Database Users

So I bought a Incredible off Craigslist... Verizon says lost or stolen

Grrr... do not know what to, came with box and everthing so I did not expect it to have a bad ESN. Is it worth paying someone to flash to Cricket then Re-Craigslist it for Cricket only. I rooted my exsisting Eris but have no way to test if settings I make for DIC to Cricket will work.
Any ideas or opinions? Besides flames for being an idiot.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App

GoghAndroid said:
Grrr... do not know what to, came with box and everthing so I did not expect it to have a bad ESN. Is it worth paying someone to flash to Cricket then Re-Craigslist it for Cricket only. I rooted my exsisting Eris but have no way to test if settings I make for DIC to Cricket will work.
Any ideas or opinions? Besides flames for being an idiot.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
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Can you return it to the idiot that sold it to you
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Trying to, he is on the otherside of town and of course will not email back. I about died when they said I couldn't activate.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App

That's why it's always good to meet right at VZW and have them check the ESN right on the spot....the dude probably stole it and sold it. He may also have called you from a payphone...Good luck getting a hold of him.

If it really is lost or stolen, I bet the actual owner would like to have it back. Won't VZW help with this? Any identifying data on the phone?

GoghAndroid said:
Grrr... do not know what to, came with box and everthing so I did not expect it to have a bad ESN. Is it worth paying someone to flash to Cricket then Re-Craigslist it for Cricket only. I rooted my exsisting Eris but have no way to test if settings I make for DIC to Cricket will work.
Any ideas or opinions? Besides flames for being an idiot.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
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Click to collapse
the police should be able to help you, as it is illegal to sell stolen goods. or wait six months for verizon to take it off the blacklist.

Find out who owns it and give it back, that would be the right thing to do. You can't use it anyway. Try to work something out with the owner.

cantare said:
If it really is lost or stolen, I bet the actual owner would like to have it back. Won't VZW help with this? Any identifying data on the phone?
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Once a ESN is blacklisted I though even VZW couldnt remove it? So even if they got the phone back it would be useless

My assumption is the phone was reported lost then replaced, found then sold.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App

for what it is worth, I was a VZW store manager for years until just a few weeks ago when I left for a new job.
they can track the ESN back to whoever owned it, they will be able to contact that person for you, and tell them that a person has thier phone and they can contact you if they wish, and they will give that person your number. they will not give you the person's number(legal reasons obviously).
OR
a more likely situation, the guy who sold it to you used what is called a lost, stolen, damaged upgrade. many store managers use it to get a customer a device they want(like the wanted a droidX). this automatically puts thier old device on the LSD list. if it is on there you can really be VERY nice and butter up the store manager and don't be a douche and yell at them...and they can call into CS and have it taken off the list sometimes.
anyways, good luck, sorry you got screwed.

the tree said:
for what it is worth, I was a VZW store manager for years until just a few weeks ago when I left for a new job.
they can track the ESN back to whoever owned it, they will be able to contact that person for you, and tell them that a person has thier phone and they can contact you if they wish, and they will give that person your number. they will not give you the person's number(legal reasons obviously).
OR
a more likely situation, the guy who sold it to you used what is called a lost, stolen, damaged upgrade. many store managers use it to get a customer a device they want(like the wanted a droidX). this automatically puts thier old device on the LSD list. if it is on there you can really be VERY nice and butter up the store manager and don't be a douche and yell at them...and they can call into CS and have it taken off the list sometimes.
anyways, good luck, sorry you got screwed.
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Guess I was wrong lol

The thing is that the guy already paid for it, so it just sucks...I would suggest:
-File a police report
-Try to get a hold of the guy and meet with him (or with police, so he tells truth)
-Make him refund the money and then try to give it back to the person or VZW (I am sure the original owner has a different phone now)
It is tough but just sad.

[Q] A Quick Question

Im not sure where to find the answer to this.
I work in a Verizon Wireless store and a young kid came in and asked me a few questions about his new Droid X. After answering them he says thanks and hands me a perfectly good Mytouch 4G and asks me if he can donate it. I do the right thing and tell him that it's worth some good money and he should put it on Ebay. He says he doesn't know how to do all that Ebay stuff, and that if i do, I can have the phone. I have tried looking up the IMEI on the stolen list and it says that it is not reported stolen. If I sell it on Ebay, and it turns out to be stolen, How can they find out, and what can I do to prevent this from blowing up in my face? any help would be greatly appreciated.

Call T-Mobile tell them a friend gave you a mytouch 4g and you are interested in activating it but do not know if it tied to somebodies account or possibly stolen. I have done it before. I also work for verizon. I have received an evo, nexus one, x10, and a few arias.
Sent from my X10i TripNMiUI using XDA Premium App

Sounds like a good plan, I'll try that in the AM. Thanks

Lol can't believe that, if I were a kid I'd craigslist it I know i was always starved for cash when I was not just givin' away $400 phones...kids these days

Sim card unlock?

Hey..have ne1 found a way to sim unlock the atrix 4g? Its locked for at&t..
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Contact at&t for a sim unlock code or you could just buy one on the internet.
Sent from my MB860 running Jokersax's CM9

giqbal said:
Contact at&t for a sim unlock code or you could just buy one on the internet.
Sent from my MB860 running Jokersax's CM9
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Yea I actually just unlocked an Atrix today. Called ATT customer support line and hit 0 a lot, got a guy on the phone and said I bought this phone, not in contract, out of exclusivity period and dont have an ATT account, can I get the code to unlock it so that I can use it where I want to...he took about 5 minutes and got me the code.
Phone is on a Tmobile network in my friend's hands right now.
I wouldn't pay some site online and give them your IMEI number. Just seems sketchy to me.

Yeah as people said just call AT&T why pay when they will do it for free, when my friend sent me my Atrix i had to call them from the UK To get it unlocked and it was pretty simple and painless

I did, i called at&t but he said he cant give the code and that i must let the person who bought the mobile ask the for the code..i bought this mobile from someone in Lebanon ..any hacking way to unlock it? I tried the unlocking sites they sent me code but none of them worked..can any call at&t for me plz and try to get me the code? I will be verry thankfull..thank u
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You got lucky that AT&T gave you the code without you being their customer.
I tried it in the past with Verizon and they basically told me to bug off.
The general rule is that they give out unlock codes only to their customers after a couple of months since phone release date.
No contract phones at full price already come unlocked, so that excuse rarely works.
Anyway, some people still get lucky and get the code, but the majority isn't. It all depends on generosity of the customer rep.
I unlocked all my phones through online services, and there is nothing shady in your imei being requested, since the unlock codes get generated based on imei. AT&T will ask for you're imei as well in order to get the phone unlocked.
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xploited said:
You got lucky that AT&T gave you the code without you being their customer. ...
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Agreed.
As to the OP's question of "is there a hack?", I assume that there is not. Those providing codes are likely paying insiders for some private key.
To the OP, why did the person you buy the phone from not get it unlocked? If he was an ATT customer who was in Lebanon it would have been a no-brainer to do such. And it would be free. I have had no issue at all unlocking my last 3 ATT phones (via ATT) so that I could travel internationally.
Think perhaps he might not be the rightfull owner?
I really do not like the entire "locked phone" concept, but given that it exists one should know how to avoid pitfalls. Do not buy locked phones from 3rd parties unless you know what you are doing.

Yea its th first time that i buy a locked fone..i loved the atrix thats why i bought it..neway thank i guyss..
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Got ripped off.. bought a blacklisted n4..

Need help.. what are my options?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Contact the seller and tell him to give you a refund. If you can't get in touch with him you're stuck.
I don't think there's anything else you can do besides that.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Bought from where? Cash or cc? Where do you live?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Maybe he got it from craigslist? Never buy anything from Craig's list. You were better off buying your nexus 4 from Google play.

abesgs2 said:
Need help.. what are my options?
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It all depends on how you bought it. If you paid cash, you might be out of luck. If you used a credit or debit card, then perhaps your provider offers some kind of refund policy. If it was PayPal, then you can likely get the refund.

Bummer...hope you used PayPal.

galaxys said:
Bummer...hope you used PayPal.
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Lol sorry guys i probably shouldve added more details..
Ok.. Heres the story... Transaction took place on Craigslist..
So I had a blue color galaxy S3 and didnt like the color, traded it for a new nexus 4.. Nexus 4 was fine, and I was really wanting a titanium S3.. Found the S3 and bought it.. Sold the nexus 4 to a guy for 310.. The nexus 4 was working great until yesterday.. Guy calls me up thinking i sold him a stolen phone.. As far as I knew it was a good phone, i check the imei and it says its been reported stolen, so i offer to give the guy back his money.. Now im stuck with a blacklisted N4.. Need help. Anywhere I can go to revive the phone? Or anywhere I can sell it to? What are my options? Is it possible to flash a ROM or do something when rooted to change the Imei..? At least make it useable because the guy i originally traded with decided to change his number and now im out $310.. whats the best thing to do? I cant go to the cops, they will tell me im associated with the theft, asked tmobile they want to fill out a bull**** report..
is there a way to flash a Rom or something to maybe hide the Imei or something? Use a different carrier? unlock it even though its unlocked?
Or should i get my mini screw drivers and start to disassemble it to sell for parts? Man i feel ****ty doing this.. I mean im so against stolen things and i just hate to deal with it ugh

abesgs2 said:
Lol sorry guys i probably shouldve added more details..
Ok.. Heres the story... Transaction took place on Craigslist..
So I had a blue color galaxy S3 and didnt like the color, traded it for a new nexus 4.. Nexus 4 was fine, and I was really wanting a titanium S3.. Found the S3 and bought it.. Sold the nexus 4 to a guy for 310.. The nexus 4 was working great until yesterday.. Guy calls me up thinking i sold him a stolen phone.. As far as I knew it was a good phone, i check the imei and it says its been reported stolen, so i offer to give the guy back his money.. Now im stuck with a blacklisted N4.. Need help. Anywhere I can go to revive the phone? Or anywhere I can sell it to? What are my options? Is it possible to flash a ROM or do something when rooted to change the Imei..? At least make it useable because the guy i originally traded with decided to change his number and now im out $310.. whats the best thing to do? I cant go to the cops, they will tell me im associated with the theft, asked tmobile they want to fill out a bull**** report..
is there a way to flash a Rom or something to maybe hide the Imei or something? Use a different carrier? unlock it even though its unlocked?
Or should i get my mini screw drivers and start to disassemble it to sell for parts? Man i feel ****ty doing this.. I mean im so against stolen things and i just hate to deal with it ugh
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That's unfortunate

Buy an N4 with broken screen for cheap and replace the mainboard. Installing other roms won't help you. Or replace the screen with your phones screen. Do wat is the easiest to replace.
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Unjustable said:
Buy an N4 with broken screen for cheap and replace the mainboard. Installing other roms won't help you. Or replace the screen with your phones screen. Do wat is the easiest to replace.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Cool, ive pulled apart phones before so im familiar.. So I can replace the motherboard with a good one and should be good? Ill give that a go
thanks cowboy

Jsparta26 said:
Maybe he got it from craigslist? Never buy anything from Craig's list. You were better off buying your nexus 4 from Google play.
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You can buy stuff off of CL, but you have to be smart. I've bought dozens of phones off CL (and sold) and was only burned once. I bought an Atrix 4G with a wonky touch screen. Actually, I bought an EVO 4G with a wonky touch screen too but that was just my fault, I showed up to meet the guy a little intoxicated lol. Anyway, when I bought my Nexus 4 (new) I had the guy bring the receipt from Google Play and give it to me. I also asked a lot of questions....
abesgs2 said:
Lol sorry guys i probably shouldve added more details..
Ok.. Heres the story... Transaction took place on Craigslist..
So I had a blue color galaxy S3 and didnt like the color, traded it for a new nexus 4.. Nexus 4 was fine, and I was really wanting a titanium S3.. Found the S3 and bought it.. Sold the nexus 4 to a guy for 310.. The nexus 4 was working great until yesterday.. Guy calls me up thinking i sold him a stolen phone.. As far as I knew it was a good phone, i check the imei and it says its been reported stolen, so i offer to give the guy back his money.. Now im stuck with a blacklisted N4.. Need help. Anywhere I can go to revive the phone? Or anywhere I can sell it to? What are my options? Is it possible to flash a ROM or do something when rooted to change the Imei..? At least make it useable because the guy i originally traded with decided to change his number and now im out $310.. whats the best thing to do? I cant go to the cops, they will tell me im associated with the theft, asked tmobile they want to fill out a bull**** report..
is there a way to flash a Rom or something to maybe hide the Imei or something? Use a different carrier? unlock it even though its unlocked?
Or should i get my mini screw drivers and start to disassemble it to sell for parts? Man i feel ****ty doing this.. I mean im so against stolen things and i just hate to deal with it ugh
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Click to collapse
At least you have good karma for giving the guy his money back....

If it doesn't work u replace the screen and u should have a working phone too.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Sorry to hear OP, I bought my N4 off CL and lucked out thankfully.

abesgs2 said:
I cant go to the cops, they will tell me im associated with the theft, asked tmobile they want to fill out a bull**** report..
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Those are both rather silly remarks.
You're a victim, why would the police be anything but sympathetic to you? And it's not a bs report, it's a report detailing the crime. Maybe they can track the original scammer down with that report. Maybe your insurance co will reimburse you with that report. Don't lose whatever small chance you have by being too lazy to fill out some paperwork.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

You sure the dude just didn't "buy" the nexus 4 and then give you back a non working Nexus 4 and you give him his money back. Did the nexus you get back match up with the one you gave to him. Like serials and stuff
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

If this helps... I'm from Belgium and I bought my phone off someone from England.
Got a pretty good deal too (as it was new)
The catch was that it was blacklisted too...he sent me the reportcard and apparantly that stated that it was only blocked by 2 providers. None of which I am using.
So maybe switching providers could work OR since Belgium has no (or nearly no) providers linked to the phones as they don't come in deals the phone just works, blacklisted or not. So try selling it abroad and buy buy yourself a new one.
I doubt that you can unblock it.

Is it blacklisted by T-mobile or Google? If it is blacklisted by T-mobile it should work on AT&T and it will definitely work overseas.

lowandbehold said:
Is it blacklisted by T-mobile or Google? If it is blacklisted by T-mobile it should work on AT&T and it will definitely work overseas.
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No it won't as all the major US carriers started reporting to a national blacklist database as of October of 2012.

kzoodroid said:
No it won't as all the major US carriers started reporting to a national blacklist database as of October of 2012.
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The database is launched, but the carriers are not sharing IMEI's yet. Bad ESN Verizon phones work on other carriers and blocked T-mobile or AT&T phones will still work on the others network. The thing is, not only does the IMEI have to be entered into the database, but the carrier manually has to apply that to their own database to effectively block it from their network.
And, a blacklisted phone will most definitely work overseas.

abesgs2 said:
... i feel ****ty doing this.. I mean im so against stolen things and i just hate to deal with it ugh
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do the report... you may be able to have the phone you traded blacklisted after all the person you dealt with is the one that has committed a crime not you
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Can at&t verify if a phone has been reported lost or stolen?

Tomorrow im meeting up with a person to trade a iphone 5 for their Galaxy s4. We are meeting up at a at&t store and I wanted to ask you guys a question. Can a at&t rep at the store tell if the phone was reported lost or stolen? If it wasn't, is it possible for the person to report it stolen afterwards? What can I do to protect myself from this happening? Thanks in advance.

ahfu25 said:
Tomorrow im meeting up with a person to trade a iphone 5 for their Galaxy s4. We are meeting up at a at&t store and I wanted to ask you guys a question. Can a at&t rep at the store tell if the phone was reported lost or stolen? If it wasn't, is it possible for the person to report it stolen afterwards? What can I do to protect myself from this happening? Thanks in advance.
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Click to collapse
This has been a hot topic lately. There are a few threads about this, blacklisting a phone.
They can verify it isn't stolen at that moment, yes. But, they will not transfer ownership or notate the account. The person that bought the phone can report it stolen the next day, week, or even later than that.
You can't really do anything to protect yourself from this. AT&T also shares that list with T-Mo so the phone is blocked from both networks. Only the original owner can lift the ban.
Unfortunately this has made buying and selling a phone second hand a lot harder.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

quarlow said:
This has been a hot topic lately. There are a few threads about this, blacklisting a phone.
They can verify it isn't stolen at that moment, yes. But, they will not transfer ownership or notate the account. The person that bought the phone can report it stolen the next day, week, or even later than that.
You can't really do anything to protect yourself from this. AT&T also shares that list with T-Mo so the phone is blocked from both networks. Only the original owner can lift the ban.
Unfortunately this has made buying and selling a phone second hand a lot harder.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337
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Thank you. Hopefully all goes well. Im going to do it only because he's giving me the receipt and offered to give his home address so I could meet him there. Wish me luck..lol

Verify (with drivers license) names on at&t accounts and that the s4 is actually on the account with a manager. Do this in addition to the written receipt

xBeerdroiDx said:
Verify (with drivers license) names on at&t accounts and that the s4 is actually on the account with a manager. Do this in addition to the written receipt
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good answer boss, we have seen to many of these. And he also needs to be careful.

TheAxman said:
good answer boss, we have seen to many of these. And he also needs to be careful.
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I wish Att would do something to help protect people from this new scam. I bought a s4 off swappa for a great price and I had the same concern. I took the chance since I pay for it with paypal and the guy had good feedback and he had other phones for sale. At least this way I have documentation that I bought it.
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Do the transaction at an att store. It will be documented in there system eliminating the ability for them to falsely report it lost or stolen
BEAST......... that is all

Just got back from doing the trade. Seemed like an honest guy, he gave me the receipt and had no problem showing me his license and waiting out the process at the at&t store. Phone was never activated on his account, he paid full price for it. Even swap and all is well. I was still nervous so I took a pic of his license and even his license plate just in case but I dont see any problems going foward.

When I got my S4, the att rep noted the other persons account.
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