Think im being scammed, never heard of this kind of iphone thing before

[jblu07]

Hey Everyone, even though i just created this account ive been here alot and appreciate all the help you given me and others...
Until this point ive never had to post anything before because the community is so great that every question/problem i had has already been answered here... until now....

In short i bought an iphone 3gs last week off a guy on craigslist... i was impulsive in the buy, meaning- i was only in the states for a limited time and therefor wasnt as careful as i should have been... never have bought such a big thing on craigslist before, therefor i wasnt yet aware of the rules i now see for someone purchasing an iphone in craigslist

the biggest deal for me was that it was cheap, local, and had all the accesories, for example i didnt care if they had the box, as long as they had the accesories, i didnt think it was as important... i was wrong

we settled for a price around $450 for an almost new 3gs 16gb, he claimed he had papers to prove it was new and that it still had applecare...

he claimed that he was switching carriers and therefor was selling it

because of my time constraint, at this point i was leaving the next day and wouldnt be returning to the states for a long time, we arranged to meet locally.

The iphone is also v3.1.3 and i knew that i wouldnt be able to use it right away and planned on waiting a while until and unlock was available...

The phone looked fine, he had all the accessories, he made a call from the phone proving it worked, but claimed he left the papers at home which he would fax over at a later time, which concerned me but played into my urgency of leaving the next day, so i gave him the money and that was it...

Now im out of the states and as i mentioned before, will not be back for a while...

TO THE POINT:
he is now trying very hard to contact me, asking for the IMEI number in order to "shut off his data plan" with at&t
according to my research, the last thing he would need to cancel his data plan with the network is to give them the IMEI number of the iphone he just sold me...

What im afraid is that after this whole deal he got the money and is now going to call and report the phone stolen, disabling me and earning him 450ish dollars and i dont know what else

What i ask of you guys is
1. Do you need to give AT&T your IMEI# in order to shut off data (in which case he is being honest and im just being paranoid)
2. if not, what do you think i should do from here

thanks for dealing with my long post and for your help

 

[Cod3rror]

Tell him to fax you those papers first.

 

[Applejuiced]

First of all he doesnt need the IMEI to disable the data plan.
Tell him to call AT&T again and speak with another rep and to tell them he doesnt have the iphone any more and he wants to remove the data plan.
Also US carriers do not have a blacklist of lost/stolen phones so nobody can disable a US iphone or any US cellphone for that matter.
You have nothing to worry about.

 

[jblu07]

Tell him to fax you those papers first.

hes demanding that he needs the imei code first
but what will it help if he faxes the papers... there is no proof i purchased it from him, all i did was hand him $450 dollars and on top of that, fine he faxes it and i give him the number, he can still screw me by calling up and reporting it stolen

 

[Pez555]

isnt the data plan tied with the sim and not the phone?

if i were you i wouldnt contact him until he gives you those papers.

 

[sharpycl]

Tell him to fax you those papers first.

Agreed. Have him fax the paperwork to you first.

I don't see, if he is switching carriers, how his IMEI number would be needed. I thought all he needed to switch carriers was his phone number, account number, and to pass a credit check with the carrier.

Sounds fishy to me.

 

[saccento]

It does sound fishy, but I don't see how he will benefit from reporting it stolen or whatever he is trying to do.

 

[Tara Luvs Apple]

I would think he is trying to do something weird because you said he wants to switch carriers. If he just wanted to do that, why does he need to take off the data plan? I would think that he would be cancelling the account. You are not required to give them anything except the last four digits of the account holders social security number.

 

[Applejuiced]

Its not fishy, both the seller and buyer are misinformed thats all.
The seller was trying to remove the iphone data and some AT&T rep probably gave him false information, ask for the iphone IMEI and didnt remove his data plan. So now he feels like he's stuck paying for data for a phone that he doesnt have.
And the buyer thinks he is trying to screw him somehow by reporting it stolen where in the US there is no iphone insurance thru AT&T and no phones get blacklisted/disabled once reported lost or stolen.

 

[jblu07]

And the buyer thinks he is trying to screw him somehow by reporting it stolen where in the US there is no iphone insurance thru AT&T and no phones get blacklisted/disabled once reported lost or stolen.

Im not in the US though, im currently in Israel..
But to my understanding, if someone would report the phone stolen, wouldn't that mean that with the IMEI number they could make the phone unusable?

 

[kopite19]

Record the call and get him to confirm you purchased the iPhone off him. At least you have some proof of purchase. It may not 100% guarantee the security of the phone, but it might help if it does go down the stolen route.

 

[Applejuiced]

Im not in the US though, im currently in Israel..
But to my understanding, if someone would report the phone stolen, wouldn't that mean that with the IMEI number they could make the phone unusable?

Nope, thats false.
That doesnt exist in the US. In many other countries it does but not here.
And if someone reports it stolen in the US it will not block it in Israel, USA or any other country.
He has no gain in reporting it stolen. There is no insurance as of yet thru the carrier in the US.
And even if there was there's nothing that will block your iphone.
Tell him to call up AT&T again and speak with another rep to get the data removed. He has no need or any use of your IMEI anyway.
You also dont need any paperwork faxed or anything.
All you gotta do is wait for a JB and unlock for your iphone and you can use it anywhere.

Record the call and get him to confirm you purchased the iPhone off him. At least you have some proof of purchase. It may not 100% guarantee the security of the phone, but it might help if it does go down the stolen route.

For what?
Wow, way too much bad info posted on this thread.
Record a phonecall that someone says they sold a phone to you?
For what, there's no need for any of that.
Just dont bother talking to him any more or tell him he doesnt need your IMEI to remove the data plan.

 

[Tara Luvs Apple]

Record the call and get him to confirm you purchased the iPhone off him. At least you have some proof of purchase. It may not 100% guarantee the security of the phone, but it might help if it does go down the stolen route.

Even better:

I would tell him to have the AT&T representative call you with him on the line (make sure it is a legit call though) and then see where that takes you. Make it so you have to give out the number if needs be.

 

[treyjustice]

Nope, thats false.
That doesnt exist in the US. In many other countries it does but not here.
And if someone reports it stolen in the US it will not block it in Israel, USA or any other country.
He has no gain in reporting it stolen. There is no insurance as of yet thru the carrier in the US.
And even if there was there's nothing that will block your iphone.
Tell him to call up AT&T again and speak with another rep to get the data removed. He has no need or any use of your IMEI anyway.
You also dont need any paperwork faxed or anything.
All you gotta do is wait for a JB and unlock for your iphone and you can use it anywhere.

actually it does exist. I had an iPhone stolen and they remote wiped it for me and locked it. They warned me once it was locked it could never be turned on again even if I got it back. They did it by the IMEI number

 

[Revelation78]

Actually it sounds like the guy sold his 3GS in anticipation of the 4th gen iPhone. He gave you that story so you'd buy his 3GS and not want to wait until after WWDC.

My guess is that he canceled his data plan, after AT&T changed the data plans he needs the IMIE to get the data plan re-enabled so he can be grandfathered in.

 

[ReallyOldGuy]

If it was his phone and if he has the paperwork he has the IMEI number or access to it through Apple. Tell him Goodbye.

 

[woodekm]

Actually it sounds like the guy sold his 3GS in anticipation of the 4th gen iPhone. He gave you that story so you'd buy his 3GS and not want to wait until after WWDC.

My guess is that he canceled his data plan, after AT&T changed the data plans he needs the IMIE to get the data plan re-enabled so he can be grandfathered in.

Exactly what I was thinking. He jumped the gun for a quick sale.

 

[dave006]

Yep, he needs the IMEI to readd his data plan to keep the unlimited data before tomorrow. He does not need the IMEI to drop the data plan only to readd it.

This is because of the recently announced new AT&T data plans that removed the unlimited $30 data plan for new lines of service as of Jun. 7.

Dave

 

[ichabodkky]

The IMEI should be on the box that he did not give to you. He just wants to be grandfathered. He should have the number already.

 

[saccento]

yeah he wants the IMEI number to add the data plan back on, and if he was smart, he could get it from iTunes. haha

 

[niuniu]

In the UK we use IMEI numbers to deactivate old data plans. I had the same thing happen when I sold my Blackberry Bold to a guy 2 years ago. I factory reset the phone and took the SIM out and sold it like that. For the next 2 weeks, the guy was in the States (on a business trip) receiving my emails! He was getting spammed all sorts of nonsense! And paying for it on his new plan!

To sort it out I had to get the IMEI from HIM (it was on the phone itself) and then call the carrier (had to be ME to do that).

Worked out just fine in the end. Not saying that your situation is the same, I don't know how you guys do this in the US..

 

[iPhone3Gusr]

actually it does exist. I had an iPhone stolen and they remote wiped it for me and locked it. They warned me once it was locked it could never be turned on again even if I got it back. They did it by the IMEI number

actually it doesnt. only possible way is through having Mobile Me in the U.S.

 

[niuniu]

Also worth nothing - it's impossible to block a phone in another country. If I report a phone stolen in the UK and have it blocked, that phone will still work in other parts of the world.

Also, you can tell the guy that if he tries to shaft you and report the phone stolen to his carrier, you'll simply call the carrier and tell them otherwise and then he'll get shafted for insurance fraud.

 

[dave006]

actually it does exist. I had an iPhone stolen and they remote wiped it for me and locked it. They warned me once it was locked it could never be turned on again even if I got it back. They did it by the IMEI number

No, not in the USA and last time I checked Texas is still part of the USA.

AT&T will deactivate the SIM to protect you from any expenses should someone try to use the phone. The remote wipe is only supported from MobileMe and Enterprise (Exchange) connections. You can also set the iPhone for the 10 password local wipe.

Also, no USA GSM carrier will blacklist a IMEI.

You also got very bad information on being unable to reuse your iPhone if you found it or if it were returned to you. It is very easy to reset the iPhone, that's also why most lost or stolen iPhones are not just returned to the owner or carrier based on the IMEI. They are very easy to repurpose.

Dave

 

[Applejuiced]

actually it does exist. I had an iPhone stolen and they remote wiped it for me and locked it. They warned me once it was locked it could never be turned on again even if I got it back. They did it by the IMEI number

Thats false.
Once its remotelly wiped all they gotta do is restore it thru itunes.

Actually it sounds like the guy sold his 3GS in anticipation of the 4th gen iPhone. He gave you that story so you'd buy his 3GS and not want to wait until after WWDC.

My guess is that he canceled his data plan, after AT&T changed the data plans he needs the IMIE to get the data plan re-enabled so he can be grandfathered in.

Thats a very good chance also.