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How to Find 4S IMEI without activation and Sim Slot

K

Kerrybai

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2015
6
0
I recently bought an Iphone 4s on Ebay. The seller said it was locked to Lycamobile.

I received the item and tried a lycamobile sim and it said the sim was not supported. I decided to take out the sime tray and check the IMEI number and low and behold it is not for a 4S. It says it is a White Iphone 8GB. The phone is clearly a Black 4S as I checked the model number and well its black...

It appears the sim card slot was replaced. I contacted the buyer and 5 days later still no response so I'll have to open a case with Paypal.... anyway what I would like to know is how else can I check the IMEI number?

I can't check it in the settings as I need to activate the phone first and to activate I need the right sim but to find the carrier it is locked to I need the IMEI...

Also I realised after that lycamobile don't even sell phones ...DOH! :eek:
 
Last edited:
Kerrybai said:
I recently bought an Iphone 4s on Ebay. The seller said it was locked to Lycamobile.

I received the item and tried a lycamobile sim and it said the sim was not supported. I decided to take out the sime tray and check the IMEI number and low and behold it is not for a 4S. It says it is a White Iphone 8GB. The phone is clearly a Black 4S as I checked the model number and well its black...

It appears the sim card slot was replaced. I contacted the buyer and 5 days later still no response so I'll have to open a case with Paypal.... anyway what I would like to know is how else can I check the IMEI number?

I can't check it in the settings as I need to activate the phone first and to activate I need the right sim but to find the carrier it is locked to I need the IMEI...

Also I realised after that lycamobile don't even sell phones ...DOH! :eek:
Click to expand...

As you said in your edit a phone cannot be locked to lycamobile because they are not a primary retailer. It is fairly easy to change the color of an iphone 4S.

Not sure the relevance of the SIM slot card but you cannot change the IMEI on an iphone it is imbedded in the electronics. You best option right now is Paypal.
 
thewap said:
dial *#06#
Click to expand...

This is the correct answer. You should be able to get the dialer up either by hitting emergency or activating the phone through iTunes then using the dialer. That said iTunes will give you a fair bit of information too
 
Gav2k said:
This is the correct answer. You should be able to get the dialer up either by hitting emergency or activating the phone through iTunes then using the dialer. That said iTunes will give you a fair bit of information too
Click to expand...

How do I activate it through Itunes? It says I need a sim. And when I dieal *#06# it also says emergency calls only....

Is my best option to go to each phone retailer in Ireland and get a sim for each? Would it need to be an active sim for the phone to work? Maybe I could get a phone number with each retailer. I Imagine only Vodafone, 02, Meteor and 3 network would have sold the 4s.
 
You used to be able to activate via iTunes without a SIM card. But I havnt activated an iPhone that way for a long time.

Same with the imie number
 
Gav2k said:
You used to be able to activate via iTunes without a SIM card. But I havnt activated an iPhone that way for a long time.

Same with the imie number
Click to expand...

I guess they changed that... if only the number was located elsewhere on the device. I'll open a paypal case anyway, and I guess I may try getting a sim for each local retailer. I just don't know if the sim needs to be active or not.
 
Kerrybai said:
I guess they changed that... if only the number was located elsewhere on the device. I'll open a paypal case anyway, and I guess I may try getting a sim for each local retailer. I just don't know if the sim needs to be active or not.
Click to expand...

You could go to apple (store) if there local
 
Kerrybai said:
I don't think we have one in Ireland. I'll go to my phone repair shop tomorrow and see if they have any ideas.
Click to expand...

I apologise I missed the Ireland part.

Personally I would pop into a carphonewarehouse and find a helpful person that can check multiple sims for you.
 
Gav2k said:
I apologise I missed the Ireland part.

Personally I would pop into a carphonewarehouse and find a helpful person that can check multiple sims for you.
Click to expand...

Mate works in the carphone warehouse here so I might ask him if he has some sims had can throw in.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Gav2k said:
You used to be able to activate via iTunes without a SIM card. But I havnt activated an iPhone that way for a long time.

Same with the imie number
Click to expand...

You were never able to activate any iphone without a sim card.
Where do you get that?
All iphones always needed a valid sim to activate besides the CDMA verizon iphone 4.
 
Kerrybai said:
How do I activate it through Itunes? It says I need a sim. And when I dieal *#06# it also says emergency calls only....

Is my best option to go to each phone retailer in Ireland and get a sim for each? Would it need to be an active sim for the phone to work? Maybe I could get a phone number with each retailer. I Imagine only Vodafone, 02, Meteor and 3 network would have sold the 4s.
Click to expand...

Just tap phone icon to bring up the dialing pad, then enter the sim retrieval
*#06# the sim number will then display on the screen.

To activate your phone with a carrier they will want that number to see if your phone is compatible with their service, whichever one you choose.

You can activate a phone online through the service of your choice (prolly not veriz), then the carrier will send you a sim card. If you need it now, bring the phone in to a retailer/outlet of the carrier you choose.
 
Applejuiced said:
You were never able to activate any iphone without a sim card.
Where do you get that?
All iphones always needed a valid sim to activate besides the CDMA verizon iphone 4.
Click to expand...

Maybe I was wrong about iTunes but I'm sure there was a trick to bypass the no sim. Maybe it was a jailbrake process or was it hitting emergency call during setup and typing in a number. Or maybe I should just get some sleep...
 
Update

The eabyer got back to me, apparently they sent me the wrong sim slot. They posted me the apparently correct IMEI and are sending the sim slot.

I checked the IMEI and it says it's locked to O2 United Kingdom.

FASTGSM will unlocked for 35 dollars. Can it be unlocked while its not activated? Also how do I know for sure that this is the correct IMEI? I have an 02 sim card but the Irish 02 sims don't work on the UK phones. ARGH... I just need an 02UK sim to see if works...
 
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