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Just Realised A Massive Easy to Make Mistake.. HELP ME!

D

DanielApple

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 12, 2009
6
0
Ok... I have an Issue!

I have an iPhone 2G and it started to play up. So it was time to upgrade to the top of the range 3GS 32GB. So.. I sought to buy one unlocked. I went on ebay and contacted several nearby members that I will buy one for $800 (AUS$) if I could pick it up on that day.

I got a message from one of the sellers saying he wants $840. I talked him down to $800. I went about an hour away from home to pick it up at a job site he was working at. We ended up meeting at a hardware store. He shook my hand. Showed me the iphone all wrapped up still in protective plastic and charger and headphones were in there etc.

I said.. great. heres the money and gave him the cash. We shook hands again and then we left. I was aching to play with my new iPhone 3GS. I got home 2 hours later and unpackaged it properly, cleaned it and put its new expensive case and screen protector on it.

Then I switched it on and had a look at it. I was told it was unlocked. I then saw that it had a sim card already in it. On the 3 Network.

This is when I saw a massive amount of stupidity on my part. I realised I did not have his Name, his Address or even Proof of Purchase / A Receipt. I only have his phone number and his ebay ID.

I am pretty sure that It is obviously on a contract and I have a feeling he has no intention of paying it! Who knows.. I might be lucky. But maybe he will declare it stolen and therefore it will be bricked. Maybe it was bought with a fake identity and they will find me because of the IMEI / Serial numbers and I will get the blame.

What do I do? What can I do? My fellow Apple friends, HELP!

EDIT: My sim works, the issue was if the Sim card that was in it was associated with the phone by a contract. This would mean that someone would need to be billed and the phone would not be under my ownership. (especially considering no proof of purchase.) As an Economics and Law University student, I should realise the importance of a receipt...!!!
 
DanielApple said:
Ok... I have an Issue!

I have an iPhone 2G and it started to play up. So it was time to upgrade to the top of the range 3GS 32GB. So.. I sought to buy one unlocked. I went on ebay and contacted several nearby members that I will buy one for $800 (AUS$) if I could pick it up on that day.

I got a message from one of the sellers saying he wants $840. I talked him down to $800. I went about an hour away from home to pick it up at a job site he was working at. We ended up meeting at a hardware store. He shook my hand. Showed me the iphone all wrapped up still in protective plastic and charger and headphones were in there etc.

I said.. great. heres the money and gave him the cash. We shook hands again and then we left. I was aching to play with my new iPhone 3GS. I got home 2 hours later and unpackaged it properly, cleaned it and put its new expensive case and screen protector on it.

Then I switched it on and had a look at it. I was told it was unlocked. I then saw that it had a sim card already in it. On the 3 Network.

This is when I saw a massive amount of stupidity on my part. I realised I did not have his Name, his Address or even Proof of Purchase / A Receipt. I only have his phone number and his ebay ID.

I am pretty sure that It is obviously on a contract and I have a feeling he has no intention of paying it! Who knows.. I might be lucky. But maybe he will declare it stolen and therefore it will be bricked. Maybe it was bought with a fake identity and they will find me because of the IMEI / Serial numbers and I will get the blame.

What do I do? What can I do? My fellow Apple friends, HELP!
Click to expand...

Do you know for sure it's not unlocked?
 
If you can, print up copies of your online interaction with him (documentation is key). Replace the SIM and see what happens.
 
Thanks

I replaced the Sim and it works beautifully with my Sim which is a different Carrier. Conveniently, his brother rang me up thinking that I was a new customer and I asked him some questions than introduced myself. He claims that the simcard is used to unlock the phones and they forgot to take it out. They said they will ring up and cancel it and assured me the iphone will not get bricked.

I have just realised my biggest issue is Jailbreaking! I want to Jailbreak it like my 2G but I upgraded my fathers 3GS last week to 3.1.3 and have not been able to get anywhere with it. His is legitimately on Contract and I had it working with Blackra1n before I foolishly upgraded it. Now im just waiting desperately for a way to jailbreak the 3GS. =(

Thanks For the Advice! Any ideas on the jailbreak though or even what they guy said to me about the Sim Card? =S

I cant lose my unlock now or then im stuffed! lol
 
DanielApple said:
I have just realised my biggest issue is Jailbreaking! I want to Jailbreak it like my 2G but I upgraded my fathers 3GS last week to 3.1.3 and have not been able to get anywhere with it. His is legitimately on Contract and I had it working with Blackra1n before I foolishly upgraded it. Now im just waiting desperately for a way to jailbreak the 3GS. =(
Click to expand...

If your phone is not yet upgraded to 3.1.3 do not upgrade it. Your 3GS can be jailbroken using redsn0w. Please see the following threads:

The Official Tethered Jailbreak FAQ
Jailbreak Selection Made Simple

And if you want more information on why you shouldn't upgrade to 3.1.3:

So You "Accidentally" Upgraded to 3.1.3. Now What?
 
Its brand brand new. It is on 3.1.3 as standard! Any chance of jailbreaking as of yet when it has never been jailbroken before AND being on 3.1.3?

Im guessing not but its worth asking! =)
 
From what i know they don't have a jailbreak for the new 3GS phones. On the dev team site it explicitly mentions only 3GS with old bootrom. When i upgraded to 3.1.2 the software (redsn0w?) made a special firmware with the older bootrom for me.

(excuse the phrasing, the thoughts are correct even if the wording might not)
 
TBi said:
From what i know they don't have a jailbreak for the new 3GS phones. On the dev team site it explicitly mentions only 3GS with old bootrom. When i upgraded to 3.1.2 the software (redsn0w?) made a special firmware with the older bootrom for me.

(excuse the phrasing, the thoughts are correct even if the wording might not)
Click to expand...

haha! I know exactly what you mean! Ive been all over those sites for the last couple of hours. GeoHot needs to move it and get to work and show his brilliance yet again!
 
DanielApple said:
Its brand brand new. It is on 3.1.3 as standard! Any chance of jailbreaking as of yet when it has never been jailbroken before AND being on 3.1.3? Im guessing not but its worth asking! =)
Click to expand...

Sorry, everything said about the 3GS in the 3.1.3 update thread applies equally to phones released with 3.1.3. I'd be really surprised if your phone came with 3.1.3 pre-installed. What week is your phone? (the week number is the fourth and fifth digits of your SN).

TBi said:
When i upgraded to 3.1.2 the software (redsn0w?) made a special firmware with the older bootrom for me.
Click to expand...

You used PwnageTool, not redsn0w. But you are otherwise correct.
 
when you buy a phone of any type and take the other sim card out and install yours it will be what your plan is with your carrier not the other guys so you are fine as far as that goes. the jailbreak/unlock is a different story for now though.
 
The Serial number is... 8**528Q83NR - Im assuming this is therefore very new. Does this mean anything that could stop me downgrading to 3.1.2?

chargit said:
when you buy a phone of any type and take the other sim card out and install yours it will be what your plan is with your carrier not the other guys so you are fine as far as that goes. the jailbreak/unlock is a different story for now though.
Click to expand...

Hang on.. Let me explain! Let's say "3" a carrier in Australia is offering a plan. $129 a month for unlimited calls and the phone is bundled or included in this plan.

The guy who sold me the phone may have signed up to this contract under a false name or fake identity. He then receives the phone. He sells the phone online as it is an easy way to get rid of the product and make some cash. He makes sure there is no record of the sale and he doesn't give away much information. He disappears and takes off.

Now the "3" Carrier is billing this person $129 a month. After the first month.. no one pays.. after the second month.. no one pays. They follow it up and find that that identity doesn't exist. So they brick the sim and the IMEI number of the iPhone.

Yeah, I have my sim in the phone, it doesn't mean the phone is mine! It means it is bundled to that contract regardless of whether I use the sim or not!

I am quite sure I wasnt scammed but I am 100% sure that there are people out there doing this thing!

Im researching information on how to downgrade to 3.1.2 so I can then jailbreak it. I just cant seem to edit the etc/hosts file.
 
first off...they will not brick your phone...they will stop providing service for that sim. second...you cannot jailbreak your phone for a while. third, discussion of piracy is not allowed on this thread.
 
DanielApple said:
Im researching information on how to downgrade to 3.1.2 so I can then jailbreak it. I just cant seem to edit the etc/hosts file.
Click to expand...

You can't just edit your host file and go back to 3.1.2. The hosts file would have had to be edited before you upgraded to 3.1.2. That's the way sauriks server works. It saves the required files as you upgrade so you can do it over and over.

pcs are junk said:
first off...they will not brick your phone...they will stop providing service for that sim. second...you cannot jailbreak your phone for a while. third, discussion of piracy is not allowed on this thread.
Click to expand...

Who is discussing piracy? They can ban your phone from the network using the IMEI.
 
pcs are junk said:
first off...they will not brick your phone...they will stop providing service for that sim. second...you cannot jailbreak your phone for a while. third, discussion of piracy is not allowed on this thread.
Click to expand...

Discussion of piracy actually isn't allowed anywhere at all on the forum.

Also this is the second or third time you've chastised someone for mentioning piracy when they haven't done anything even remotely of the sort. Are you even reading people's posts?

TBi said:
They can ban your phone from the network using the IMEI.
Click to expand...

This is true, but wouldn't that phone only be banned from the "3" network? I doubt 3 would contact the other carriers and get them to also ban the phone.

Of course if 3 were his carrier (which he said it isn't), this would be more of a problem.
 
Penguissimo said:
Discussion of piracy actually isn't allowed anywhere at all on the forum.

Also this is the second or third time you've chastised someone for mentioning piracy when they haven't done anything even remotely of the sort. Are you even reading people's posts?
Click to expand...

yes i am...he edited his post. he said he wanted to jailbreak only for cracked apps.
 
Penguissimo said:
This is true, but wouldn't that phone only be banned from the "3" network? I doubt 3 would contact the other carriers and get them to also ban the phone.

Of course if 3 were his carrier (which he said it isn't), this would be more of a problem.
Click to expand...

Not sure but i think by law in some countries if a phone is reported stolen then it is banned from all networks. People are less likely to steal them then.

pcs are junk said:
yes i am...he edited his post. he said he wanted to jailbreak only for cracked apps.
Click to expand...

I think someone will have to release apps on cydia using the company name "cracked". Then it won't just be about piracy! :)
 
TBi said:
Not sure but i think by law in some countries if a phone is reported stolen then it is banned from all networks. People are less likely to steal them then.
Click to expand...

Oooh, that'd be a bummer; you'd like to think such a clause would be invoked only in the case of actual reported theft rather than just to recoup the contract subsidy. Of course, if a scammer were to register with fake information, I guess you could make the case for theft.

And I'm not too familiar with Australian telecommunications law, but the little bit I do know about it seems to indicate that they have a rather authoritarian streak down there, so I guess it wouldn't be too shocking if even a case like the OP described could result in an IMEI ban...
 
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