Database Users

Stolen Phone...How one can determine?

I sold my Vibrant to my brother living overseas and since I cannot live without my phone, I immediately started eyeing the ones on Craigslist. This one guy was selling a Vibrant, in the original box, with the original charger, a car charger, couple screen protectors, a rubber case and a Motorola bluetooth ear piece, all for $150. The phone looks brand new except a tiny little scratch at the top. After messaging back and forth all day, I decided to drive to his house, which looked like an abandoned place. His room was in the attic where there was no furniture - just a laptop on a coffee stand. I asked if he ever rooted or put custom ROM and he looked at me like I was from outer space. The phone still had Eclair! So I went ahead and got the phone. Now, it's been 20 hours and it's been working great. I already put Trigger's ROM and everything works as expected.
Can this phone be stolen and should I expect local Police of FBI at my door when I go home tonight? Anyway to know if the IMEI is reported as stolen/lost?
Please advise.

Well, I'd say the likelihood of it being stolen from someone is lower based on the fact that he has the original box. I guess if you're the paranoid type you could match the IMEI on the box with your phone.

I wouldnt worry nout it. Its yours now.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

chui101 said:
Well, I'd say the likelihood of it being stolen from someone is lower based on the fact that he has the original box. I guess if you're the paranoid type you could match the IMEI on the box with your phone.
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OMG! The IMEI's do not match. I'm serious. Does it mean it's stolen?? I am pissed now. Stupid me, why didn't I check it while I was there!?!

If someone is selling something that far below market value you can be pretty sure they are not on the up and up. I would have passed on the deal.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

It doesn't matter, you didn't steal it.

No, but he may have purchased stolen merchandise.
Not good if it is stolen. Cell provider may find out and get the PD involved. Good thing you know where he lives.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

if the "original phone owner if there is any" finds that u have his or her stolen phone and finds you and if you paid the dude who sold u the phone in check then you will be find but if you gave him cash then you might might get in little trouble... this is the worst case senerio

s44suman said:
if the "original phone owner if there is any" finds that u have his or her stolen phone and finds you and if you paid the dude who sold u the phone in check then you will be find but if you gave him cash then you might might get in little trouble... this is the worst case senerio
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Why do you think I'd get in trouble for paying in cash? The dude's ad is still on CL with his cell phone #. I know his address since I drove there. Can I report to local police before I get in trouble?

OMG you wont get in trouble!

OMG...yes there is a law for it..its called receiving stolen property...regardless if you knew the property was stolen or not.

Don't worry about it. You got an awesome deal.
No one is coming for you.
I got my phone stolen, asked t mobile if anything can be done by getting the IMEI, but they said nothing can be done.

Dude, you are flipping out over a mere suspition. There is nothing of evidence to support the stolen phone theory.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

FBI, CIA, CBP, NCIS,ATF and US Marshalls have been notified as well as interpol. You are in deep my friend, confess now and you can get a reduced sentence.....
im messing with ya, you could get in trouble but not that bad. If you are afraid it may be stolen then contact p.d. Not sure what good it would do since the dudes house was probably an abandoned house he found to make the deal. So more than likely the cops will take the phone as evidence and you will be out what you paid. The guy made some cash dumped the phone he used to communicate with you and on to next guy.
Sorry
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Stop being scared b4 i really get the cops on u lol
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

Dude u didn't know it was stolen you are not gunna go to jail. If your on tmo they wont care dont believe me lose ur phone but record your imei tell them to track it they say they won't do that. Just be more careful next time
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

You know, if I sold you my vibrant, the imei on the box wouldn't match either. I've had three replacements.
Maybe you should stop freaking out and start enjoying your good deal. Is it likely someone stole a box, cases and accessories? Not very.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

^ Same here, i've had plenty of replacements and have different IMEI as well.
Don't freak out, you bought it, and the chance of the original owner coming to your house is as much as a lightning striking you, then turning right and blowing your phone up.
Just enjoy the phone ;D

Not necessarily stolen especially if he had those accessories with him. Next time you buy anything meet in a public place though. Coming over to a possibly abandoned house is a good way to get robbed.

Lmao the most that can happen is it being confiscated,given the acc. it came with and the story

Looking for advice on possible scam.

So I just sold my girlfriends fascinate on ebay. I shipped a few days ago and just got this message from the buyer.
Thanks for the fast shipping. damn it sucks to say, but i went to have the phone activated at the verizon store. they not only said it can't be activated because its on the reported stolen list, but they confiscated it. i didnt know it couldnt be used, it should of never been listed. anyways, if you didnt know this either, no hard feelings. i wont contact ebay or paypal if you refund my payment right away so i can buy another one.
I have a good feeling that this a POS trying to scam me. I'm looking for some advice on how to respond to this issue. By the way the phone is not stolen in any way shape or form. I know this is kind of off topic but I figured this would be a good place to receive some advice.

Uh yea. I'd say it's a scam
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

ajd88 said:
So I just sold my girlfriends fascinate on ebay. I shipped a few days ago and just got this message from the buyer.
Thanks for the fast shipping. damn it sucks to say, but i went to have the phone activated at the verizon store. they not only said it can't be activated because its on the reported stolen list, but they confiscated it. i didnt know it couldnt be used, it should of never been listed. anyways, if you didnt know this either, no hard feelings. i wont contact ebay or paypal if you refund my payment right away so i can buy another one.
I have a good feeling that this a POS trying to scam me. I'm looking for some advice on how to respond to this issue. By the way the phone is not stolen in any way shape or form. I know this is kind of off topic but I figured this would be a good place to receive some advice.
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Did he verify the ESN prior to buying the phone? If not, its his fault and there is nothing he can do. Explain the situation to ebay and open a dispute.

He did not verify esn. I just thought it was strange that he would be trying to pull this when he has a 98.6% positive feedback rating with over 2000 transactions.

It will be easier if you have the device ID. Contact Verizon and get paper work from them showing the device has a clean ESN. This will only work if you are either still under contract or left verizon when your contract was finished. If you got out of the contract via the fee changes the esn will be bad.
Assuming the Esn is clean once you have the paperwork that says its clean you just tell the buyer that you have evidence of a clean ESN and that you will fight any dispute. PayPal and EBay see these shady people alot and know what to look for.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

Yeah man I wouldn't trust this.
Sent from my I500 using XDA Premium App

For sure contact Verizon if you can and verify your ESN is good. I have a feeling that this is indeed a scam.
Moderated from my HTC G2.

Think k40 has a point. On what terms did you leave verizon, or at least deactivate the phone?
XDA Prem app Running UKB w PBJ

MattRussNC said:
Think k40 has a point. On what terms did you leave verizon, or at least deactivate the phone?
XDA Prem app Running UKB w PBJ
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She used an upgrade. I should be able to get all the right info still. I sent the guy a few messages. I'm just waiting on a response before I call Verizon.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

ajd88 said:
She used an upgrade. I should be able to get all the right info still. I sent the guy a few messages. I'm just waiting on a response before I call Verizon.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App
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The only way he is Intitled to a refund is if he pays shipping and returns it to you
Even if he files a complaint he will have to show proof that he sent it back
So I would not worry to much about it
If he does send one back make Damn sure it is yours and has your esn
eBay has policies in place to protect you and the never do anything out of eBay
And you may be wise to report it to them right away and let them know what is going on This Kind of Deal is a No No you were asked outside of eBay

Sounds like a scam to me. Good luck.

I was just talking to a buddy of mine that works at verizon and he told me they would only inform you if its on the lost or stolen list, they will not confiscate it sounds like a big scam
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App

Does smell like a scam close to the sme thing happend to me with a video card

Seen plenty of phones come in with bad esn's. Not once did we or were we authorized to take possesion of the device
Sent from my I500 using XDA Premium App

Also, everyone be careful even letting a potential customer check the esn. When I was trying to sell my blackberry many scammers tried to get at mine. Don't give it to them! They can do a fake activation put insurance on it and claim it lost/stolen.. at that point your esn goes bad and they receive a phone from insurion in the mail.. One scammer even tried to get me to take a photo of the back of the phone with the battery out (where the esn is written) under the pretense he was looking to see if it worked on gsm.. Duh its a world phone... Good luck man. From my experience selling on ebay is nothing but headache.
Sent from my frozen yogurt filled fascinate

Make sure you move your money out from paypal and un-link any connected bank accounts. The guy will just call his CC company and dispute the charge. Paypal will take your money and you'll be SOL no matter how much evidence your have. Paypal's "protection" is **** and they'll screw you over in a heartbeat.

Smeed said:
Make sure you move your money out from paypal and un-link any connected bank accounts. The guy will just call his CC company and dispute the charge. Paypal will take your money and you'll be SOL no matter how much evidence your have. Paypal's "protection" is **** and they'll screw you over in a heartbeat.
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+ 1
Sent from my frozen yogurt filled fascinate

That's a scam, no doubt about it. Don't let the feedback rating fool you, because it could be a legitimate account that got compromised. The only way they could win a dispute with eBay is if they can provide proof that the ESN was bad. If you know the ESN was good, then there's no way they could possibly provide that proof.
Sent from XDA Premium on my Super Clean Fascinate

neh4pres said:
They can do a fake activation put insurance on it and claim it lost/stolen.. at that point your esn goes bad and they receive a phone from insurion in the mail..
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Im not so sure about that, I just tryed to have them put insurance on a fascinate I bought used and they said you can only put it on if you bought it from them.

Definite scam. As stated before, they won't confiscate the device. It's not their right to.
Unlike with media, you actually own a phone, rather than license it (which is why software, music, and videos can actually be confiscated). For them to take the phone from the buyer would be theft.
Call Verizon, have them pull the ESN from the old phone for you and have them verify that it is good. You should also be able to have them verify if it's been activated or not.
The way the systems work these days, I'm surprised someone would actually try and pull a scam like this one. It's way too easy to verify that they're full of it.

Repair Shop that stole my phone

Hi everyone,
I'd like to share a word of caution so hopefully you don't have to go through what I have.
About a month and a half ago my phone was having touchscreen issues so I was looking around and happened upon repair shop in Orlando, FL that was selling screen repairs on ebay for $80. They had good positive feedback from other people who had sent their phone to them so I decided to do it.
Long story short, for an entire month they had my phone and kept making excuses on why my phone wasn't fixed yet and informed me that the digitizer was not the problem but a cable between the digitizer and the motherboard was, but they had already fixed it and needed $30 more bucks and were going to drop it in the mail as soon as they got the money for the extra part, they had got a shipping code and everything.
Given the choice, I would've told them to send it back without fixing it but they already had, and since I had been a month without my phone I just said fine and I paid them again. And that's when they ceased all communication with me. I opened a case with eBay and after a week they decided I deserved a refund of my $80, however there was nothing they could do but politely ask the ebayer to return my phone.
So, as a warning, do not deal with this ebayer
and if you're living in Orlando, don't take your phone here:
Orlando Cell Phone Repair
6521 E.Colonial Dr
Orlando Fl 32807
their email: [email protected]
phone number: 407-455-8133
Also if you want to sign any of the above addresses up for your favorite spam site, that would be fine with me

thewarhawk said:
Hi everyone,
I'd like to share a word of caution so hopefully you don't have to go through what I have.
About a month and a half ago my phone was having touchscreen issues so I was looking around and happened upon repair shop in Orlando, FL that was selling screen repairs on ebay for $80. They had good positive feedback from other people who had sent their phone to them so I decided to do it.
Long story short, for an entire month they had my phone and kept making excuses on why my phone wasn't fixed yet and informed me that the digitizer was not the problem but a cable between the digitizer and the motherboard was, but they had already fixed it and needed $30 more bucks and were going to drop it in the mail as soon as they got the money for the extra part, they had got a shipping code and everything.
Given the choice, I would've told them to send it back without fixing it but they already had, and since I had been a month without my phone I just said fine and I paid them again. And that's when they ceased all communication with me. I opened a case with eBay and after a week they decided I deserved a refund of my $80, however there was nothing they could do but politely ask the ebayer to return my phone.
So, as a warning, do not deal with this ebayer
and if you're living in Orlando, don't take your phone here:
Orlando Cell Phone Repair
6521 E.Colonial Dr
Orlando Fl 32807
their email: [email protected]
phone number: 407-455-8133
Also if you want to sign any of the above addresses up for your favorite spam site, that would be fine with me
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this may help a lot of people !!
i feel sorry for your loss !!

I was born and raised in Orlando and live in Tampa now. I'm not back often, but next time I'm in town I'll try to stop by and raise hell with them.

Any news on getting your phone back?
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

borgib said:
I was born and raised in Orlando and live in Tampa now. I'm not back often, but next time I'm in town I'll try to stop by and raise hell with them.
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Thanks alot, I appreciate that
msd24200 said:
Any news on getting your phone back?
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Nope, as always they're not replying to any emails and not answering my calls

Don't suppose you know your IMEI number, or S/N of the phone? I wouldn't be surprised if it wound up on EBAY for sale again.

Frrrrrrunkis said:
Don't suppose you know your IMEI number, or S/N of the phone? I wouldn't be surprised if it wound up on EBAY for sale again.
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unfortunately not I forgot to write them down before I sent it off..and yeah I've been keeping an eye out for it, but I'm sure they would be smart enough to do it through a different account..

have you tried notifying the carrier you use? sometimes they save the imei of the device you use when you make a purchase or even just trading sim card, although few do it that way.

el_venga said:
have you tried notifying the carrier you use? sometimes they save the imei of the device you use when you make a purchase or even just trading sim card, although few do it that way.
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Thanks, I'll try contacting them to see if they have it on record, I did buy it from them

thewarhawk said:
Thanks, I'll try contacting them to see if they have it on record, I did buy it from them
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Treat the situation as a stolen phone. Contact your carrier and tell them it was stolen.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA

ar31791 said:
Treat the situation as a stolen phone. Contact your carrier and tell them it was stolen.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA
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I would definitely do the same thing as well. Theft has all forms so if you are prepared to do some work then you should even call the police on them.
Have you read their Terms and Conditions? Is there anything that you can go to the police with? Do you have a record of your shipment to them?
I was very sorry to hear about you experience.

It's difficult when this 'shop' had good reviews on Ebay. That typically says it's okay to send something to them as you're going to get it returned, but what I read is ridiculous. Since I haven't seen anyone else recommend it, why not A) report the phone as stolen and B) report your stolen phone to the police.
Granted it's just a phone, but even then it's property and it sounds like this repair place is in the same area you're in, though I could be wrong.
I hope you get your phone back. Sorry to hear it even happened. :-(
-Dave

Well now that we have the phone number we should all call and tell them to return this guys phone.

dratsablive said:
Well now that we have the phone number we should all call and tell them to return this guys phone.
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Don't know the shop and don't know the guy posting this problem. We should trust what the OP says because? Just saying! Nobody should go calling anyone. If what the OP says is in fact true, then there is legal recourse if he has proof someone has his phone.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

ar31791 said:
Treat the situation as a stolen phone. Contact your carrier and tell them it was stolen.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA
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Just called my carrier and they said they can't really do anything except suspend my service, but since I took my sim out before I sent the phone, I don't need that. They didn't have record of my atrix's IMEI number, so no luck there.
Anyways, I'm saving up money to get another atrix(because I just love this phone) so I'll be getting another one soon..
Thanks everyone for your support, I just started this thread to warn anyone else against dealing with these people, so don't worry too much about calling them up, like Caelan says, you don't really know me, and it probably won't help too much either way.
Thanks again

I don't suppose you have the box of the phone saved somewhere do you?
both IMEI and SN numbers are on there.

Tratious said:
I don't suppose you have the box of the phone saved somewhere do you?
both IMEI and SN numbers are on there.
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Thanks for the suggestion, but those are long gone

Should have installed avast and enabled the anti theft option.
at this point you could have totally locked the phone down and even if he factory reset somehow it wouldnt matter

Just always remember karma is a really you know what and what goes around comes around

Gumtree Scam..

Hi Guys Need you advice.
I bought new samsung galaxy s3 from Gumtree guy sold it for £350. It was advertised that its unlocked on all networks. When I bought it of him it was working on Vodaphone. I rang orange to get microsim which arrived 3 days ago. I waited for text message for new sim but no message arrived after 24 hours so i rang orange asked why sim isnt active. Orange asked me for phone IMEI number which i provided found out that phone is blacklisted.
when i bought the phone guy said that he has reciept upon receiving the phone he said its at home but will give it tomorrow. So i took his pictures on Galaxy S2, made him sign the agreement and recorded him. I also took picture of gumtree ad and have his IMEI number. I rang the guy yesterday after orange telling me its blacklisted to say why did you sell me lost/stolen phone he said he will speak to vodaphone and see they can unblock it (strange). He rang after couple of minutes later said phone wont work on orange network only on vodaphone and offered me refund straightaway. At this point all i wanted was money back and then report him.
I got the refund now but asked him why he tried selling contract lost phone to me. He said he had previous phone stolen so they sent him new phone which he sold to me at point of sale he did not say he has on contract. I think he tried to scam me but i had all the proof to proof he sold me lost phone which he tried to do insurance scam.
I rang Vodafone to tell them what happened girl said all they can do is blacklist the phone (call center i rang was in Egypt) noting she can do. So i rang sales team who put me through to Customer services in uk i told them the same story but he said call in the morning system is playing up.
I have now bought sim free from carphonewarehouse today for £495
What do u guys suggest about this should i report him again and leave him to scam others (which i do not want) i dont want to go through hassell if its too much.
What would you guys do in this situation,.
Sorry about grammar and English

First of all I would report him to Gumtree to stop him from scamming anyone else on there.
Sent from my SGS3 on Omega v9.0 using XDA Premium

Secondly if you can find the network that blocked the phone it might be worth asking them your options if any to remove block.
Seller has commited fraud unless you where informed phone was blocked.
jje
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

He said he had previous phone stolen so they sent him new phone which he sold to me at point of sale he did not say he has on contract.
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Thats bollocks.
The device IMEI is unique across all devices, including replacements for stolen devices. So if it is blacklisted, that (usually) means it got stolen and has been blocked due to a police-report by the victim.

Punch line: avoid gumtree. I had a similar situation in the past.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

fbloise said:
Punch line: avoid gumtree. I had a similar situation in the past.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
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Could you post details of where you met up or what he looks like? I just had my S3 stolen yesterday and I think I may have a rough idea of several people it could have been who pick pocketed me. It's gutting, but I just want to get to the bottom of it now.
I'm going to have the IMEI blacklisted tomorrow, but ideally I wish I could just get the phone back. I'd even have been happy to buy it back off him but whoever took it has turned it off and I'm stuffed.
Any help would be much appreciated.

The guy offered you a refund and apologies to you. Then he gave you the money and sort the problem! I think its an honest mistake which could happen to anyone (but the phone working on Vodafone does not seems to be blacklisted, otherwise it would not work on vodafone as well.) Just avoid buying these kind of things of gumtree in the future, or ask for a prof of purchase

cyrexking said:
The guy offered you a refund and apologies to you. Then he gave you the money and sort the problem! I think its an honest mistake which could happen to anyone (but the phone working on Vodafone does not seems to be blacklisted, otherwise it would not work on vodafone as well.) Just avoid buying these kind of things of gumtree in the future, or ask for a prof of purchase
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Totally agree, guy would not refund money if it was stolen..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Totally agree, guy would not refund money if it was stolen.
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Let's theorize that it was stolen. Two scenarios are possible:
a) he didn't know it was stolen and bought it from someone else too
b) he knew it was stolen but didn't want OP to go to the police so he just refunded the money. OP stated he had his voice and picture on record, so he might have panicked when he was confronted with the fact that the buyer knew it was stolen.

Yeah I have my doubts too of Gumtree... However I did buy this new One X there for a little cheaper than the shops, but it was a sealed one... I don't buy opened phones...
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Even if it was a scam, the intended victim wasn't you, or he wouldn't have refunded the money.
The victim in the this case is probably Vodafone or a third-party insurance company, and if they don't care enough to do anything about it... well then they have no one to blame but themselves.
He wouldn't have let you see his face if he was going to scam you: even someone who doesn't understand what blacklisting is, would just assume the phone was defective and attempt to get a refund anyway.

When I buy a phone off Gumtree, I test everything before I hand over any money. I always do a IMEI check as well to make sure it is not blacklisted and I find out who's name the phone is registered in. These are the steps everyone should make when buying a pre owned phone.
Sent from my SGS3 on Omega v9.0 using XDA Premium

I agree with others, if he wasintending to scam you, you would never got a refund that's how scammers work. I believe it was either an honest mistake or an insurance scam, not an intention to scam you.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

He clearly tried to scam me but I took his picture, got him recorded, voice recording of him talking to me about the phone. He only refunded me because I had evidence that he sold me the phone.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

I'm surprised by how many S3's are for sale on Gumtree, many state that they are sealed in the box ?
is there another scam or something that they maybe selling stolen from shops warehouses etc that would allow this ?
ie they may work for a while but then are blacklisted and become useless ?

Peeely said:
I'm surprised by how many S3's are for sale on Gumtree, many state that they are sealed in the box ?
is there another scam or something that they maybe selling stolen from shops warehouses etc that would allow this ?
ie they may work for a while but then are blacklisted and become useless ?
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First post in a dead thread ?????WHY ???
jje

Gumtree is fine but you need to do the deal "in prerson" so you can test devices out first etc.

JJEgan said:
First post in a dead thread ?????WHY ???
jje
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Sorry ...........................is there a law against that ? :crying:
I just found the topic when doing a search on Galaxy S3 ads on Gumtree as I am in the process of trying to purchase one and they seem to be a lot cheaper on there than say Ebay, and thought that you guys might have the answers to why ?

JJEgan said:
First post in a dead thread ?????WHY ???
jje
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There's nothing wrong with that.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Peeely said:
Sorry ...........................is there a law against that ? :crying:
I just found the topic when doing a search on Galaxy S3 ads on Gumtree as I am in the process of trying to purchase one and they seem to be a lot cheaper on there than say Ebay, and thought that you guys might have the answers to why ?
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I would agree with the other person, do the deal in person Then you can test the phone before you buy it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Blocked IMEI

Some douche sold me a phone then reported it stolen the next day... idiots....
I called AT&T and begged them to unblock it but to no success.. so now im contacting the idiot who did it.
But anyways, does anyone know if its possible to do anything as far as this?
Or immitate or switch IMEI numbers?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Is that's the phone with the broken bezel you got for $300? Dude that really sucks. Not sure what can be done but good luck.

Lol man thats funny...reason I DO NOT deal with CL
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

there are ways of "faking" an IMEI but they are all illegal, and i doubt forum admins would allow posts about this here

sounds like you are screwed dude; you have no proof you paid him, and probably no way of getting the $$$ back. try to sell it for parts

kurdish11 said:
Yeah I know ive heard forum admins wont let cause its "illegal" but maybe you could point me in the right direction? I know its possible on iphones...
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Google search : change imei samsung
thats the best i can offer to follow XDA rules
good luck. I would call the police and report this, this is FRAUD. Also make sure you have some proof, a listing or other proof that he was selling this. The police wont do much, but i would call him while recording the call and make sure at the end of the call when he admits to everything, he knows hes recorded and use that as leverage to get him to call ATT and have the phone unblocked

He probably sold you a stolen phone. Did he show you a receipt from when he bought it originally? Or maybe someone else reported it stolen to piss him off and now it is your problem.

He told me he would call AT&T and get it unblocked. I have all the text messages, I have the original listing saved.. and now he disconnected his phone. . It was definetly his phone, he had the original packaging and all so I know for sure it wasnt stolen...... what a bummer, I dont like getting involved with the police.. itd be a waste of time.. im considering finding him and beating the heck out of him........
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

kurdish11 said:
He told me he would call AT&T and get it unblocked. I have all the text messages, I have the original listing saved.. and now he disconnected his phone. . It was definetly his phone, he had the original packaging and all so I know for sure it wasnt stolen...... what a bummer, I dont like getting involved with the police.. itd be a waste of time.. im considering finding him and beating the heck out of him........
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if you know where he lives, i would consider a "friendly" visit with big boned friends to get things straightened out on the spot

kurdish11 said:
He told me he would call AT&T and get it unblocked. I have all the text messages, I have the original listing saved.. and now he disconnected his phone. . It was definetly his phone, he had the original packaging and all so I know for sure it wasnt stolen...... what a bummer, I dont like getting involved with the police.. itd be a waste of time.. im considering finding him and beating the heck out of him........
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He probably reported it stolen so he could get a new phone from at&t by doing an insurance claim. Likely he has a police report too (it's required for a stolen insurance claim last I checked.)
If that's the case you need be very careful dealing with him and document everything. If he already lied to the police that's a very serious crime and hes going to be trying to cover his ass. I use to have a supervisor that is now facing 25 years in prison for lying to the police.

I agree with the others in this post:
Deal with him one-on-one to try to get money back (document/record everything)
Police
If for some reason the above two items failed, then start googling the IMEI stuff. But yeah - it's illegal itself, so you'd be better-off trying to resolve this properly.
You might look up the laws in your state regarding recording. In good ol' Arizona, the law states that any conversation can be recorded, so long as one person in the conversation is aware of it ... that person can be the one doing the recording.