Is it ok to give out my IMEI to potential buyer?
 

I have a phone for sale and a buyer has requested the IMEI number. Is it ok to give this out? What sort of nasty things am I opening myself upto?

well he can blacklist the IMEI so you can't use the phone.

He is also checking to make sure your phone isn't on the IMEI blacklist. What I would do is meet up in person and make sure if the IMEI comes out good he will buy the phone on the spot.

Yes, do the check in person and in front of him. That way he wont have the IMEI number until after he sees its cleared from the list and the exchange has been made.

go to ur carrier and ask them to check the IMEI and ask if its good or on the blacklist with your potential buyer. i wouldn't just hand them over the info.

What is to prevent the seller from taking your money, handing you the phone and then blacklisting it afterwards? I've heard stories like this.

Nothing

Some sellers will sell their phone, then report it missing, and pay the deductible for a new upgraded phone

^ no, once you buy the phone, u tell the carrier to put htat IMEI under ur name.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
AFAIK you cannot just blacklist some random IMEI number.

You can only blacklist the phone if you used the phone before on a SIM card.
Only the owner of the SIM card can call in and blacklist the IMEI number.

Example: You are selling the phone and the person insert his SIM card and used it. If the phone ever get stolen, he/she can call in and blacklist the IMEI number.
However, you (the seller) have up to 60 days to blacklist the phone as well.

If you buy an unlocked phone... how does the carrier know you are the owner of that phone unless its actually bought from that carrier?

Is that really possible?

i would certainly hope not. there should be security info that you need to provide to ensure that it is your phone before you can blacklist the IMEI.

There are some false information in this thread that I would like to correct. Unless they recently changed it, or someone has personally done it, you cannot transfer IMEI from one account to another.

I recently, was a victim of a IMEI blacklist. I purchased a S4 from craiglist, and exactly 3 months later, the phone had no reception. Brought it to the Samsung repair shop in Richmond and they said IMEI is on the blacklist.

At the time of purchase from this seller on craiglist, I visited a Rogers store and changed the IMEI of the phone registered to my account. After, it was blacklist and found that only the registered owner can get it off the blacklist, I called Rogers in hopes that I can get the IMEI off the blacklist database, since I got it registered to my account. Unfortunately, the phone was originally from Bell and only that Bell customer can get it off the database. Rogers couldn't do anything for me.

So to my knowledge, the IMEI is tied to an account holder at the time of purchase (through contract, not sure about outright). Your account, has an IMEI linked to it. If you've changed phones and notify your carrier, they will change the IMEI to the one you currently have, but that doesn't mean the IMEI is registered to your name. They will also have previous IMEI on file, because the Rogers rep asked me about several other IMEI that I used to own.

Long story short, I had an S4, lost it, bought the one from CL, blacklisted, called Rogers to blacklist the one I lost and they ask me is it IMEI 1 or IMEI 2 (1 being the one I lost and 2, being the one I got from CL).

Anyways, if anyone has successfully transferred IMEI at a store, please share your story as that would be the safest way to purchase phones from private sellers.

PS - To answer the OP's question, yes it is safe to give out the IMEI so that the buyer can check the status of the phone. He will not be able to blacklist your device, as the procedure with blacklisting is mentioned above.

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm meeting this guy at my carriers store today so he can confirm it is unlocked, and not black listed.

I'm also making the guy sign a receipt and asking for his BCDL to cover both of us in case shit goes south now or later down the road.

Hope the transaction goes smoothly :thumbsup:

Are you not the one that's selling?
What could possibly go south after you receive your (legit) cash?

This sucks, sorry it had to happen to you. These scammers makes me sick.:swear:

Thanked for the informative post.

People are such assholes.. lol

The process varies sightly depending on the carrier.

For the carrier I work for, if you called in to report a stolen/lost phone, we can only flag the IMEIs that have been linked to your account. We can't flag a random IMEI. Popping your SIM into the device will link the IMEI to your account. Devices flagged because they were diverted from inventory are flagged in a different way, but still are blacklisted the same way.

Only the carrier that flagged the device can remove it from the blacklist. For example, You're on Rogers, you bought an unlocked Telus phone, but the guy you bought it from was using it on the Bell network. One week later the guy reports the phone stolen. Telus and Rogers can't unflag it. Only Bell can, on the original account it was flagged on.

It sucks letting the customer know they got ripped off. I would say that about 75% of the people I've dealt with didn't even know about the blacklist or how to check it.

Does it happen a lot? Customers that purchased a used phone and it gets blacklisted afterwards.

This makes me not want to buy a pre-owned phone off CL anymore.

I would simply buy a phone brand new, I don't understand the hassle of going through craigslist just to save $50-$100.

At least if you buy the phone brand new, it comes with a full warranty and you can go about your day without a fear of having the phone you purchased blacklisted (in case the phone was stolen or something else)

I'm still wanting to know, if IMEI is transferable upon the owner's request.

no

phone that's from a carrier (bell/rogers/telus etc etc) the phone will register under the first owner that purchased the phone on a contract/upgrade. If you purchase it outright. it may or may not get attached to your account depending on where you purchase it and whether the staff is doing it properly. i mean if you purchase out right.. they technically don't need to *activate or register the imei to your account.

Once the imei is attached to your account as the *first owner* they carriers can look up the history of the imei if the phone is from them whether it's purchased out right or on a contract. The IMEI ownership is not transferable so even if you purchase the phone from someone else and have it attached to your account. The carrier can still see who's the original owner of the phone, and technically only that person can report it stolen and get it blacklisted.

Another way your phone can get blacklisted and will get blacklisted. If the phone was obtained thru *fraud* activation. Usually the account will stay active for 3 months and then the account will deactivate due to non payment and usually those accounts are activated thru fraud id. Those phones will get blacklisted 100% of the time and there's nothing you can do about it.

I'd be wary of people that signs a new contract and sells the phone right away saying they already have a phone and don't need it.. i probably check and see if they actually renewed their contract or signed a brand new contract with a new number. if they renewed.. worse case scenario is they report it stolen later and it get blacklisted.. if they signed a new contract.. worse case scenario is you have a unit that's obtained thru *fraud* so technically it's a stolen unit. if the carrier is anal enough with nothing better to do.. they can actually come after you thinking you are the one that frauded the phone from them. this scenario will probably never happen.. but legally they could..