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Where are all the "bad IMEI" phones on eBay coming from?

RetiredInFl

RetiredInFl

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 7, 2008
2,457
250
FORMERLY NJ now FL
There are hundreds of iPhones (and many hundreds of other phones of all types) that are being sold as "bad imei" on eBay. It's good the sellers are "honest" about it but where do all these phones come from?

These all couldn't be phones that people claim they lost, got a replacement for, and then are trying to sell them ... or could they? If so there are an awful lot of easily traceable insurance fraudsters out there. There has got to be an explanation for most of these devices other than the obvious .... insurance fraud.
 
I am sure there is a fair share of "insurance fraud", although there are people who lose a phone, report it, get a new one, only to find it in their couch cushions a month or so later. Most insurance companies just tell you to do whatever you want with it. What are they going to do with it?

But I would bet the vast majority are stolen/lost phones that were reported lost/stolen and the current owner of the phone is selling it now because they cannot get service with it.
 
TB07-NJ said:
There are hundreds of iPhones (and many hundreds of other phones of all types) that are being sold as "bad imei" on eBay. It's good the sellers are "honest" about it but where do all these phones come from?
Click to expand...


- Thefts
- Phones that were lost, replaced by insurance, then found
- Outright insurance fraud from the start
- People leaving for another carrier and skipping out on the final bill/ETF

I wouldn't touch 'em. Leave it tot he iPhone exporters who will sell it to folks in Russia, where it'll work just fine once unlocked.
 
TB07-NJ said:
There are hundreds of iPhones (and many hundreds of other phones of all types) that are being sold as "bad imei" on eBay. It's good the sellers are "honest" about it but where do all these phones come from?

These all couldn't be phones that people claim they lost, got a replacement for, and then are trying to sell them ... or could they? If so there are an awful lot of easily traceable insurance fraudsters out there. There has got to be an explanation for most of these devices other than the obvious .... insurance fraud.
Click to expand...

Well..

*points a gun at you*

Give me your phone!

And that's how it works
 
I bought an iPhone 5 off craigslist that had a bad esn. After the police wanted nothing to do with it I sold it one eBay.
 
To me they are stolen, but also phones whose owner fails to pay bills. However in many cases (us visitor that goes back to his country) they are very appealing because of their low price.
 
AFDoc said:
Why would you purchase a phone that was locked? IF you didn't know it was locked then shame on you for not making sure. Did you at least get close to what you spent? More?
Click to expand...

I didn't know. I took the sellers word for it since he was a soldier. Cost was $300, didn't loose anything after eBay sale.
 
AFDoc said:
Didn't notice the name. I was Army before I went to med school then switched sides for the good life! When I was stationed in Germany years ago the AF guys always laughed at us sweating like slaves with no AC while their housing had it. I always knew they had it better but now I know lol.
Click to expand...

Yep. In Iraq the everything airforce was better than army. We called them the CHAIR FORCE. Lol. I get out in October and going to nursing school.
 
TB07-NJ said:
That's what I was thinking as well and why I'm afraid to buy one off eBay even if the ESN CURRENTLY is still good. 30 days from now it could go bad.
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Then you file an item not as described dispute with eBay. You have a 45 day automatic return policy on ebay, no matter what the sellers terms are.
 
TB07-NJ said:
OK then, on day 46 the IMEI could go bad. ;)
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right. At the end of the day, this can realistically happen with ANY used phone you buy. There is no way to remove 100% of the risk, but chances are if the IMEI hasn't been blacklisted after 45 days, it's likely not going to be.
 
lordofthereef said:
You are absolutely right. At the end of the day, this can realistically happen with ANY used phone you buy. There is no way to remove 100% of the risk, but chances are if the IMEI hasn't been blacklisted after 45 days, it's likely not going to be.
Click to expand...

Best you can do is bay based on a sellers reputation, like me.
 
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