Some of the bad esn numbers could be being sold by people that got them subsidized and quit paying their bill. They don't necessarily have to be stolen from someone else.
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So many obviously stolen iPhones on eBay?
- Thread starter herdnerfer
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Good info, thanks. Now what I'm curious about is I hear that it's common to find stolen iphones on craigslist or ebay, for example. Phones which work. These phones work for a month or 2, then stop working because they are reported stolen. Is this simply the person who bought the phone originally the one claiming the phone was stolen on insurance?
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You know, I have the same questions about pawn shops. It's obvious most of the stuff in those places is stolen... and thieves know to sell their stuff there... how are they still around?! 
Just do the right thing and don't waste your money on these devices and leave them alone. Don't think eBay isn't doing anything about it, because they are. They're building profiles on these sellers, and they're finding the right moment to take action. They've been doing this for years now.
You can't do anything about the people who fall for too good to be true deals. These idiots have been around for decades and advertisers benefit from it.
You can't do anything about the people who fall for too good to be true deals. These idiots have been around for decades and advertisers benefit from it.
You know, I have the same questions about pawn shops. It's obvious most of the stuff in those places is stolen... and thieves know to sell their stuff there... how are they still around?!
That's pretty much incorrect.
I agree. Most Pawn Shops are very careful about taking stolen items. But there are some that do and know they do and don't care.
Not saying that at all. The item might well be stolen, but there are procedures in place to find that out after the item is bought by the pawn shop. The pawn shop is not supposed to buy from you without picture ID and they can not sell immediately. It varies state to state but they have to hold the item so the police can be notified.
Selling a phone only (no cords, etc) that has been activation locked is not shady AT ALL.
I think it's dumb that you cannot flag an eBay auction for selling stolen goods.
Their own site says that only the authorities can claim the device is stolen. Regular users cannot.
The whole stolen property issue on Ebay does not work. I saw my stolen bicycle being sold on Ebay. I had already reported it stolen to the police and took details of the sale and the case number to the police. The auction was a one week auction the police said they would get the details of the seller but it would take two weeks.
Never heard from them again.
You know, I have the same questions about pawn shops. It's obvious most of the stuff in those places is stolen... and thieves know to sell their stuff there... how are they still around?!
In most states pawn shops have to have a license. They are supposed to get ID from people selling stuff and keep track of who sold what and info about the item and check for obviously stolen stuff. The police can come in, and if they find something that has been stolen, they can seize it to return to the owner and the pawnshop owner not only is out the money but multiple incidents like that can result in loss of license. That doesn't mean there aren't shady pawn shops that play it fast and loose though.
You guys jump the gun to fast.
Im going take a wild guess and say 90% of those phones are just "bad account" phones, because most of those sellers have only sold one phone in there account lifetime and in the past just non cellphone related items.
Im going to say 5% of those are "fraud" phones which means the customer used for two days then said it was lost or stolen, then made a claim and paid the fee and at the time thought they could get lots of cash for there iphone 5s even with a bad iemi, etc.
Im going to say the other 5% is most likely stolen.
I was in the pawn business in the past and in most states it is illegal for the pawn shop to buy anything that is requesting a password and the seller cannot supply it (i did see a few on ebay who claimed to be pawn shops selling bad esn phones). Its just like when you take a laptop, no pawn shop is going to buy it without a password, plus that just raises suspicion of the item being stolen.
Im going take a wild guess and say 90% of those phones are just "bad account" phones, because most of those sellers have only sold one phone in there account lifetime and in the past just non cellphone related items.
Im going to say 5% of those are "fraud" phones which means the customer used for two days then said it was lost or stolen, then made a claim and paid the fee and at the time thought they could get lots of cash for there iphone 5s even with a bad iemi, etc.
Im going to say the other 5% is most likely stolen.
I was in the pawn business in the past and in most states it is illegal for the pawn shop to buy anything that is requesting a password and the seller cannot supply it (i did see a few on ebay who claimed to be pawn shops selling bad esn phones). Its just like when you take a laptop, no pawn shop is going to buy it without a password, plus that just raises suspicion of the item being stolen.
If the customer reported it lost/stolen he can just put in his apple ID and password and get passed that screen and sell it for more money. They cannot do that cause its not their phone obviously.
Those are not "bad account" phones. There's a difference with blacklisted esn/imei phones and activation locked iphones.
99% of those phones are lost/stolen phones sold.
The other 1% could be people that forgot their password but even then they can either reset their password or contact apple and have them reset their account or email.
Yep activation locked phones on ebay and craigslist are lost and stolen phones.