Buy phones from CL at your own risk

[mr_chin]

A $400 lesson hit me on January 30th when I found out that a Samsung Galaxy S4 I bought brand new off CL has become unusable now.

I bought the phone in September 2013 from this seller on CL. I met up with her, looked at the phone, everything brand new, original screen protector still on it. It was locked to Bell so I had to get it unlocked and went to Rogers to register the phone with my account.

The morning of the January 30th, my phone suddenly lost call and data signal. I thought it was related to a heat issue and I tried my buddy's SIM, and it still doesn't have signal. I could, however, make emergency calls, so I know for a fact it's not the antenna. I concluded that it was my SIM tray being faulty, so I brought it to Samsung to repair.

Two days later, I went to pick up the phone and the lady told me Bell had locked my phone. I didn't know what it meant. She explained that the IMEI was reported stolen, so the phone is unusable now by all Canadian network. I called Bell to explain my situation and they said there's nothing they can do.

Reasons why the IMEI would be reported.

1) The person who purchased the phone reported.
2) The person who purchased the phone under a contract, did not pay his monthly bills, so the company cut off his account and the phone is reported by the company since they cannot retrieve it back.
3) The person purchased the phone with a fake credit card or fake SIN and has become a fraud case.

To understand how buying phone works nowadays, if you purchase the phone on contract or straight from a retailer, they will register the IMEI under your phone number and you will be the sole owner of the device. Only you have the power to control whether the IMEI is registered or removed from the database. I called Rogers and spoke with a customer representative and she transferred me to her manager. I was told that even if I had registered the IMEI after purchasing from CL, I am not the owner of the phone and cannot remove the IMEI from the database. I could have, if I had lost the device, report the IMEI, but only the person who reported has the authority to remove it. A buddy of mine who works at Rogers also confirmed that that is a fact.

Moral of the story is, buying new devices privately is unsafe. The risk of it has soared since Canadian networks and networks around the country are participating in the GSMA IMEI database program. You can check the networks under the member's page. Do not be greedy and save that $200 - $300 by buying a brand new device. You cannot distinguish by the price of the device whether the sale is legit or not. Either way, you will never be the sole owner of the device you that purchased from CL. If you still want to buy a used device, you can check the IMEI at protectyourdata.ca but that only covers one risk factor of buying a used phone. The owner can still report it after you purchase it.

I will have a discussion with an advisor at Rogers next week and will try to find out what is a safe way to buying phone from private sellers and post back. Hopefully there is a way like unregistering or transferring IMEI because who doesn't want to save that extra $200 right?

[bcrdukes]

I posted a sticky thread regarding this years ago.

http://www.revscene.net/forums/60431...ed-phones.html

[twitchyzero]

seller doesn't gain anything from reporting IMEI
so it was likely fraud or they left the country while still on contract

[mr_chin]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

I posted a sticky thread regarding this years ago.

http://www.revscene.net/forums/60431...ed-phones.html

Oh nice, never noticed it. Now the effect doubles but it's not going to be enough.

[Hondaracer]

no way i'd even touch a phone that wasnt unlocked or locked to my carrier to begin with.

[Mr.HappySilp]

That's why I don't bother buying used phones. I rather pay the $200 more to get a pace of mind.

Also I suggest when buying phones buy from RS members who have a good rep.

[Iceman_2K]

Sucks that the seller did that...or the original owner of the phone..it might have been stolen and then sold.

Originally Posted by mr_chin

A $400 lesson hit me on January 30th when I found out that a Samsung Galaxy S4 I bought brand new off CL has become unusable now.

I bought the phone in September 2013 from this seller on CL. I met up with her, looked at the phone, everything brand new, original screen protector still on it. It was locked to Bell so I had to get it unlocked and went to Rogers to register the phone with my account.

The morning of the January 30th, my phone suddenly lost call and data signal. I thought it was related to a heat issue and I tried my buddy's SIM, and it still doesn't have signal. I could, however, make emergency calls, so I know for a fact it's not the antenna. I concluded that it was my SIM tray being faulty, so I brought it to Samsung to repair.

Two days later, I went to pick up the phone and the lady told me Bell had locked my phone. I didn't know what it meant. She explained that the IMEI was reported stolen, so the phone is unusable now by all Canadian network. I called Bell to explain my situation and they said there's nothing they can do.

Reasons why the IMEI would be reported.

1) The person who purchased the phone reported.
2) The person who purchased the phone under a contract, did not pay his monthly bills, so the company cut off his account and the phone is reported by the company since they cannot retrieve it back.
3) The person purchased the phone with a fake credit card or fake SIN and has become a fraud case.

To understand how buying phone works nowadays, if you purchase the phone on contract or straight from a retailer, they will register the IMEI under your phone number and you will be the sole owner of the device. Only you have the power to control whether the IMEI is registered or removed from the database. I called Rogers and spoke with a customer representative and she transferred me to her manager. I was told that even if I had registered the IMEI after purchasing from CL, I am not the owner of the phone and cannot remove the IMEI from the database. I could have, if I had lost the device, report the IMEI, but only the person who reported has the authority to remove it. A buddy of mine who works at Rogers also confirmed that that is a fact.

Moral of the story is, buying new devices privately is unsafe. The risk of it has soared since Canadian networks and networks around the country are participating in the GSMA IMEI database program. You can check the networks under the member's page. Do not be greedy and save that $200 - $300 by buying a brand new device. You cannot distinguish by the price of the device whether the sale is legit or not. Either way, you will never be the sole owner of the device you that purchased from CL. If you still want to buy a used device, you can check the IMEI at protectyourdata.ca but that only covers one risk factor of buying a used phone. The owner can still report it after you purchase it.

I will have a discussion with an advisor at Rogers next week and will try to find out what is a safe way to buying phone from private sellers and post back. Hopefully there is a way like unregistering or transferring IMEI because who doesn't want to save that extra $200 right?

[jonwon]

Check the Status of Your Device in Canada | Protect Your Data. Protect Yourself.

we use this at my store whenever we are selling used phones

[Gucci Mane]

WOW, fuck me. i went to that website to check the status of this GS3 i have that randomly stopped reading sim cards and it says this: "Your device has been reported lost or stolen and is on the national blacklist."


thank you for $300 down the drain. wow.....

[dangonay]

The idea of a blacklist is a complete joke. Companies should be adopting something like Apples Activation Lock which serves the same purpose (reducing the theft and sale of phones). And once it's been turned off (by entering your Apple ID) it can't be turned back on by an "unscrupulous" seller. Further, carriers have absolutely no control over Activation Lock, so they can't brick phones where people don't pay.

There are only 4 major OS's out there, with Apple and Google having the majority share. If Google added an Activation Lock feature to Android then this type of problem would be practically non-existent.

I never followed it, but who actually pushed for an IMEI blacklist anyway? I thought this was to protect consumers from theft, not to protect carriers from people skipping out on contracts.

[tiger_handheld]

Can you not meet up at the carrier (say bell) and have them run an IMEI check?

[Soundy]

WiFi + Skype = problem solved

Other than that, enjoy your $400 Gameboy.

[trd2343]

If the phone you bought was locked at the time of purchase (ie. Fido iPhone), and you unlock the phone through Fido after 3 months (pay $50 to get the phone unlocked), is that risk gone, or is it still there?

It would remove the risk of being locked by the carrier, but doesn't remove the risk that the seller can still report it as stolen right?

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by reamemiya

If the phone you bought was locked at the time of purchase (ie. Fido iPhone), and you unlock the phone through Fido after 3 months (pay $50 to get the phone unlocked), is that risk gone, or is it still there?

It would remove the risk of being locked by the carrier, but doesn't remove the risk that the seller can still report it as stolen right?

Risk is still there. is the IMEI being reported have nothing to do with Fido. Is like your car serial number gets reported to the police as stolen. Nothing to do the compnay where you bought it or or lease it.

[SoNaRWaVe]

not sure how this works, but what if the buyer gets the seller to call the carrier on speaker and get the seller to tell the carrier to transfer the IMEI to a new owner. or is that not possible?

[clowe]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

Can you not meet up at the carrier (say bell) and have them run an IMEI check?

You might be able to but I don't think there's anything stopping them from reporting it stolen after they sell it to you, which is most likely the case.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by clowe

You might be able to but I don't think there's anything stopping them from reporting it stolen after they sell it to you, which is most likely the case.

The seller gains nothing from this (unless they are asshole). As someone mention most likely the phone was either stolen (and the real owner reported it) or it was a on contract phone and unlock then then owner decided not to pay the contract and just sell the phone. After a few months the phone gets added the IMEI black list.

[trd2343]

^So if it's a contract-phone, owner sells it, and buyer unlocks it (whatever method they used), and owner can't pay for the bills, the carrier that the owner bought the phone from can still lock the phone right?

If that did happen, would contacting the carrier and offering to pay the remaining balance of the phone a viable option? (couldn't be worse than a bricked phone?)

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by reamemiya

^So if it's a contract-phone, owner sells it, and buyer unlocks it (whatever method they used), and owner can't pay for the bills, the carrier that the owner bought the phone from can still lock the phone right?

If that did happen, would contacting the carrier and offering to pay the remaining balance of the phone a viable option? (couldn't be worse than a bricked phone?)

For your first question that's correct, the phone gets reported to the IMEI black list and once your phone is on the that list the chance of having it remove is like 0.000000001%

For your second questions that's something you have to talk to the carrier each carrier have their own set of rules. My guess is that they will tell you nicely you sre SOL since it will be a very complicated issue and they would rather not deal with it.

I been lucky with buying my phones online (mostly thorugh google, or amazon). But this does made me aware I should actually buy my next phone either from my carrier, google or if I want a samsung phone I should buy it form the samsung store.

[Qmx323]

Son of a bitch, Nexus 4 that I bought a while back was reported as stolen/lost... no shit all signal dropped.

[BBMme]

Thanks, I was going to pick up a gold 5s for my gf. I will go to apple store now

[Gucci Mane]

People are so fucking pathetic these days. I used to buy, sell and trade phones in the past with no issues what so ever. Never had any one try and jerk me around or even given me fake money. Now its obviously a different story... I don't understand what someone would get out of reporting a phone stolen/lost after selling it. Just completely boggles my mind.



If I can't sell the gs3 for parts, expect me to put up a video of me doing various things to the phone. Hitting it with a hammer, melting it etc.
Posted via RS Mobile

[Kaolinite]

when one of my friends bought his cellphone off craigslist he took down the guys drivers license # and took a photo of him and the license lol

[meme405]

Originally Posted by Knight_KB

I don't understand what someone would get out of reporting a phone stolen/lost after selling it. Just completely boggles my mind.

It is not the seller who reports the phone to get it blocked, it is the original owner who reports it after the phone is stolen.

You bought a stolen phone from a thief and the owner finally called in the IMEI and it got blocked.

The way you are describing it you make it seem like the legitimate owner sold the phone then reported it stolen, which is clearly either a retarded thing to do or a complete asshole move...

I had my phone stolen in Vegas, I looked for the phone, and tried my best to recover it, after about 2 weeks I gave up figured nobody was going to return the phone and had it blocked. There is every possibility someone recovered my phone, and sold it by the time I got it locked, in which case the person who bought the used phone, now has a $500 paperweight.

Buying phones on CL is risky business these days for buyers, basically it is almost impossible for cops to catch the individuals stealing phones or fencing stolen phones. So the idea is to take away the market in stealing and selling phones by making people aware that if you purchase a stolen phone you are going to be left with a useless brick.

[clowe]

Doesn't Rogers and Fido have a stolen phone protection plan that you can add for a monthly fee? The seller can just subscribe to that plan then report the phone stolen a few months later and get a brand new replacement one at whatever deductible cost they might have to pay?