got blocked. So I asked Bell to check the imei and they said it was clean. Also if it was blacklisted on Bell, it would be across all providers in US/Canada and other people's simcards wouldn't work.
Bell said there's not much they can do. They said that since I didn't buy the unlock code from the original manufacturer (Videotron), it's like I hacked the phone (isn't it the same unlock code though?) so they said that can cause glitches.
I honestly have no idea if that's the case but I have no other explanations, so maybe they are right.
However I had so many phones in the past and unlocked them on the internet and NEVER had a problem. What's also pretty weird is that the phone worked for like 3 months without any issues. And yesterday when it stopped working, I was sleeping, I didn't flash any roms or update the software (it was already the latest version) so I have no clue what could have triggered all this.
Today I tried rooting/unrooting the phone, installing different roms and then going back to the latest version of the stock rom and nothing helped.
..
I'm not sure if you misread what I wrote but the phone is clean. It's not blacklisted etc.
Sometimes it can take ages for the list to be updated (blocked imei numbers)
but if it just happen like u say then its been blocked or network blocked
have a look here or other sites
http://www.imei.info/
..
Wow guys you were right....
The phone is now on Canadian national blacklist and it doesn't work with any other simcard anymore. I guess it took some time for it to go through the system.
I can't believe I got scammed. I was super careful. I verified everything before buying. The transaction was obviously in cash. But it took place in his own apartment and I had a friend with me.
When I bought the phone, I took his entire bill in PDF format. This includes his address, his account number, his full name, all of the numbers who he messaged or called. I went twice to his apartment today but he wasn't there. I talked to the neighbors and gained a lot of info on this guy. Printed his picture from Facebook as well.
I called his company, Videotron, to report his fraud, but they didn't seem interested. They said I can either contact this guy or go to police. I insisted on talking to their security or legal department and they said they're closed today (Sunday). I will call them again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he reported it stolen and then claimed insurance to get a replacement for $150.
This stuff should get him in big trouble, right?
I found a similar story in the news and it happened in the suburb of the my city, Montreal.
http://westislandgazette.com/news/s...-down-kijiji-scammer-to-his-west-island-home/
I hope I have a chance to get my money back or my phone unblocked.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
He's not going to get in trouble, and your going to be out of money. Tough lesson to learn.
..
How do I sue this guy? I've been at his place 3 times yesterday and for a few hours today since 7 a.m. Still waiting. He won't answer his door. How will he be served with a court notice if he's hiding from people? I will spend the time that's needed to bring him to justice. Not even a matter of money for me.
Got the phone unblocked! Have an appointment with a court clert to go over my lawsuit on Wednesday. Did lots of digging. The guy got all of his lines and services blocked. 20 people with blocked phones are looking for him. I have a suspicion he's involved with credit card fraud.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using XDA Free mobile app
olegplanets said:
Got the phone unblocked! Have an appointment with a court clert to go over my lawsuit on Wednesday. Did lots of digging. The guy got all of his lines and services blocked. 20 people with blocked phones are looking for him. I have a suspicion he's involved with credit card fraud.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like a lie to me.
I wanted to give an update to people who tried to help me before the situation is fully resolved and I can release all the details. If you're gonna imply that I'm lying it's better to delete this whole thread altogether.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using XDA Free mobile app
I don't know if anyone cares at this point but it was a big ordeal for me so I feel like it needs to come to it's conclusion. The phone is permanently unblocked because I was able to provide the phone company with the receipt of the purchase from the individual. I got a mail today and my court date is set for March 24. I sued him for $999
Hello, this device around 260$ 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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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