Database Users

AT&T now blacklisting stolen or inproperly scanned phones.

I didn't see a thread on this so I thought I'd warn anyone who doesn't know.
AT&T now blacklisting stolen phones.
AT&T is now blacklisting all reported stolen phones, or devices they say were "Improperly scanned" out of inventory and major retailers such as Best Buy or Wal-Mart. What this means is that sometime after inserting your SIM card into one of these phones, AT&T will lock your SIM card and you will either get a message stating the device is blocked from the network, or the phone will only call AT&T's security division. Even if you put it back in another phone.
This lock is supposed to occur within minutes according to AT&T, however we have seen it take up to weeks for the lock to occur. This also applies to any pre-paid service such as Straight Talk and Red Pocket who use AT&T phones. If you are on one of these plans, you must call your carrier, not AT&T and request the account be unlocked.
Sounds like a good plan right? The only problem with this is, at this time, unlike Verizon, Sprint, and other carriers, there is no way to call in and check the IMEI before you purchase a used or refurb phone. Thus, if you buy a phone from Craigslist, Ebay, or a local used phone store, its imposable to check the esn like you would a CDMA phone to determine if it has been reported lost or stolen.
The best you can do is put your SIM in the phone and try it out before you buy it and, more importantly, make sure there is a return policy at the store you buy it from. At this time there seems to be no sure fire way to determine if a phone you buy from an individual or online has been reported lost or stolen, and AT&T will not unblock any phone reported stolen except by the person who reported it.
The only exception is if you have purchased a phone from a major retailer. In that case AT&T security division reports that if you take the phone back with the receipt, they will unblock it.

Just reading this reminds me about insurance scams where someone would sell their old phone on some site and then call in the phone as stolen. To me: this is just another risk for buying used phones now. Then again: I recall reading a very recent article about a iphone theft ring in San Francisco. Maybe it's better off this way.

Puts ATT in hard spot. They can either let the thieves sell the units and then the end customer's are unknowingly screwed or let the units work. I suppose their rationale is that if the unit stops working they can report who sold them the phone?

I think they very well should blacklist phones reported as stolen. They've been doing it in Europe for years. My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it. This doesn't punish the thieves so much as the person who unknowingly buys it.

killgorian said:
I think they very well should blacklist phones reported as stolen. They've been doing it in Europe for years. My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it. This doesn't punish the thieves so much as the person who unknowingly buys it.
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If it's reported stolen that's one thing - but what about the phones that somebody hasn't paid their bill to on the major carriers - the money owed goes on that person's SS# anyways for life until they settle up - I see bad esn's being sold on ebay all the time. I don't feel bad flashing a phone to cricket with a bad esn since it's tied to somebody's social. If it's stolen by thieves of course - lock em down. I'm just sayin'

mook_ said:
the money owed goes on that person's SS# anyways for life...
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Click to collapse
No. 7 years max.
killgorian said:
My problem is, unlike every other major carrier, you cannot verify if a phone is stolen or not before you buy it.
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Click to collapse
Yes. This service should have been offered FIRST and then a couple of years later they should have introduced the banning practice. As it is I can see a lot of people making honest mistakes.

You can call into att and have them check the numbers on the phone ...I just did this a week ago with my one x after getting.burnt on one
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Some online stores have a very efficient and reliable pre-purchase customer care.
I bought my AT&T phone from europe from negrielectronics.com and I clearly asked to know the IMEI of the device before placing the ordere since we have some specific IMEI issues here n Europe.
They could immediately email me the code.
So just ask if you want to purchase on the internet; maybe you'll be lucky.

We can actually deactivate stolen / lost phones,
I`m not sure about blacklisting, savedesk knows that,
After we make reports on lost/stolen phones we just send them to savedesk
It has always been a long before practise to ask the customer to rescan again to where you have bought the phone in cases of phones tagged as warehouse are not deactivated
this post is approved by the national potato safety regulation

hey guys - so i just got taken. bought a phone on CL and turns out it's blacklisted. do you know if there's anyway for ATT to check who this phone belonged to based on IMEI? my long shot is maybe contacting original owner (i know ATT doesn't give out information) but could THEY possibly contact original owner and tell him someone found his device?
i figure this is better than me tossing the device?? any thoughts?

piotrus22 said:
hey guys - so i just got taken. bought a phone on CL and turns out it's blacklisted. do you know if there's anyway for ATT to check who this phone belonged to based on IMEI? my long shot is maybe contacting original owner (i know ATT doesn't give out information) but could THEY possibly contact original owner and tell him someone found his device?
i figure this is better than me tossing the device?? any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have any of the seller's info you can report it to authorities.

The only info i have is a cell phone number. Which was a pay as you go number. So i dont think they can do anything if sim card has been tossed right?
What will they authorities do? Dont they have more important things? Ill they confiscate the phone? I just realized i could sell it for use in Europe potentially?

piotrus22 said:
The only info i have is a cell phone number. Which was a pay as you go number. So i dont think they can do anything if sim card has been tossed right?
What will they authorities do? Dont they have more important things? Ill they confiscate the phone? I just realized i could sell it for use in Europe potentially?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's IMEI programmed.
so no matter what SIM you'll use it will still be blacklisted,
as long as a stolen phone can receive a signal and passes through AT&T's database it will automatically send out a code to lock out the phone,
it is n "as-is" basis though,
depends entirely on the phone

deathnotice01 said:
it's IMEI programmed.
so no matter what SIM you'll use it will still be blacklisted,
as long as a stolen phone can receive a signal and passes through AT&T's database it will automatically send out a code to lock out the phone,
it is n "as-is" basis though,
depends entirely on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, my first post here.
I have a customer (I do computer repair, not cell phones) who unknowingly bought a "blacklisted" att phone an HTC one x from craigslist. Is there anything he can do? I told him I would look into it to try and help him out. But I know nothing of cell phones. The guy's like 60 trying to make a few bucks while in retirement buying and selling cell phones.
He used it for a day or so then it just stopped working. when his att sim was deactivated he went to att as he knows the folks who work in the local store. They cleared his sim card, but not the phone. They weren't interested in taking the phone from him either. They said it could be blacklisted for several reasons from non-payment, to stolen or some other reason, but they couldn't tell him the reason. Some advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Would unlocking the phone make any difference (to use on another carrier) or is he just basically screwed with this one?
Thanks,
Chris

SIM unlock it and have it on T-Mobile.

Lil Chris said:
Hi, my first post here.
I have a customer (I do computer repair, not cell phones) who unknowingly bought a "blacklisted" att phone an HTC one x from craigslist. Is there anything he can do? I told him I would look into it to try and help him out. But I know nothing of cell phones. The guy's like 60 trying to make a few bucks while in retirement buying and selling cell phones.
He used it for a day or so then it just stopped working. when his att sim was deactivated he went to att as he knows the folks who work in the local store. They cleared his sim card, but not the phone. They weren't interested in taking the phone from him either. They said it could be blacklisted for several reasons from non-payment, to stolen or some other reason, but they couldn't tell him the reason. Some advice or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Would unlocking the phone make any difference (to use on another carrier) or is he just basically screwed with this one?
Thanks,
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T is very strict with matters pertaining to blacklisted phones,
reactivation of a valid sim card is possible but not the phone,
i never had actual experience with AT&T phones since i'm not in the US and we only had experience navigating them during our training at AT&T tech support,
but you can try flashing the stock generic firmware from a AT&T HTC one X and using a T-mo sim instead of a AT&T sim to prevent execution and authentication of IMEI protocols which are nessesarry to deactivate the blacklisted phone,

Welcome to the bad ESN world
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

cell128 said:
Welcome to the bad ESN world
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
And corporate controlled america
--------------------------------------------------------------
By staring at this post you have waived your right to privacy
Complaints will be trolled accordingly

Im a bit confused. Maybe someone could shed some light. Can a at&t iphone that is not in good standing with at&t be used on straight talk. If so must it be a ST Tmobile sim?
Im buying my mom an at&t iphone 4s off CL and want to make sure it can be activated. Thanks!!

themow said:
Im a bit confused. Maybe someone could shed some light. Can a at&t iphone that is not in good standing with at&t be used on straight talk. If so must it be a ST Tmobile sim?
Im buying my mom an at&t iphone 4s off CL and want to make sure it can be activated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it is not reported lost or stolen it can. If it has been blacklisted, no it cannot.

[Q] Advice needed: About to buy a NEW S4A on CL

I didn't know where else to post this question...
I'm about to buy a NEW Galaxy S4 Active from a guy on Craigslist that's going to get one new from the ATT store today. The selling price to me? $400.
That's a great price, so I'm wondering...
Is there anything that I need to be aware of? Can I lose out on this deal? I'm assuming that he's going to get an upgrade and extend his contract, because that's the only way he can make money on this deal. But what if he cancels his contract or doesn't pay his bill, won't the phone get blacklisted and I'll end up with a brick in a few months?

No blacklisting on att phones. The only way you can lose out is if the guy has insurance on his phone, sell it to you, then calls att reports it stolen. Then the phone becomes a glorified paperweight.
Alot of people run this Craigslist scam, because the insurance deductible is cheap, and they make a large profit selling it, then reporting stolen and get a brand new device, meanwhile you get scammed.
To prevent that from happening you can meet the guy at an att store and let them know you are purchasing the phone from him, and they will transfer ownership to you and he can't file a stolen device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

I would be very careful when buying an expensive phone from Craigslist. Tell him you only want to meet at an at&t store so they can make a note on his account that he sold you the phone. Then I would have them activate the phone there and then for you. If it's legit then he'll have no issue doing what you suggest. $400 is a good price for an active. But sometimes if it seems too good to be true, well you get the point.

Great advice you guys! That's what I'll do is meet him at the store and make sure I'm notated and the ownership is transferred to me. I didn't realize ATT would do that for me!

That is two good pieces of advice. Benefit of Craigslist over EBay is one-on-one contact. I would add, and you probably already decided, is if he doesn't want to meet with some excuse--don't buy it--

I just bought an iPhone for a family member. I met the seller at the AT&T store and I went in and had AT&t run the IMEI. they said it was not reported stolen but that is all they could do. According to the sales person there is no way to transfer an IMEI and that an original purchaser could theoretically still report the phone stolen.
I am not sure if I believe the second part but it could be. I can't see att trying to track every IMEI as phones change hands.

alphadog00 said:
I just bought an iPhone for a family member. I met the seller at the AT&T store and I went in and had AT&t run the IMEI. they said it was not reported stolen but that is all they could do. According to the sales person there is no way to transfer an IMEI and that an original purchaser could theoretically still report the phone stolen.
I am not sure if I believe the second part but it could be. I can't see att trying to track every IMEI as phones change hands.
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Click to collapse
Yeah that's wrong. Basically an imei cannot be on two accounts at the same time. So going in to a store with the seller they could remove it from their account and it would be put on yours. With ATT however, there is very little ways for them to "blacklist" a phone. Sure it may not be able to be placed on your account but a sim will still work just fine in it. Verizon is different due to the way their activations work.
sent from just the tip

imitenotbecrazy said:
Yeah that's wrong. Basically an imei cannot be on two accounts at the same time. So going in to a store with the seller they could remove it from their account and it would be put on yours. With ATT however, there is very little ways for them to "blacklist" a phone. Sure it may not be able to be placed on your account but a sim will still work just fine in it. Verizon is different due to the way their activations work.
sent from just the tip
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I am not sure why you say they can't blacklist. They can and are now doing so. EU has done it for years. No one in the USA did it in the past but the carriers are doing it now, and they are working on a shared database. So once a phone is blacklisted it will be unusable on any carrier.
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
The phone sends its IMEI when it connects to the network and AT&T can easily block it if it is reported stolen. There are other threads about people buying notes and s4 that are blocked.

alphadog00 said:
I am not sure why you say they can't blacklist. They can and are now doing so. EU has done it for years. No one in the USA did it in the past but the carriers are doing it now, and they are working on a shared database. So once a phone is blacklisted it will be unusable on any carrier.
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
The phone sends its IMEI when it connects to the network and AT&T can easily block it if it is reported stolen. There are other threads about people buying notes and s4 that are blocked.
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Click to collapse
Weird. I've never seen a phone not connect to the network like that. I haven't told ATT I've switched phones since my OG Note a year and a half ago. That phone has long since been gone. The only thing that seems to be reporting to ATT is the sim. What happens when you use an imei from outside their database? How does it access their network then?
sent from just the tip

imitenotbecrazy said:
Weird. I've never seen a phone not connect to the network like that. I haven't told ATT I've switched phones since my OG Note a year and a half ago. That phone has long since been gone. The only thing that seems to be reporting to ATT is the sim. What happens when you use an imei from outside their database? How does it access their network then?
sent from just the tip
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Click to collapse
I switch phones all the time and I don't "tell" AT&T - this works fine without issue, but they do see the IMEI - this is easy to verify. Log into your AT&T account and look at your devices - it shows the actual phone that is being used on that number. I am not sure how often they update this, but it shows the system automatically sees the IMEI.
They only keep a database of Blocked or blacklisted IMEI. It is impossible for them to keep a database of approved phones, it just wouldn't work and it would piss people off. It is easier to keep a short block list.
On my account, I have 2 other family lines for dumb phones and they have data blocks. But these lines are using other smart phones, and they listed by brand and model when i log into my account. The IMEI can be used to detect brand and model. I still don't know why the CSRs ask for IMEI when this info shows up automatically, but i never give it to them.
And like I said, when i bought the last phone, I walked in the store and the guy knew what i wanted and looked it up to see if it was reported stolen. When it was not, he said everything was good. A few years ago, they would not have cared either way.

alphadog00 said:
I switch phones all the time and I don't "tell" AT&T - this works fine without issue, but they do see the IMEI - this is easy to verify. Log into your AT&T account and look at your devices - it shows the actual phone that is being used on that number. I am not sure how often they update this, but it shows the system automatically sees the IMEI.
They only keep a database of Blocked or blacklisted IMEI. It is impossible for them to keep a database of approved phones, it just wouldn't work and it would piss people off. It is easier to keep a short block list.
On my account, I have 2 other family lines for dumb phones and they have data blocks. But these lines are using other smart phones, and they listed by brand and model when i log into my account. The IMEI can be used to detect brand and model. I still don't know why the CSRs ask for IMEI when this info shows up automatically, but i never give it to them.
And like I said, when i bought the last phone, I walked in the store and the guy knew what i wanted and looked it up to see if it was reported stolen. When it was not, he said everything was good. A few years ago, they would not have cared either way.
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See that's where I'm having this issue. I log into my ATT dealer site and it still shows me on the OG Note. When I log into my account it shows OG Note. My account doesn't update with what phone I'm using currently. Not sure if mine is an anomoly or not. AFAIK though ATT told us there was nothing that could be done when one of our ATT display phones was stolen. That's part of where my assumption that blacklisting was not a real thing with ATT.
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imitenotbecrazy said:
See that's where I'm having this issue. I log into my ATT dealer site and it still shows me on the OG Note. When I log into my account it shows OG Note. My account doesn't update with what phone I'm using currently. Not sure if mine is an anomoly or not. AFAIK though ATT told us there was nothing that could be done when one of our ATT display phones was stolen. That's part of where my assumption that blacklisting was not a real thing with ATT.
sent from just the tip
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Click to collapse
I admit I never blocked a phone. But there is thread that has lots of details of a few users experience:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2315935
According to AT&T only the original owner can report a phone stolen - so maybe only new activations get treated this way. The AT&T rep said i could not add the IMEI of the used phone to my account to prevent someone from reporting it stolen, so their system has lots of limits.
I wish I knew more, but AT&T is not the most forthcoming with how things work.

alphadog00 said:
Today a blocked AT&T phone could still be used on t-mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read just the other day that Tmo and ATT are sharing their blacklists. And once a phone has been blacklisted on one carrier, the other will follow suit.

Trading phones with someone

If I was to trade my current iphone with someone for their galaxy s4
how would i secure the transaction?
for all i know i trade him and he contacts att to block the esn and im SOL.
What could I do to make sure it doesn't happen?

I would meet at an at&t store, verify each phone on each account with drivers licenses and possibly have a manager swap the devices across accounts. Maybe a signed bill of sale too. Perhaps I'm too cautious...

Bill of sale would be a good idea. Not sure how it works in the US, but an IMEI can be reported stolen here in Canada and nothing really can stop someone from putting their Sim card in the phone and start using it. I would call ATT and find out

With the number of insurance fraud attempts I have seen resulting in blacklisted phones, I would avoid that like the plague unless you personally know the guy you are trading with.

honeyp0t said:
If I was to trade my current iphone with someone for their galaxy s4
how would i secure the transaction?
for all i know i trade him and he contacts att to block the esn and im SOL.
What could I do to make sure it doesn't happen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What then stops you from calling in the iPhone and block its IMEI as well?
You can only block an IMEI that is active on your account (I would assume, at least that's how it is on the CDMA side with ESN's). If that wasn't the case, people would just call in willy nilly blocking IMEI's and ESN's left and right.

LordLugard said:
What then stops you from calling in the iPhone and block its IMEI as well?
You can only block an IMEI that is active on your account (I would assume, at least that's how it is on the CDMA side with ESN's). If that wasn't the case, people would just call in willy nilly blocking IMEI's and ESN's left and right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The question is, how does one verify that the IMEI is no longer active on the other person's account... This cannot be done at an ATT store. A request can be submitted there, but if a person calls and gets it blocked before the request makes it to the person actually making the change, you're SOL.

Received a demo S8

I was wondering if any firmware is available to I can get rid of the retail mode. I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong fourm. I'm aware that the phone doesn't have cellular capabilities I want to use it as a wifi only device

XxCyberHackerxX said:
I was wondering if any firmware is available to I can get rid of the retail mode. I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong fourm. I'm aware that the phone doesn't have cellular capabilities I want to use it as a wifi only device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Received a demo S8" oh really? Maybe ask the store from where it was stolen from, they probably know the process to take it out of retail mode. If you bought it legitimately then it's the sellers responsibilty to provide a working phone. Is the wifi-only mode because the IMEI is blacklisted? I guess you don't live up to your username. Just kidding.
I googled it, there are pages and videos that tell you how to remove retail mode.

Go into development settings and turn off demo mode.. it's that easy ...
Settings...
About phone...
Tap build number until it says unlocked...
Then back out to setting
Then development settings
Then go down and turn demo off
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

djxn40 said:
Go into development settings and turn off demo mode.. it's that easy ...
Settings...
About phone...
Tap build number until it says unlocked...
Then back out to setting
Then development settings
Then go down and turn demo off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he's talking about retail mode which is a totally separate thing. There's a Samsung Retail app and a code you have to enter.

Oh sorry ?
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

henrybravo said:
"Received a demo S8" oh really? Maybe ask the store from where it was stolen from, they probably know the process to take it out of retail mode. If you bought it legitimately then it's the sellers responsibilty to provide a working phone. Is the wifi-only mode because the IMEI is blacklisted? I guess you don't live up to your username. Just kidding.
I googled it, there are pages and videos that tell you how to remove retail mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha that made me crack up. I bought the phone on eBay. I just need some firmware to put in Odin to flash the phone to factory settings

henrybravo said:
"Received a demo S8" oh really? Maybe ask the store from where it was stolen from, they probably know the process to take it out of retail mode. If you bought it legitimately then it's the sellers responsibilty to provide a working phone. Is the wifi-only mode because the IMEI is blacklisted? I guess you don't live up to your username. Just kidding.
I googled it, there are pages and videos that tell you how to remove retail mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
henrybravo said:
I think he's talking about retail mode which is a totally separate thing. There's a Samsung Retail app and a code you have to enter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to reflash the phone to get rid of all the demo videos and applications

*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock

XxCyberHackerxX said:
*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you go about this?
Thanks!

G_Loc said:
How did you go about this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent you a message

XxCyberHackerxX said:
I sent you a message
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello there
I also have a GS8 + demo unit and would like to know how can you remove or flash a new firmware ??
Thanks

Wow.... Its amazing all these Demo phones getting stolen and sold already.
I am not blaming anyone who buys them on Ebay... but realize this. Once the stores send it in, the new blacklisting methods on carriers share among the carriers. Once its listed. Account gets flagged saying you have an unauthorized device. After that, they suspend the account till you put a clean IMEI.
I know AT&T and its network sister partner services do this for sure.
I would say those who buy this from ebay as a Demo device, or from Craigslist. Ask them for the Invoice receipt or proof of purchase. (Claim in case of warrenty issues) if they stutter or make up an excuse. Realize its a stolen store phone which will get tracked. They may not go after the small 100$ or entry level phones but the high end galaxies and iphones... they sure will.

Mysticales said:
Wow.... Its amazing all these Demo phones getting stolen and sold already.
I am not blaming anyone who buys them on Ebay... but realize this. Once the stores send it in, the new blacklisting methods on carriers share among the carriers. Once its listed. Account gets flagged saying you have an unauthorized device. After that, they suspend the account till you put a clean IMEI.
I know AT&T and its network sister partner services do this for sure.
I would say those who buy this from ebay as a Demo device, or from Craigslist. Ask them for the Invoice receipt or proof of purchase. (Claim in case of warrenty issues) if they stutter or make up an excuse. Realize its a stolen store phone which will get tracked. They may not go after the small 100$ or entry level phones but the high end galaxies and iphones... they sure will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very true. I go mine from eBay and will ask for the original invoice. If Samsung ever came asking for the phone I would give it to them

Mysticales said:
Wow.... Its amazing all these Demo phones getting stolen and sold already.
I am not blaming anyone who buys them on Ebay... but realize this. Once the stores send it in, the new blacklisting methods on carriers share among the carriers. Once its listed. Account gets flagged saying you have an unauthorized device. After that, they suspend the account till you put a clean IMEI.
I know AT&T and its network sister partner services do this for sure.
I would say those who buy this from ebay as a Demo device, or from Craigslist. Ask them for the Invoice receipt or proof of purchase. (Claim in case of warrenty issues) if they stutter or make up an excuse. Realize its a stolen store phone which will get tracked. They may not go after the small 100$ or entry level phones but the high end galaxies and iphones... they sure will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*facepalm*.
These are demo units, they are built with no IMEI or any of the cell antennas.
These are bought to use as WiFi only devices usually.
They are not blacklisted stolen units, those are completely different (and do exist a lot on eBay).

Skander1998 said:
*facepalm*.
These are demo units, they are built with no IMEI or any of the cell antennas.
These are bought to use as WiFi only devices usually.
They are not blacklisted stolen units, those are completely different (and do exist a lot on eBay).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
o.0 Where do you work at? Cause the "Demo" phones "I" get are fully functional from samsung. Then I install the retail demo software on it, which has the password. It syncs up with the demo software for that phone and off it goes. I can disable functions, protect it from hard resets and even open it all back up again.
Yes, they quite so have an IMEI.
However in fairness. If you have a wifi only S8 "demo" unit. Please share the screenshot of it showing no imei in the about phone info area.

Mysticales said:
o.0 Where do you work at? Cause the "Demo" phones "I" get are fully functional from samsung. Then I install the retail demo software on it, which has the password. It syncs up with the demo software for that phone and off it goes. I can disable functions, protect it from hard resets and even open it all back up again.
Yes, they quite so have an IMEI.
However in fairness. If you have a wifi only S8 "demo" unit. Please share the screenshot of it showing no imei in the about phone info area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All demo units in Qatar and MENA region are like that (in Samsung shops), I'll get you a screenshot when I go out sometime.
It will show IMEI 0000000000
Here is an example demo phone http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Gal...198937?hash=item3d3ac81fd9:g:HyUAAOSw9OFZE-Kz
The back will have a NOT FOR SALE sticker without the usual IMEI printout even. Just a SRN

I see, so in those regions eh?
I know here in USA, Its a fully working model. Just is softwared to demo mode it.

G_Loc said:
How did you go about this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you share this also?

Good job
XxCyberHackerxX said:
*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock
Click to expand...
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hello brother can you also help me through inbox
:good:

XxCyberHackerxX said:
*UPDATE* I managed to completely get the phone stock
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How did you do it?

ATT VOLTE OP 5T (And possibly other phones)

I was able to get VOLTE working by "manipulating" ATT. I dont know if this has been discussed or anything, all I can say is it's verified.
You need the IMEI of a device that has been "greenlighted" by ATT to have VOLTE. Leave your OP 5t setup alone. Sim card in and everything.
Chat with att or call them and tell them to assign the IMEI number to your phone number. It took about a day for it to go through. I went in and used the Magisk Module to enable VOLTE. Sure enough VOLTE works fine. Its just fooling their system into thinking the device is "greenlighted".
Edit: I guess when I sat down to write this, it may not be totally clear.
1) You have to have a device with a good IMEI, you arent changing the IMEI.
2) You want ATT to Apply that IMEI that came with the phone you are going to use for the IMEI.
It triggers their system to think the device is greenlighted for volte, even if you use your OP 5t (or other phone).
Theres nothing illegal, its just a loop hole Ive found in their system since they dont want to play nice with VOLTE and phones they dont sell. That S6 was mine and had a good IMEI. Its sitting next to me.
Just wanted to go on record and in a little more depth of what I was doing and how it was working, Sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused. I do go on record stating, I told the ATT tech what I was doing and all he said was "thats clever". He still did it for me. So I dont even think you would have to lie to be honest,

apophis9283 said:
I was able to get VOLTE working by "manipulating" ATT. I dont know if this has been discussed or anything, all I can say is it's verified.
You need the IMEI of a device that has been "greenlighted" by ATT to have VOLTE. Leave your OP 5t setup alone. Sim card in and everything.
Chat with att or call them and tell them to assign the IMEI number to your phone number. It took about a day for it to go through. I went in and used the Magisk Module to enable VOLTE. Sure enough VOLTE works fine. Its just fooling their system into thinking the device is "greenlighted".
Edit: I guess when I sat down to write this, it may not be totally clear.
1) You have to have a device with a good IMEI, you arent changing the IMEI.
2) You want ATT to Apply that IMEI that came with the phone you are going to use for the IMEI.
It triggers their system to think the device is greenlighted for volte, even if you use your OP 5t (or other phone).
Theres nothing illegal, its just a loop hole Ive found in their system since they dont want to play nice with VOLTE and phones they dont sell. That S6 was mine and had a good IMEI. Its sitting next to me.
Just wanted to go on record and in a little more depth of what I was doing and how it was working, Sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused. I do go on record stating, I told the ATT tech what I was doing and all he said was "thats clever". He still did it for me. So I dont even think you would have to lie to be honest,
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Well there are 2 things about that.
1. Xda doesnt condone committing fraud which is what you are doing. It doesnt matter if you own the other phone or not.
2. ATT also does random scans where they pull the imei from active devices to update the accounts.

I have an LG G6 on my account as my OP5t and it still doesn't work for me. I tried that on the OP5, having them add an imei of a known ATT phone. They guy scanned a store version of a G6, but no change.

zelendel said:
Well there are 2 things about that.
1. Xda does condone committing fraud which is what you are doing. It doesnt matter if you own the other phone or not.
2. ATT also does random scans where they pull the imei from active devices to update the accounts.
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Says who? I'm sure you meant to say that we DON'T condone the committing of fraud, which would then be an accurate statement.
As to the subject matter however, I have to respectfully disagree here Zel. There is no theft taking place, no exchanging of IMEI information. All this is saying is that you apply a valid IMEI to your account for VoLTE access in a device that typically wouldn't have it. This is simply circumventing the system. Just like allowing threads that talk about circumventing Googles startup security measures for pre-owned phones that were reset while a password encrypted device was in use. Or slipping your working sim card from a device you own and into a new device you purchased from the carrier in an effort to keep from getting charged the upgrade fee once the new provisioned sim becomes active and registers that it is an upgrade.
Yes, XDA does not condone illegal practice and in my strong opinion, this isn't such. I will now take this to the others for clarification and input as I'm sure it will go there without me after making this post

Neo said:
Says who? I'm sure you meant to say that we DON'T condone the committing of fraud, which would then be an accurate statement.
As to the subject matter however, I have to respectfully disagree here Zel. There is no theft taking place, no exchanging of IMEI information. All this is saying is that you apply a valid IMEI to your account for VoLTE access in a device that typically wouldn't have it. This is simply circumventing the system. Just like allowing threads that talk about circumventing Googles startup security measures for pre-owned phones that were reset while a password encrypted device was in use. Or slipping your working sim card from a device you own and into a new device you purchased from the carrier in an effort to keep from getting charged the upgrade fee once the new provisioned sim becomes active and registers that it is an upgrade.
Yes, XDA does not condone illegal practice and in my strong opinion, this isn't such. I will now take this to the others for clarification and input as I'm sure it will go there without me after making this post
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But it is not a valid one that is connected to that account. As those features are meant to only work with ATT devices which ATT sales. Meaning that you are taking money from them in a sense that is stealing. You are purposly giving incorrect info (imie that will be used with the sim number) to get things you normally wouldnt unless you bought one of their devices. So i see no difference.
Our threads are a lot of grey with a bunch of double standards really.
You are right. I did mean doesnt.

zelendel said:
But it is not a valid one that is connected to that account. As those features are meant to only work with ATT devices which ATT sales. Meaning that you are taking money from them in a sense that is stealing. You are purposly giving incorrect info (imie that will be used with the sim number) to get things you normally wouldnt unless you bought one of their devices. So i see no difference.
Our threads are a lot of grey with a bunch of double standards really.
You are right. I did mean doesnt.
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Ah yes, the gray. ATT would obviously check the IMEI before using it. If it has been flagged as stolen, clearly they won't use it. The same if it happens after this has been applied. If it hasn't been reported as being from a stolen device though, it is assumed that the device is owned by that person and I don't see a problem with it.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

zelendel said:
Well there are 2 things about that.
1. Xda does condone committing fraud which is what you are doing. It doesnt matter if you own the other phone or not.
2. ATT also does random scans where they pull the imei from active devices to update the accounts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to agree with Neo's thoughts. XDA absolutely does not condone fraud.
Like Neo said, there is no exchanging of imei information whatsoever. All this does is unlock a service you already pay for. It reminds me of the old school tethering apps. Therefore, nothing that is being done is illegal. It might trip something in ATTs system but there is a lot of stuff done on XDA that carriers don't like.

Neo said:
Ah yes, the gray. ATT would obviously check the IMEI before using it. If it has been flagged as stolen, clearly they won't use it. The same if it happens after this has been applied. If it hasn't been reported as being from a stolen device though, it is assumed that the device is owned by that person and I don't see a problem with it.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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It doesnt matter if you own the device. Its the devicve that is being used. Which you are flat out lying about so in the text of it you are committing fraud. ATT could very well be in their rights to sue if they found out (not that they really would)
This came up recently in our core stores and 2 ideas are being batted around to fix it.
1. lock sims to imeis
2. Require imei changes on the account to be done in person with the person presenting the device to be verified.
---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 AM ----------
mark manning said:
I would have to agree with Neo's thoughts. XDA absolutely does not condone fraud.
Like Neo said, there is no exchanging of imei information whatsoever. All this does is unlock a service you already pay for. It reminds me of the old school tethering apps. Therefore, nothing that is being done is illegal. It might trip something in ATTs system but there is a lot of stuff done on XDA that carriers don't like.
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You are right I did know that fact. But as of late I am not sure about anything to do with XDA.

Thread Closed.
EDIT: As an update to this discussion, it has been found that this procedure is not illegal, and is simply either a limitation of the carrier's current system, or circumventing a carrier placed restriction (such as getting tether to work on your device without paying for a tether package). We've allowed these kinds of workarounds for years on XDA, and if ever the carrier or entitled body officially requests/demands removal of the content, we have and will oblige. XDA has always been a site for development, workarounds, exploits, mods, etc. There is an ethics element to this however, depending upon how the IMEI is obtained or by lying to the carriers.
That is all.
[Neo]