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Yomo710

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2015
4
0
Hello. Basically, I purchased a used iphone 6 plus and it worked for about 2 weeks and then was suddenly reported stolen by the seller. He is being unresponsive and it honestly is not worth civil court. So, my question is, if i was later to "have a problem" with my phone and it would need to be replaced, would apple check the esn number of it? Would they give me a phone with a bad esn? Or would they replace it with a phone with a good esn?
 
This is illegal. You shouldn't be in possession of the iPhone in the first place.
 
I have all of the icloud information. It is my phone. It may have been reported stolen to the carrier, but I have the box and everything. So it is not stolen. It is not icloud locked lol, and it is not illegal. Thanks for your reply.

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This is illegal. You shouldn't be in possession of the iPhone in the first place.

Please explain the illegality of my circumstance. The phone was reported stolen after I lawfully purchased it from the original account holder. He had the box, icloud information, everything.
 
Because the seller committed fraud?

Exactly. How is it my fault if I lawfully purchased a phone with all Icloud information and boxes and everything. How am i supposed to know? This is not my fault, I checked the esn and even activated the phone. If they actually took the time to read the thread then maybe they'd understand.
 
Sigh. You bought a stolen phone. Just because you bought it from a thief in good faith means nothing. It's still stolen regardless of who stole it. Sorry you are out money. You should return the phone to the owner. That's the right thing to do.
 
If you had it active on your account for two weeks, they shouldn't have been able to report it stolen since it was released from their account and was active on yours. That's like me calling verizon and having my friends phone reported as stolen by giving them his imei and esn. They would tell me he would have to do that. Call your carrier and explain the situation and let them sort it out. If it wasn't icloud locked and sold legit, there would be no way to report "your" active phone as stolen since it's perfectly activated on your line.
 
Sigh. You bought a stolen phone. Just because you bought it from a thief in good faith means nothing. It's still stolen regardless of who stole it. Sorry you are out money. You should return the phone to the owner. That's the right thing to do.

Except that it seems that the circumstances are different here.

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If you had it active on your account for two weeks, they shouldn't have been able to report it stolen since it was released from their account and was active on yours. That's like me calling verizon and having my friends phone reported as stolen by giving them his imei and esn. They would tell me he would have to do that. Call your carrier and explain the situation and let them sort it out. If it wasn't icloud locked and sold legit, there would be no way to report "your" active phone as stolen since it's perfectly activated on your line.

You are right as far as how it should work, except that it doesn't work that way unfortunately. People have been able to report their phones as lost or stolen well after selling them. There are plenty of reports of this kind of thing over the years in all kinds of online forums related to carriers and phones. The system just doesn't work quite the way it seems like it should.
 
Hello. Basically, I purchased a used iphone 6 plus and it worked for about 2 weeks and then was suddenly reported stolen by the seller. He is being unresponsive and it honestly is not worth civil court. So, my question is, if i was later to "have a problem" with my phone and it would need to be replaced, would apple check the esn number of it? Would they give me a phone with a bad esn? Or would they replace it with a phone with a good esn?

How did it work for 2 weeks? Was it under your name? Had you already called Verizon or ATT and set it up?

I think like the last reply that you probably bought a stolen phone. This happened to my goddaughter. I would report all of the info you have on this person to the police and also call Apple to report too. My laptop was taken from a place Apple sent me to for repair. Apple will keep info on stolen stuff.

I don't think you are going to find your way around it....mainly because it makes you look shady yourself if you do.
 
How did it work for 2 weeks? Was it under your name? Had you already called Verizon or ATT and set it up?

I think like the last reply that you probably bought a stolen phone. This happened to my goddaughter. I would report all of the info you have on this person to the police and also call Apple to report too. My laptop was taken from a place Apple sent me to for repair. Apple will keep info on stolen stuff.

I don't think you are going to find your way around it....mainly because it makes you look shady yourself if you do.

Thanks to everyone who answered but I think you guys are not seeing my point. Can someone answer my question?

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If you had it active on your account for two weeks, they shouldn't have been able to report it stolen since it was released from their account and was active on yours. That's like me calling verizon and having my friends phone reported as stolen by giving them his imei and esn. They would tell me he would have to do that. Call your carrier and explain the situation and let them sort it out. If it wasn't icloud locked and sold legit, there would be no way to report "your" active phone as stolen since it's perfectly activated on your line.

It does happen lol. Like the other user stated, it has happened numerous times.
 
let me take a stab at it, so that you may understand it a little bit. I get that you bought the phone from a third party with box/accessories, that's fine. But the problem is that the guy who sold you the device waited 2 weeks to report it stolen and screwed you in the end. Now the box and imei doesn't matter now bc he was the original owner and the imei was locked into his account. You can't do anything about it now except maybe bring it into the carrier and give them any kind of record of the purchase and maybe you'll be able to screw the guy back by proving that he committed fraud.
 
Please explain the illegality of my circumstance. The phone was reported stolen after I lawfully purchased it from the original account holder. He had the box, icloud information, everything.

Insurance fraud is illegal. Your original post implies that you intended to purposely damage the phone and claim it under AppleCare (insurance).
 
It doesn't matter if its replaced, the activation lock will eventually transfer over to the new ESN because its tied to the line the original phone was connected to.
 
It doesn't matter if its replaced, the activation lock will eventually transfer over to the new ESN because its tied to the line the original phone was connected to.

Doesn't seem like (iOS/Apple) activation lock is in play here.
 
Sigh. You bought a stolen phone. Just because you bought it from a thief in good faith means nothing. It's still stolen regardless of who stole it. Sorry you are out money. You should return the phone to the owner. That's the right thing to do.


How did he buy a stolen phone? The phone is not stolen.
 
Sounds like the OP bought a phone that the original owner had to turn into cash. The original owner could have been looking for a way out if paying the contract fees and reported the phone stolen (which doesn't work anyway). Or possibly they had theft insurance and already got the phone replaced, while still keeping the cash from selling it.
 
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The bottom line is he needs to call the carrier and see if there is something they can do for him. Only they can remove the black list.
 
Looks like eBay offers bad imei iPhone swap and it's legal otherwise they would not allow those listings.
 
How did he buy a stolen phone? The phone is not stolen.
Tell me why you are so sure the phone was not stolen long before the OP acquired it. I believe that the OP feels it is not stolen.

OP Post:
"Hello. Basically, I purchased a used iphone 6 plus and it worked for about 2 weeks and then was suddenly reported stolen by the seller without the possible question of failed payment, what is the sellers motivation? He is being unresponsive - again, why ? and it honestly is not worth civil court. So, my question is, if i was later to "have a problem" with my phone and it would need to be replaced, would apple check the esn number of it? Would they give me a phone with a bad esn? Or would they replace it with a phone with a good esn? "
His unresponsive friend may not be the person that reported it stolen. The original owner may have done this.
This is only my thought process. it doesn't make it real but it is how I look at the post. We, or he is not sure how long it has been in the wild.
 
Tell me why you are so sure the phone was not stolen long before the OP acquired it. I believe that the OP feels it is not stolen.

OP Post:
"Hello. Basically, I purchased a used iphone 6 plus and it worked for about 2 weeks and then was suddenly reported stolen by the seller without the possible question of failed payment, what is the sellers motivation? He is being unresponsive - again, why ? and it honestly is not worth civil court. So, my question is, if i was later to "have a problem" with my phone and it would need to be replaced, would apple check the esn number of it? Would they give me a phone with a bad esn? Or would they replace it with a phone with a good esn? "
His unresponsive friend may not be the person that reported it stolen. The original owner may have done this.
This is only my thought process. it doesn't make it real but it is how I look at the post. We, or he is not sure how long it has been in the wild.
Because plenty of people have pulled this kind of thing over the years. Selling the phone and then reporting it as lost or stolen to get a replacement through insurance to use or basically sell again and make more money. I mean pretty much anything is possible of course, but given how not that uncommon what I described has been over the years it seems like that is more likely. However, even if it's as you describe, the OP is still a victim nonetheless even in that case.
 
Because plenty of people have pulled this kind of thing over the years. Selling the phone and then reporting it as lost or stolen to get a replacement through insurance to use or basically sell again and make more money. I mean pretty much anything is possible of course, but given how not that uncommon what I described has been over the years it seems like that is more likely. However, even if it's as you describe, the OP is still a victim nonetheless even in that case.

Agreed and sad.
I hate a thief. I've been burned too many times myself and am very wary of buying things from people that aren't at least in the ring of people that I know.
 
good lord, bunch of cry babies on here. Can someone not answer a simple question without calling someone else a thief or a fraud or what not? To answer your question, No. They do not check your esn or imei. as long as the serial number checks out they will do a swap for a new/refurbished one with a different imei.
 
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Hello. Basically, I purchased a used iphone 6 plus and it worked for about 2 weeks and then was suddenly reported stolen by the seller. He is being unresponsive and it honestly is not worth civil court. So, my question is, if i was later to "have a problem" with my phone and it would need to be replaced, would apple check the esn number of it? Would they give me a phone with a bad esn? Or would they replace it with a phone with a good esn?

If your phone some how gets "broken or malfunctions" the new phone you receive will not have a bad esn. It will be a fresh phone nothing from the old esn of the phone will transfer.
 
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good lord, bunch of cry babies on here. Can someone not answer a simple question without calling someone else a thief or a fraud or what not? To answer your question, No. They do not check your esn or imei. as long as the serial number checks out they will do a swap for a new/refurbished one with a different imei.

I have seen them enter the imei number as well as serial number when I was there recently. Never seen them enter esn. Hopefully OP can work this out before its an issue.
 
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