iPhone 8/Plus Blacklist question

[shotta287]

At the start of the year I bought a sealed unopened iPhone 8 from a seller on Facebook. The phone was unlocked to all networks.

My question is, can the seller now report it as lost or stolen and get the phone blacklisted? Assuming he got it from Apple or an unwanted network upgrade, as it was unlocked to all networks and wasn’t activated to any carrier, I don’t think he can?

 

[Apple_Robert]

That risk is real.

 

[TiggrToo]

The interwebs are replete with such horror stories:

Sellers Reporting "Stolen" After Selling

I know that there's the very common scam of people selling a phone and then reporting it stolen a few weeks later in order to get reimbursed by their insurance. My question is: if I buy a phone after the seller has removed their iCloud account (obviously, first thing to check for), and I add my...

forums.macrumors.com

Is it possible to sell a phone and then report it lost/stolen and then receive a replacement? | AT&T Community Forums

Hello! I have been selling phones recently, but I started noticing people saying that their phones had been blacklisted (reported stolen/missing) AFTER they had bought it.Does this mean that you co...

forums.att.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/86dukh

 

[shotta287]

I understand. But the phone was new, sealed and unlocked to all networks. Not registered to any carrier. So how would he go about getting it blocked?

 

[TiggrToo]

Define 'sealed'... Anyone can get a doohicky that seals boxes.

Have you asked your carrier if the IMEI was previously registered?

 

[shotta287]

Sealed as in brand new. Everything inside was sealed, like how you buy it brand new from Apple. All contents were new and unused.

At point of purchase I tried a few different SIM cards in it and all worked. So phone was unlocked.

 

[oVerboost]

The network can blacklist the IMEI if the seller doesn’t keep up payments on their contract.

 

[TiggrToo]

Sealed as in brand new. Everything inside was sealed, like how you buy it brand new from Apple. All contents were new and unused.

At point of purchase I tried a few different SIM cards in it and all worked. So phone was unlocked.

Listen, the only way you're going to be sure is if you check the IMEI with your carrier (or potentially Apple).

Arguing with us here will not make a scrap bit of difference as all we can do is give opinions.

If the opinion here was "you're fine" and then it turns out the opinion was wrong and the phone did get blacklisted, how did our opinion help?

 

[shotta287]

Listen, the only way you're going to be sure is if you check the IMEI with your carrier (or potentially Apple).

Arguing with us here will not make a scrap bit of difference as all we can do is give opinions.

If the opinion here was "you're fine" and then it turns out the opinion was wrong and the phone did get blacklisted, how did our opinion help?

How about you listen, pal. I’m not arguing with anybody nor am I looking for assurance that it won’t be blocked.

Just asking how it can potentially be blacklisted or blocked if the phone wasn’t on contract of registered to any carrier. Apple can’t do it can they? That’s all I ask. What process would one have to take to blacklist a new unlocked iPhone that hasn’t been opened and registered to any carrier.

 

[Apple_Robert]

How about you listen, pal. I’m not arguing with anybody nor am I looking for assurance that it won’t be blocked.

Just asking how it can potentially be blacklisted or blocked if the phone wasn’t on contract of registered to any carrier. Apple can’t do it can they? That’s all I ask. What process would one have to take to blacklist a new unlocked iPhone that hasn’t been opened and registered to any carrier.

Apple can blacklist the phone as can the carrier, should the seller decide to do that, or as was stated, fails to honor any phone payment plan.

The risk may be low, but the risk is real.

 

[TiggrToo]

How about you listen, pal. I’m not arguing with anybody nor am I looking for assurance that it won’t be blocked.

Just asking how it can potentially be blacklisted or blocked if the phone wasn’t on contract of registered to any carrier. Apple can’t do it can they? That’s all I ask. What process would one have to take to blacklist a new unlocked iPhone that hasn’t been opened and registered to any carrier.

Asked and answered.

Since no one here knows the exact history of the phone, no one can give you an answer. You say it was sealed - lost track how many times we've heard that and it turns out it was resealed. No one knows apart from from the seller. The seller could have brought it unlocked from Apple even. If they purchased it on installments then it's possible the IMEI was registered by Apple to them.

No one here will be able to satisfy you apparently, so I'm bugging out.

 

[shotta287]

Well finally you gave a reply that makes sense, well done. Thank you for your time and have a great day.

 

[akash.nu]

Apple can blacklist the phone as can the carrier, should the seller decide to do that, or as was stated, fails to honor any phone payment plan.

The risk may be low, but the risk is real.

This is 100% true. Apple can blacklist any IMEI. It doesn’t need to be “registered”, whatever you mean by that, with any network.

 

[shotta287]

Apple can blacklist the phone as can the carrier, should the seller decide to do that, or as was stated, fails to honor any phone payment plan.

The risk may be low, but the risk is real.

Thanks. Should it occur, I’ll just have to suck it up and see it as a lesson learnt.

 

[Bob Coxner]

I understand. But the phone was new, sealed and unlocked to all networks. Not registered to any carrier. So how would he go about getting it blocked?

The seller doesn't block it himself. He takes out insurance and then reports it stolen. He gets the insurance money and your money. The insurance company puts it on the blacklist that's shared by the carriers. If it's insured by Apple (AppleCare+ with Theft & Loss) then they can blacklist directly.