If I can help it, I restrict my buying/selling to RS.

At least with RS, you can look up the person's post history and generally get a good idea of how the person behaves. Not saying this tells the whole story but when it's a long time member with a decent post count and good history of post, it makes me feel much more at ease.

OP can you share the seller info
so we can avoid the guy?

was going to buy a smart phone off CL, the seller told me he got it as a gift from a friend, and the friend won it from a company contest.

So the seller does not have the receipt, but has the original packing slip with his friend's name on it. I ask for the slip for my own record and the guy backed out of the sale.

So he could possibly stolen it from "the friend" along with the packing slip and trying to sell it for cheap.

is there a way to find out who the IMEI was registered to and then reported stolen by?

Agree with previous post - seller is probably owner.

Hey there :woot2:

the box has the IMEI on it. if you have a phone with the original box its pretty safe to say its legit.

so what if the seller works at a cell store or has access to new phones, he or she could just take one and sell it to a unsuspected buyer. After the buyer tried to activate the phone, they will find out that the device is stolen, so its too late just like the OP's case

That's why you compare the IMEI on the phone vs the box.

RS used to have the best selection and prices in the lower mainland, but as of the last few years, it's gone sorta stale, at least for cell phones. Mainstream blackberries and iPhones had been the dominant inventory selection on Rev for prices $50-$100 more avg than on Clist.

It has nothing to do with RS itself, it's just the route our culture has decided to go.

Sorry to hear OP. Lots of scumbags out there.

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ok so is this how generally what would happen?

1. you buy a phone off craigslist
2. RCMP shows up 2 weeks later
3. Takes your phone away, you lose your money
4. RCMP cares enough to show up to your house, but not enough to follow up with the seller
5. The seller won't have criminal history and will do it again

wait..something doesn't sound right here????

1. you buy a phone from cglist. IF for some reason it is traced to you then,\
2. Police contacts you regarding you being in possession of a stolen property
3. Police seize the property as evidence and return to owner
4. Police will attempt to locate and speak to seller
5. seller will be carded on police report

You have to realize that it is pretty hard to prove that the seller is the person who stole the phone. Could it not be possible that the seller bought the phone under false pretense that it was legit, and then sold it? Yes. Just because you bought it from someone, does not mean the person you bought it from stole and/or knew the item was stolen. In this case, the OP bought the phone and had no idea. If he went on and sold it, do you think he should be arrested, charged, and convicted for Possession of stolen property or even Theft of the phone?

That is why it is good that phone companies can blacklist phones if it is reported stolen by the account holder and cannot be used. It is a huge deterrent

This actually happened to a co-worker of mine but we decided to track the phone down ourselves.

My co-workers phone got stolen from our store on Sunday. After a couple of days we see the exact same phone on craigslist. He started exchanging messages with the seller. The seller was willing to meet up and "sell" the phone to us. We told him to go to one of the McDonalds in Richmond. We got someone that wasn't in our store when it was stolen, to meet with the seller. After confirming it was the same IMEI #, my co-worker and I rushed into McDonalds and surrounded the seller. We held the phone until the cops came.

The seller wasn't the guy who stole the phone. He claims he bought it from the guy who stole it a week before the phone was actually stolen. His story wasn't straight at all. When the cops came, he "suddenly" remembered that he bought it on Sunday (same day it was stolen).

I'm pretty sure the guy who stole it and the seller are working together because of how many loopholes the seller's story had. We had security footage of the phone being stolen. However the RCMP said they didn't need it. As long as the owner has the phone back, the investigation is closed. I don't think they care about who steals the phone at all..

did the owner originally report it to police? was the owner willing to provide a formal statement to police and potentially go to court if need be? if no to any of the above, then there really isn't a point for police to continue with the investigation. technically "no victim, no crime".

if I buy used phone from craigslist with a box and matching imei
can the seller still claim the phone is stolen if he kept the receipt ???
whose side RCMP will take?

damn scumbag!@

technically yes. but the person falsely reporting the issue to the police risks being charged for public mischief.

I lost my iphone 5 the other day and im pretty sure somebody stole it since they turned it off. Do I even have a chance of getting it back if i report the IMEI to the provider or the poilce?

Δ have you tried the find my iPhone app? :whistle:

Yeah I didn't have a password on it lol I think he just wiped my phone

You may not get your phone back, but at least if you report it to your service provider, the phone will be blacklisted. It's the least you can do.

I bought a very cheap iPhone 5 off clist that ended up being blacklisted. Pissed off I called the seller, but he ignored my calls.

I did a bit of research and found out that IMEI blocks are carrier specific, and that it doesn't apply to another carrier, even if the carrier is owned by the same company. I used an online unlock service which cost another $100+ and I ported my number over from Rogers to Fido. Its working and no police have showed up at my door.

No it wasn't worth the headache. After unlocking it, for the entire first week I was waiting for the call from the police.