I bought a used iPhone 11 Pro on eBay and it turns out it was reported lost/stolen to AT&T. I checked the IMEI before I bought it on Swappa and a couple other sites and it came back clean/not blacklisted, and I checked it on Verizon's website and it says it's compatible so I assumed it's unlocked. So when I got the phone I tried putting my Verizon SIM in it and it wouldn't activate. It's locked to AT&T. So then I went to the AT&T unlocking page and I put in the IMEI and it says they can't unlock it because it was reported as lost or stolen. I then called AT&T and they weren't helpful. They told me they couldn't give me any information because I'm not an AT&T customer. They told me I could use the phone on AT&T, but they wouldn't verify if it was lost or stolen. Isn't that strange? If the AT&T stores were open I'd go down there and try to get some answers. I guess the best thing to do is just return it?
Update: Decided to send it back. Just in case it was lost or stolen I don't want any part of it. I read other posts where people bought a used AT&T iPhone that was clean and it became blacklisted a few months later because the original owner didn't pay bills or something. Since AT&T won't give out any info it's a roll of the dice if it's going to stay clean.
Update 2: The seller agreed to allow me to return it. I also was able to get more info from AT&T in an online chat. They verified the phone was being blacklisted because it was reported stolen and had an unpaid balance. They told me I don't need to file a police report because I didn't obtain it illegally and that I can keep it (I offered to surrender it to them or the police). They also said they could whitelist it if I could get the original owner to pay the bill (or I could pay it if they initiated it). I asked the seller about it and they are not the original owner. They buy and sell a lot of Apple stuff and said they thought the ESN was clean when they bought it (probably from the original owner). AT&T told me to call their customer service number to explore other options to whitelist the phone if I was unable to contact the original owner. The hold times were too long tonight so I'll try calling again later and see what options they have available before I send it back.
Update 3: I talked to the billing department at AT&T today and they told me the unpaid balance on the phone is $1200 (!) and they couldn't whitelist it even if I paid it because the original owner reported it lost/stolen and received an insurance replacement. Sounds like fraud if they sold it after that. It's definitely going back.
Helpful info for others: It looks like AT&T would allow a blacklisted phone to be whitelisted if it had an unpaid balance and was paid as long as it wasn't reported lost/stolen/replaced by insurance. So if that's the case on a device you bought give them a call.
Update: Decided to send it back. Just in case it was lost or stolen I don't want any part of it. I read other posts where people bought a used AT&T iPhone that was clean and it became blacklisted a few months later because the original owner didn't pay bills or something. Since AT&T won't give out any info it's a roll of the dice if it's going to stay clean.
Update 2: The seller agreed to allow me to return it. I also was able to get more info from AT&T in an online chat. They verified the phone was being blacklisted because it was reported stolen and had an unpaid balance. They told me I don't need to file a police report because I didn't obtain it illegally and that I can keep it (I offered to surrender it to them or the police). They also said they could whitelist it if I could get the original owner to pay the bill (or I could pay it if they initiated it). I asked the seller about it and they are not the original owner. They buy and sell a lot of Apple stuff and said they thought the ESN was clean when they bought it (probably from the original owner). AT&T told me to call their customer service number to explore other options to whitelist the phone if I was unable to contact the original owner. The hold times were too long tonight so I'll try calling again later and see what options they have available before I send it back.
Update 3: I talked to the billing department at AT&T today and they told me the unpaid balance on the phone is $1200 (!) and they couldn't whitelist it even if I paid it because the original owner reported it lost/stolen and received an insurance replacement. Sounds like fraud if they sold it after that. It's definitely going back.
Helpful info for others: It looks like AT&T would allow a blacklisted phone to be whitelisted if it had an unpaid balance and was paid as long as it wasn't reported lost/stolen/replaced by insurance. So if that's the case on a device you bought give them a call.
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