Bad IMEI in another country/carrier

Sago6 · Mar 27, 2013

Hi guys

Newbie question here

Im looking for a note 2 in Craigslist, some offers say "bad imei" and they have minor prices

For what I've read, the bad imei doesn't affect if I unlock the phone and use another carrier (I will use it in mexico)

am I correct?

Thanks in advance

Sent from my Vivid 4G using xda app-developers app

nyeazyone · Mar 27, 2013

Thanks for the question. I too am curious about this.

MrBooMY · Mar 27, 2013

As long as it's in another country and carrier, you will have no issues with a bad imei.

entropism · Mar 27, 2013

Keep in mind you're buying stolen goods, either directly or indirectly. Is that something you're comfortable with?

Sago6 · Mar 27, 2013

entropism said:
Keep in mind you're buying stolen goods, either directly or indirectly. Is that something you're comfortable with?

Well, I didn't think about that

You're right

And no, I dont want to be a part of that

Intub8 · Mar 28, 2013

It really depends. Someone may interpret a bad imei as blocked/blacklisted or completely missing. If the first owner was inexperienced at flashing they may have not made a back up of the efs folder and lost the imei. If they didnt fulfill the contract with a carrier it could also get it blacklisted. And then also the possibility it was reported stolen.

Sent from my G Note 2!!!

Sago6 · Mar 28, 2013

A friend of mine told his carrier he were robbed to use the insurance and sell that phone

Here in Mexico, in 2012 the president made a law to block IMEIs in robbed cellphones

But most people its ignorant about the laws and rights -_-

So, that law isnt even working XD

Back in thread, Theres no way to know if my next Note2 its stollen or lost, etc

So im buying Used, but good imei

Justinfedor · Mar 28, 2013

Carriers in the u.s. are going to start blocking imeis on all carriers. If u put ur sim in a stolen device on att ur service will be suspended. Right now they are in the process to stop stolen imeis from working on other carriers here and out of country.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

entropism · Mar 28, 2013

Sorry, I didn't want to pull the morality argument, because I usually hate people who do that. But yeah, even the phones that were blocked due to the contracts not being fulfilled? 75% of that is usually someone coming in, buying 5 phones on an ID where they don't care about their credit, and never paying the bill. Stolen phones.

Sago6 said:
Well, I didn't think about that

You're right

And no, I dont want to be a part of that

sanjeev2612 · Jan 13, 2015

Hi,

How can we report "phone stolen" in Mexico ? The phone was bought in Canada and thus is associated with a Canadian operator, however the phone was stolen as soon as I arrived in Mexico, that too inside the flight by a fellow passenger.

Can the Canadian operator blacklist my phone IMEI even though it is in Mexico ? Or can I call the Mexican Telefonica company and then can blacklist this IEMI so that the phone can never be used in Mexico ? Please guide me through this, I'd be eternally thankful.

I am really worried and I have had such a bad experience in Mexico, firstly at the international airport in Mexico City the shopkeepers tried to make me pay more than I should, then my phone is stolen.

Thanks in advance,
Sanjeev

absinthesummer · Jan 14, 2015

sanjeev2612 said:
Hi,

How can we report "phone stolen" in Mexico ? The phone was bought in Canada and thus is associated with a Canadian operator, however the phone was stolen as soon as I arrived in Mexico, that too inside the flight by a fellow passenger.

Can the Canadian operator blacklist my phone IMEI even though it is in Mexico ? Or can I call the Mexican Telefonica company and then can blacklist this IEMI so that the phone can never be used in Mexico ? Please guide me through this, I'd be eternally thankful.

I am really worried and I have had such a bad experience in Mexico, firstly at the international airport in Mexico City the shopkeepers tried to make me pay more than I should, then my phone is stolen.

Thanks in advance,
Sanjeev

I've never had to deal with this, thank goodness, but you can try contacting your carrier (if you used the phone on your line, they should have a record of the device) and have it blocked on your carrier's network. However, since it's not an official phone sold by the carrier, they may not make your request a priority. It's worth trying though! It's also worth trying (if you actually have the phone info- imei/serial) to contact the Canadian carrier with a report so it can't be sold & activated on their network again in the future.

uabudy · Nov 4, 2017

I know, it's old thread, but it came up in Google results while I was researching my questions. What do you guys think, buying a carrier locked blacklisted phone in Canada, can it be unlock, make it sim free? and why assume it is stolen phone. A person bought used iPhone from kijiji, totally working phone. In a few days, original owner claims it as stolen and carrier black lists the phone (in Canada). The buyer now has no use of it in Canada. He can try to unlock (sim free) the phone and send it overseas, like Europe, or Asia. I don't see anything wrong here, just looking for your opinion. Thank you.

audit13 · Nov 5, 2017

I believe parts of Europe have a blacklisting system in place so the imei should be checked before trying to network unlock the phone for use in another country.

Many people assume that a phone has been stolen because the imei has been blacklisted and, as you pointed out, this is not always the case.

I'm not 100% sure but some unlockers will not or cannot unlock a blacklisted phone.

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Bad IMEI in another country/carrier

Sago6

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nyeazyone

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entropism

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Sago6

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Intub8

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Sago6

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entropism

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