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Did AT&T not activate my phone correctly before I sold it? (Pics)

C

clarnold

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
16
0
I was just contacted by the guy I sold my iPhone5 to in Venezuela, asking me for the last 4 of my SSN and my billing address. Obviously I refused. He sent me these pictures of the phone. Did AT&T not activate my phone properly?

I took it into an AT&T, supposedly they activated my iPhone5 and then reactivated a SIM and put that into my iPhone 4 again. I left the same SIM that they supposedly activated in the iPhone5 when I shipped it, maybe I should've taken it out.

Any ideas? More importantly, if I DO give him this information, will it kill the SIM in the phone I'm using?

PICS: http://imgur.com/a/g1GZ3
 
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I don't. I actually shipped to verified paypal address in Florida which I found out later is his Aunt. I paid for adult signature verification through USPS to Florida. Should be good there.
 
I sold my iPhone and made sure to remove the sim before shipping it. Leaving it in causes all sorts of hassles
 
Akash.B said:
I sold my iPhone and made sure to remove the sim before shipping it. Leaving it in causes all sorts of hassles
Click to expand...

Are you saying he should just be able to take the SIM out and use his own? Please elaborate.
 
Wouldn't he logically take the iPhone to his own carrier and have them activate it for him? That should avoid problems and be fastest. He'll need his own SIM.

By no means give him your info.
 
So you bought an iPhone 5, activated it, then sent the phone and SIM to a stranger? Oh my. You don't also reply to emails from Nigeria, do you?

Unless AT&T provides service in Venezula, or AT&T unlocked the phone for you, the guy is out of luck.
 
Homersapien said:
So you bought an iPhone 5, activated it, then sent the phone and SIM to a stranger? Oh my. You don't also reply to emails from Nigeria, do you?

Unless AT&T provides service in Venezula, or AT&T unlocked the phone for you, the guy is out of luck.
Click to expand...

if you read the post, the SIM was also deactivated when they activated a NEW SIM for my old phone. Thanks though.
 
clarnold said:
if you read the post, the SIM was also deactivated when they activated a NEW SIM for my old phone. Thanks though.
Click to expand...

That doesn't make sense to me since, to activate a phone/sim, it has to be tied to that sim/phone.

I mean, so long as you sold a clean phone to him, he should have been able to just put his own sim card in there to use it. I'm not sure why you activated it for him.

Seems like you should have just deactivated your end. Activation should have been left up to him?

I dunno. But yes, you shouldn't give him any of your info.
 
NovemberWhiskey said:
That doesn't make sense to me since, to activate a phone/sim, it has to be tied to that sim/phone.

I mean, so long as you sold a clean phone to him, he should have been able to just put his own sim card in there to use it. I'm not sure why you activated it for him.

Seems like you should have just deactivated your end. Activation should have been left up to him?

I dunno. But yes, you shouldn't give him any of your info.
Click to expand...

You have to activate the phone when you buy it. The iPhone 5 currently can't be purchased without some sort of association with either att, verizon, or sprint. So when you buy it the phone is activated to that number.
 
Ooh thats a tough one, he is going to need your last 4 to activate the phone for a first time. It will render your sim useless and you will need to goto ATT store to get a new sim, I had the same thing happen when I bought my Iphone 4s on EBAY. It was a pain in the butt for me, but the guy finally gave me the information when I went to an ATT store.

He isnt trying to scam you, worse case scenario he activates the phone, and you go in and have them shut it down if he doesnt shut it down himself with his new sim for it.

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NovemberWhiskey said:
That doesn't make sense to me since, to activate a phone/sim, it has to be tied to that sim/phone.


I mean, so long as you sold a clean phone to him, he should have been able to just put his own sim card in there to use it. I'm not sure why you activated it for him.

Seems like you should have just deactivated your end. Activation should have been left up to him?

I dunno. But yes, you shouldn't give him any of your info.
Click to expand...

You are wrong, you must open the brand new box, activate the phone first, then take out the sim. If not it is locked and becomes a very expensive brick and if I were him I would send it back if the OP doesn't give him the proper info he needs.

----------
lelisa13p said:
Wouldn't he logically take the iPhone to his own carrier and have them activate it for him? That should avoid problems and be fastest. He'll need his own SIM.

By no means give him your info.
Click to expand...

I tried this technique and sat in ATT for 2 hours and they could not figure out a workaround without the original owners information. I ended up searching Macrumors for my answer that ATT didn't even know about.

I didn't notice OP said he took it to ATT and they activated the 5 first, then he sent it. That is different than my situation and I would tell him SOL or send it back to you for a refund. Either way that is a sticky situation
 
clarnold said:
Any ideas? More importantly, if I DO give him this information, will it kill the SIM in the phone I'm using?

PICS: http://imgur.com/a/g1GZ3
Click to expand...

Are you the AT&T store had activated your iPhone successfully?? 100%. :confused:

It doesn't make any difference if you had ship the SIM to him or not, he's got his own SIM in the phone right now anyway (AT&T SIM is no use in S America). He will need the last 4 digit of your social and your zip code to activate the phone again. The phone is locked at the moment, maybe he did a factory reset before hand.

FWIW: I would have taken the SIM out before shipping the iPhone out, just in case.

You have two choices now:

1) Give him the last 4 digit of your social and zip code (which he might have already), if you think he/she is an honest person :p

2) Ask the buyer to ship the iPhone back to you and you can activate it yourself again.
 
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dchao said:
Are you the AT&T store had activated your iPhone successfully?? 100%. :confused:

It doesn't make any difference if you had ship the SIM to him or not, he's got his own SIM in the phone right now anyway (AT&T SIM is no use in S America). He will need the last 4 digit of your social and your zip code to activate the phone again. The phone is not activated at the moment, maybe he did a factory reset.

FWIW: I would have taken the SIM out before shipping the iPhone out, just in case.

You have two choices now:

1) Give him the last 4 digit of your social and zip code (which he might have already)

2) Ask the buyer to ship the iPhone back to you and you can activate it yourself again.
Click to expand...


Yes that exactly it. My big mistake obviously, was not taking the SIM out. AT&T told me that they activated the phone and I watched them do it. I tried to avoid this exact situation and either I failed or AT&T failed me.

Now I'm trying to decide if I care that this guy will have the last 4 of my SSN and billing address.
 
clarnold said:
Yes that exactly it. My big mistake obviously, was not taking the SIM out. AT&T told me that they activated the phone and I watched them do it. I tried to avoid this exact situation and either I failed or AT&T failed me.

Now I'm trying to decide if I care that this guy will have the last 4 of my SSN and billing address.
Click to expand...

Just your billing zip, not full address, shouldn't matter. Hell my college grades were posted by our last 4 of our SSN. Shouldn't be a big deal.
 
clarnold said:
AT&T told me that they activated the phone and I watched them do it.
Click to expand...

In that case, AT&T probably did active your iPhone. But after a factory reset, you will need to activate the phone again. :( There is no way round it.

The buyer can always take that iPhone to a Apple store in Venezuela and swap it for a brand new one (assuming if the iP5 is available in S America), since it's still under the warranty. That's the only way to solve this problem permanently. Alternatively, ask the seller to ship it back to you, and you can bring it into a Apple Store yourself, and swap it for a new one, register under the buyer's name.
 
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clarnold said:
Yes that exactly it. My big mistake obviously, was not taking the SIM out. AT&T told me that they activated the phone and I watched them do it. I tried to avoid this exact situation and either I failed or AT&T failed me.

Now I'm trying to decide if I care that this guy will have the last 4 of my SSN and billing address.
Click to expand...

It doesn't seem like a big deal. I'm not sure what harm anyone could do with the last 4 of your SS#. And your billing zip? That's not exactly secret information.
 
Why is everyone saying the last four digit of SS# is no big deal? All of my banks and credit cards use that as verification info when I call in for customer support. I'd be very weary of giving it out.
 
Did you unlock the phone beforehand? I sold mine to someone in Russia, so I had it unlocked from ebay for a few bucks, restored it and it said your phone is unlocked. So I took my sim out at that point and sent it
 
Just have the person do a remote desktop or vnc connection. Plug the phone in and let itunes ask for the info. Enter your information via the remote desktop or vnc connection. Your SS should be ** out. This is what a few people have done.
 
Jesus NO! Do NOT give him the last 4 of your social!! I don't know what is wrong with so people on here. You know how much damage can be done with that?

They probably activated it, and then since you left the sim in, when he turned it on again, it sees that theres an inactive sim in there and probably wants to get activated again. Its not active, but it is still tied to your phone # and account.

If he can't take it to an at&t store to get straightened out, tell him to send it back to you so YOU can do it correctly and then send it back. Your sort of both at fault.
 
For better or for worse, I gave him my billing zip and last four SSN. He was able to activate right away and oddly it didn't deactivate my phone.

This leads me to believe that the people who said that AT&T activated it correctly originally, but then I left the SIM in and it wanted to activate itself again, were correct. So obviously my mistake all the way around.

Thanks for the input everyone.
 
I think you did the right thing. Can he do damage with the last 4 of your social? Sure, but he would need to know your accounts. What credit cards, bank, etc... You have. Not going to happen.
 
I sold a brand new 4s.. the guy was going to ship it to china...i never took the sim out since it was sealed...it was going to be a gift for someone in china so he asked me if it was unlocked..i said no..he said ok he would do that before he shipped it out since in china AT&T wont work...so you might need to tell him that the person in venezuela needs to unlock it over there...i'm from ecuador and I know its super easy to do these things over in south america...i dont know why he would need any info from you since at&t doesnt work in venezuela...
 
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