Sold iPhone, buyer saying it's activation locked...am I being scammed?

[hebwml]

I sold my old iPhone 6 Plus on eBay and it arrived to the buyer on May 2. Today, I received a message from them stating they could not activate the phone as it was activation locked and they needed my help. I was positive I removed the iPhone from my iCloud account prior to selling and even more sure that I typed my password in in order to turn Find my iPhone off when I was erasing all settings.

Anyway, I do still have the IMEI number and it is indeed showing on Apple's website that it is activation locked. The website tells me how to remove the iPhone from my account, which I attempted to do, but it is not showing in my Find my iPhone account in iCloud.com.

What's more at this point is that I asked the buyer what message they were receiving and they sent me the message, and the e-mail that the phone is activation locked to is not mine, and it's an e-mail handler I've never used (only use gmail and iCloud, not hotmail).

I don't know what to do at this point? Any thoughts/opinions?

This happened to me with the Apple Watch, there's another area where devices are registered separate from iCloud.

When you log in you can see all of your devices listed there, click on the device and you can remove it at the top.

Hope this helps!

https://idmsa.apple.com/IDMSWebAuth...URL=https://supportprofile.apple.com/homePage

 

[Jetro]

I've sold an iPhone 4, 2 iPhone 4s's, traded an iPhone 5 for an htc one, and then sold it and sold a galaxy s4 on Craigslist and thank God so far I didn't have trouble I also recently bought a 6s from it that so far has been great.

 

[DougFNJ]

I sold an iPhone through Swappa once with the buyer saying it was locked. I called Apple and Verizon to find out how this could had happened. Apparently Verizon had me still on the phone, and hadn't released it which caused the problem. They did something on their end, the buyer rebooted, and everything worked out.

Haven't heard any updates from the OP, but have you tried calling your carrier?

 

[mcdj]

I would tell the buyer you know what he's up to. Tell him you contacted the other seller who sold him the locked phone and got him to give you the IMEI of that phone. So if he sends you back a phone with that IMEI, the police will be knocking on his door for larceny and mail fraud. Scare him into letting this drop.

 

[nox5]

I've been scammed on eBay selling iPhones many times selling 100s iPhones in US and internationally. fortunately I won all disputes. In the past most common one was stolen credit card or Paypal account which with seller protection and tracking was guaranteed money back so it wasn't stressful at all. Recently scams involved items not as described and returns of empty boxes, destroyed unrecognizable iPhones etc. and fighting this was pain in ass. Selling on swappa involves PayPal so it is similar to eBay. Then I sold on CL, met people at Starbacks everyone was nice and friendly and cash was the king, prices about the same. But it was more time consuming and less volume so I eventually gave up.

 

[Black Magic]

I don't sell or buy iPhones from or too strangers but I would think folks that do would put together a fool proof process to protect against this.

1. Before selling it, clean it up then use this link: https://www.icloud.com/activationlock/. Screenshot it and keep for record and send to buyer.

2. Along with pictures of the device, the article should state sold as is. Kinda like buying a used car.

I'm guessing that would be enough to cover you if a dispute occurs. Again, I don't participate in that as I try to avoid being in controversial scenarios as much as possible. Less stress.

 

[umbrokhan]

I used GumTree trying to sell my Iphone 5S. Gumtree is face to face selling and buying. 4 or 5 Scammers came in a black 4x4 they came in the evening. car and gave me £240 fake money. fake notes.

 

[SuperKerem]

I used GumTree trying to sell my Iphone 5S. Gumtree is face to face selling and buying. 4 or 5 Scammers came in a black 4x4 they came in the evening. car and gave me £240 fake money. fake notes.

That's why you should always meet in a public area, usually in the day. Starbucks, or even in front of your local police station, is a good idea.

 

[Applejuiced]

Any updates on this situation OP?
Did you hear back from the buyer or did you put a dispute/return request with Ebay or paypal?

 

[mrex]

Well the buyer wants a refund. I'm trying my best to be cordial but this is a complete scam as I have the e-mail that I unregistered this from iCloud. So I will refund him but if it's iCloud locked I hope I'm not SOL. As long as I get the original phone I sent him back, I'll have proof for Apple that I am the owner of the device as I still have my original receipt from them with the marching IMEI. Does anyone know if Apple will be helpful in this situation?

I feel like telling the buyer that if I don't receive the device I sent I'll pursue legal action.
[doublepost=1462884442][/doublepost]I should add that I went through their feedback and noticed they purchased an activation locked iPhone 6 Plus 2 weeks ago from a seller. That's why I'm thinking I'm going to be getting that phone. That's why I'm concerned.

why dont you ask them to visit local apple store with your phone and documents that they have legally bought it from you and you have unregistered it? apple store is able to check it too if there is an ios bug causing this issue or if the activation lock is messed up and they are able to fix it. they also check that imei is matching in the first place.

i wouldnt sent money back before getting the phone back at first, but i wouldnt have accepted to return the phone either. it may be the locked one (differend phone) or they have locked it by themselves and asking you to return the money and then they keep the phone. either way, you loose.

if they still are accusing you being a scammer ask them to go to the police station and fill the papers... they need to proove that you are a scammer. if they are trying to scam you, this will definitely stop it.

 

[Channan]

OP where u is?

 

[bufffilm]

why dont you ask them to visit local apple store with your phone and documents that they have legally bought it from you and you have unregistered it? apple store is able to check it too if there is an ios bug causing this issue or if the activation lock is messed up and they are able to fix it. they also check that imei is matching in the first place.

i wouldnt sent money back before getting the phone back at first, but i wouldnt have accepted to return the phone either. it may be the locked one (differend phone) or they have locked it by themselves and asking you to return the money and then they keep the phone. either way, you loose.

if they still are accusing you being a scammer ask them to go to the police station and fill the papers... they need to proove that you are a scammer. if they are trying to scam you, this will definitely stop it.

All this talk about filing papers at the local police station, telling him the sales was as-is, etc is a complete waste of time.

All the scammer has to do (and what will likely happen) is open up a dispute with PayPal. Then either show (in most cases) that supposed item was sent back to sender or provide proof via pictures,etc that the item was not as advertised and in a lot of cases, its enough for a refund.

Then PayPal comes after seller for the funds even if the original amount was transferred out of the PayPal acct and acct is now empty.

 

[Fancuku]

OP where u is?

Seriously, we got so many people posting on this thread trying to help, yet the OP goes missing without giving an update on the situation. Very disrespectful.

 

[HEK]

Seriously, we got so many people posting on this thread trying to help, yet the OP goes missing without giving an update on the situation. Very disrespectful.

Probably sick of whole thing. Out a phone, out the money, eBay and PayPal hassles automatically making seller at fault. What a pain to maybe make a few extra bucks. So not worth it.

 

[ABC5S]

Seriously....I'd stay away from eBay. In Person or through the Carrier or Apple. Lower price for sale, but peace of mind.

 

[gdjsnyder]

Sorry guys, here's an update: did not receive a message back from the buyer after offering a return and him saying he should get his money back first and calling me a scammer. I messaged him back with a link to eBays return policy and said I would follow that. So for three days no message. Then on Thursday night I received a message stating he wanted to keep the phone and what could I do to help. I'm assuming he meant a discount. I said if the phone was having issues then he should not want to keep the phone, and I will provide a refund. There would be no discount. He replied saying to let him try setting it up again and he'd let me know. I once again didn't hear back on Friday or Saturday, so I thought maybe this was all blown over.

NOPE. Sunday rolls around, he tried activating it and it's still locked. He then replied what could I do. I was unable to answer as I worked all weekend, so today I received two messages about how I'm a scammer and taking advantage of him and he had no choice but to open a case with eBay. I replied just now telling him once again he can believe what he wants. I have my original documentation and all that. I told him to send the phone back to me and to quit stalling with it as the longer he waits the more suspicious I am getting about this.

At this point in time I don't care if I'm being rude to him. I don't care about feedback. I will never use eBay again. I already plane to record myself opening the package I receive from him with my original purchase receipt next to the package to verify the IMEI and serial and God help this seller of it is not the original phone I sent as my dad is a lawyer and after discussing this with him, I know what recourse I have. If it is my phone and it is actually activation locked I will contact Apple with my original receipt and see how that goes.

Regardless, I WILL provide this buyers name once the return is complete and I verify that this isn't just one big mistake. As I stated, the phone was unregistered from my iCloud account prior to selling and is no longer listed on any of my profiles, so I'm far from the belief this is an "honest mistake".

 

[Fancuku]

It sounds like you did all the right things.
I still think he is lying because otherwise he wouldn't have offered to keep the phone if you refunded some of the money.

 

[Black Magic]

Sorry guys, here's an update: did not receive a message back from the buyer after offering a return and him saying he should get his money back first and calling me a scammer. I messaged him back with a link to eBays return policy and said I would follow that. So for three days no message. Then on Thursday night I received a message stating he wanted to keep the phone and what could I do to help. I'm assuming he meant a discount. I said if the phone was having issues then he should not want to keep the phone, and I will provide a refund. There would be no discount. He replied saying to let him try setting it up again and he'd let me know. I once again didn't hear back on Friday or Saturday, so I thought maybe this was all blown over.

NOPE. Sunday rolls around, he tried activating it and it's still locked. He then replied what could I do. I was unable to answer as I worked all weekend, so today I received two messages about how I'm a scammer and taking advantage of him and he had no choice but to open a case with eBay. I replied just now telling him once again he can believe what he wants. I have my original documentation and all that. I told him to send the phone back to me and to quit stalling with it as the longer he waits the more suspicious I am getting about this.

At this point in time I don't care if I'm being rude to him. I don't care about feedback. I will never use eBay again. I already plane to record myself opening the package I receive from him with my original purchase receipt next to the package to verify the IMEI and serial and God help this seller of it is not the original phone I sent as my dad is a lawyer and after discussing this with him, I know what recourse I have. If it is my phone and it is actually activation locked I will contact Apple with my original receipt and see how that goes.

Regardless, I WILL provide this buyers name once the return is complete and I verify that this isn't just one big mistake. As I stated, the phone was unregistered from my iCloud account prior to selling and is no longer listed on any of my profiles, so I'm far from the belief this is an "honest mistake".

He is trying to scam you. He wants the money first before returning it should be the clue.

What do you get when you put your IMEI in here: https://www.icloud.com/activationlock/

 

[teknikal90]

Is there a way for the seller to preempt a case and report a buyer to ebay first?

 

[gdjsnyder]

He is trying to scam you. He wants the money first before returning it should be the clue.

What do you get when you put your IMEI in here: https://www.icloud.com/activationlock/

It is activation locked according the website. It was NOT when the phone was in transit via the shipping service.
[doublepost=1463442509][/doublepost]

Is there a way for the seller to preempt a case and report a buyer to ebay first?

I don't think I can, but if he opens a case eBay has access to all of the messages sent between us, so I have documented my suspicions very thoroughly in the most recent message. So it is documented for their purposes prior to the invitation of a return/case.

 

[Channan]

Sorry guys, here's an update: did not receive a message back from the buyer after offering a return and him saying he should get his money back first and calling me a scammer. I messaged him back with a link to eBays return policy and said I would follow that. So for three days no message. Then on Thursday night I received a message stating he wanted to keep the phone and what could I do to help. I'm assuming he meant a discount. I said if the phone was having issues then he should not want to keep the phone, and I will provide a refund. There would be no discount. He replied saying to let him try setting it up again and he'd let me know. I once again didn't hear back on Friday or Saturday, so I thought maybe this was all blown over.

NOPE. Sunday rolls around, he tried activating it and it's still locked. He then replied what could I do. I was unable to answer as I worked all weekend, so today I received two messages about how I'm a scammer and taking advantage of him and he had no choice but to open a case with eBay. I replied just now telling him once again he can believe what he wants. I have my original documentation and all that. I told him to send the phone back to me and to quit stalling with it as the longer he waits the more suspicious I am getting about this.

At this point in time I don't care if I'm being rude to him. I don't care about feedback. I will never use eBay again. I already plane to record myself opening the package I receive from him with my original purchase receipt next to the package to verify the IMEI and serial and God help this seller of it is not the original phone I sent as my dad is a lawyer and after discussing this with him, I know what recourse I have. If it is my phone and it is actually activation locked I will contact Apple with my original receipt and see how that goes.

Regardless, I WILL provide this buyers name once the return is complete and I verify that this isn't just one big mistake. As I stated, the phone was unregistered from my iCloud account prior to selling and is no longer listed on any of my profiles, so I'm far from the belief this is an "honest mistake".

I liked your post but I don't like your post. Can't wait to get this dude's name.

 

[Applejuiced]

He's trying to black mail you and scare you into giving him a discount so he can get it cheaper.
Had the same prob before when a buyer said there was a scratch and wanted $50 off. Where in reality I pointed every defect and showed the device from every angle.
He opened a case right away. I told him to send it back since he's full of bs. He didn't respond for a week. Then he lowered his claim asking for $30 off. I told him I'd give him $20 just to end this nonsense and closed the case and never went back to eBay.
That's what many do. Get the device and they try to make something up to get it even cheaper.
They got your item and your money is frozen as soon as they put a dispute in so they play the game till you give up.
Keep us posted bud, hope it works out in the end.

 

[teknikal90]

damn. this sucks. no ebay for me

 

[RadioGaGa1984]

This happened to me with the Apple Watch, there's another area where devices are registered separate from iCloud.

When you log in you can see all of your devices listed there, click on the device and you can remove it at the top.

Hope this helps!

https://idmsa.apple.com/IDMSWebAuth...URL=https://supportprofile.apple.com/homePage

This has absolutely nothing to do with activation lock. These item can stay on a persons profile forever and have no effect on items being sold or warranty service being used by someone else.

 

[Jetro]

Maybe you could have him connect it to wifi and go into your find my iPhone account and remotely erase it and remove the lock. I had to do that with an iPad mini I sold that did not get erased because I was in a hurry. I made the guy connect it to wifi and was able to remotely erase it with him on the phone with me. That is unless he got it locked up by someone other than you which in that case is his fault and he shouldn't get a refund.