Phone turns out to be stolen.

Fantomas9mm

The GF's phone broke about a month ago, we had a look on done deal (not the wisest move).


We seen an iPhone 5S advertised as being box new, shrink wrapped. Never used etc. i know the iPhone 5S hasn't been sold in 2+ years but we were thinking if it's still in it's wrapping then how bad?

I asked your man selling for the IMEI and serial of the phone. I have a buddy who has access to the Apple reseller portal (GSX) and I asked him to check it out. He was able to tell me it was sold to a reseller in Wicklow.

The first thing that was suspicious was that my mate was able to see when it had been sold and it had been sold only the day previous, which was a Sunday.


I called said reseller and asked them if they had any phones stolen and they said no.

So any ways I met your man next day.

It was in perfect condition, shrink wrapped on the outside. All the plastic was present on the handset . Charger and headphones shrink wrapped and the phone itself looked like it had never been used.

The phone worked perfect until a few days ago, it started saying no service.
We got the sim swapped, it worked again for about 30 mins and same issue.

I called Meteor and they said it had been blacklisted as it was reported stolen.

Disaster .


Just wondering what our options are here?

Obviously it's tough **** and buyer beware and all that.

But just wondering is it even worth going to the cops about?

I have your man's phone number and I have the details of what reseller had it at some point .


The fact that it appeared to have never been used and that it worked for 3.5 weeks before it was reported stolen and blacklisted makes me want to pursue it more .

I suspect that the IMEI of the phone might have been used in some sort of an insurance scam, as in it was reported stolen and replaced by an insurance company who subsequently reported it to the police and had it blacklisted .

So yer man got paid twice for the same phone is my theory.


I hate the thought of yer man getting away with it more than the cash lost itself .

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions ?

mad m

Sorry to hear your troubles, if it were me I'd be going to Garda with as much details you can supply. Give them sellers mobile and ask Garda can they contact donedeal to get more info on seller...

I'm sure Garda can get info on insurance company. Is advert by any chance still up on donedeal?

Also the reseller you mentioned would have details on buyer.

coylemj

When buying secondhand (even if it's 'shrinkwrapped'), tell the seller that you want to see ID and tell him that you will take his photo, that usually flushes them out.

Elemonator

Give all the information you have to the Garda. While they may not act on it, you will have done the right thing.

dodzy

Fantomas9mm wrote: »

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions ?

If you are in this situation again, ring your network of choice while you are with the seller. Tell them the IMEI, give them your details (name/address/contact number) and that you are about to purchase the handset from a private seller. Ask them should you be concerned (is it blacklisted). Get the agents name and number

At the very least, in this case if the seller then reports the phone as lost/stolen, you will be in a better position to argue the point for reactivation and at least expose him/her.

nava

dodzy wrote: »

If you are in this situation again, ring your network of choice while you are with the seller. Tell them the IMEI, give them your details (name/address/contact number) and that you are about to purchase the handset from a private seller. Ask them should you be concerned (is it blacklisted). Get the agents name and number

At the very least, in this case if the seller then reports the phone as lost/stolen, you will be in a better position to argue the point for reactivation and at least expose him/her.

Providers won't do that, it will be abused, if they did you could call them pretending to be a "buyer", a few weeks later report as stolen, when they block it call again as a "Buyer" to get it unblock so could keep the phone.

dodzy

nava wrote: »

Providers won't do that, it will be abused, if they did you could call them pretending to be a "buyer", a few weeks later report as stolen, when they block it call again as a "Buyer" to get it unblock so could keep the phone.

Worked for me with Vodafone several times and they did tell me in those situations that the given IMEIs were not a cause for concern at the time I made the enquiries. No issues. As a VF customer for many years, you'd be a right tool to try out the above suggestion and then go claim as lost/stolen. It would certainly raise eyebrows on their side.

whiterebel

dodzy wrote: »

Worked for me with Vodafone several times and they did tell me in those situations that the given IMEIs were not a cause for concern at the time I made the enquiries. No issues. As a VF customer for many years, you'd be a right tool to try out the above suggestion and then go claim as lost/stolen. It would certainly raise eyebrows on their side.

Vodafone never heard of the Data Protection Act?

JackHeuston

nava wrote: »

Providers won't do that, it will be abused, if they did you could call them pretending to be a "buyer", a few weeks later report as stolen, when they block it call again as a "Buyer" to get it unblock so could keep the phone.

I was following the thread since it was created and, yeah, I always thought blacklisted IMEIs will never be re-activated for any reason. Is this true? Or has anyone re-activated a stolen cellphone?

At least a few years ago, when I enquiried they always told me it was impossible to revert the operation once a cellphone gets blacklisted (we're used to say it's in negative bandwidth). So the phone becomes a nice brick forever in most countries as soon as it detects it's blacklisted. I don't know how it works but this thing is applied also abroad if a cellphone is blacklisted in a country.

Sleeper12

When buying from DoneDeal or Adverts you should always collect the goods from their home. Always be careful of someone willing to meet you half way or in car parks.
Giving the cops a mobile number is useless. You can be sure it's ready to go.

nava

JackHeuston wrote: »

I was following the thread since it was created and, yeah, I always thought blacklisted IMEIs will never be re-activated for any reason. Is this true? Or has anyone re-activated a stolen cellphone?

At least a few years ago, when I enquiried they always told me it was impossible to revert the operation once a cellphone gets blacklisted (we're used to say it's in negative bandwidth). So the phone becomes a nice brick forever in most countries as soon as it detects it's blacklisted. I don't know how it works but this thing is applied also abroad if a cellphone is blacklisted in a country.

I read a couple of cases that phones got un-blacklisted when it was black listed in error by the operator so in theory it can be reverted.

laoisfan

Sleeper12 wrote: »

When buying from DoneDeal or Adverts you should always collect the goods from their home. Always be careful of someone willing to meet you half way or in car parks.
Giving the cops a mobile number is useless. You can be sure it's ready to go.

Or they could deliver it to your house?

Both would be crazy imo. Buyer may not want a stranger knowing where they live and equally so a Seller too.

Better off meeting halfway in a well populated area. I've sold phones before and I've always met in a public place e.g. Heuston Station (actually inside the station). Never car parks. Each to their own though...

nava

laoisfan wrote: »

Or they could deliver it to your house?

Both would be crazy imo. Buyer may not want a stranger knowing where they live and equally so a Seller too.

Better off meeting halfway in a well populated area. I've sold phones before and I've always met in a public place e.g. Heuston Station (actually inside the station). Never car parks. Each to their own though...

I think the main reason why they said about collecting from their home is in case it gets reported as stolen or some other problem you know where they live, less likely anything happening if you collect from their home.

Sleeper12

laoisfan wrote:

Better off meeting halfway in a well populated area. I've sold phones before and I've always met in a public place e.g. Heuston Station (actually inside the station). Never car parks. Each to their own though...

laoisfan wrote:

Both would be crazy imo. Buyer may not want a stranger knowing where they live and equally so a Seller too.

laoisfan wrote:

Or they could deliver it to your house?

The point of collecting goods from the seller's house is that you have their address if something goes wrong, if product doesn't work or if it turns out to be stolen.
If the seller doesn't want you to know where they live it should sound alarm bells and you should stay away from them. There are plenty of honest sellers out there

whiterebel

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The point of collecting goods from the seller's house is that you have their address if something goes wrong, if product doesn't work or if it turns out to be stolen.
If the seller doesn't want you to know where they live it should sound alarm bells and you should stay away from them. There are plenty of honest sellers out there

I'm an honest seller, but I try not to meet people at my house if I can avoid it. Never know what nutters are out there.

long_b

The only reason collecting from the seller's house is better would be if you were prepared to go back there if there was issues.
Going to someone's house and calling them a criminal may not be a great idea, especially if they are a criminal!

Sleeper12

long_b wrote:

The only reason collecting from the seller's house is better would be if you were prepared to go back there if there was issues. Going to someone's house and calling them a criminal may not be a great idea, especially if they are a criminal!

If someone rips me I have no problem going back to them.

dodzy

JackHeuston wrote: »

I was following the thread since it was created and, yeah, I always thought blacklisted IMEIs will never be re-activated for any reason. Is this true? Or has anyone re-activated a stolen cellphone?

At least a few years ago, when I enquiried they always told me it was impossible to revert the operation once a cellphone gets blacklisted (we're used to say it's in negative bandwidth). So the phone becomes a nice brick forever in most countries as soon as it detects it's blacklisted. I don't know how it works but this thing is applied also abroad if a cellphone is blacklisted in a country.

No, not true. The bar can be lifted by the operator. 100%.

ED E

Its insurance fraud, plain and simple.

Don't use donedeal, there's no feedback and thus no motivation for scummers not to be scummers. Use adverts or ebay and find sellers with a longstanding good rep.

dodzy

ED E wrote: »

Its insurance fraud, plain and simple.

Don't use donedeal, there's no feedback and thus no motivation for scummers not to be scummers. Use adverts or ebay and find sellers with a longstanding good rep.

This is the key. Forget anything else with the exception of buying direct.

Sleeper12

ED E wrote: »

Its insurance fraud, plain and simple.

Don't use donedeal, there's no feedback and thus no motivation for scummers not to be scummers. Use adverts or ebay and find sellers with a longstanding good rep.

I use all three & have to say there's an equal amount of crooks using DoneDeal & Adverts. You have to remember a lot of people buying on these sits are looking for cheap stolen goods.
If someone is selling something new & its cheaper than the shops its usually stolen. My business is showers. Triton wholesale Triton T90z showers for €210. this is what the shops pay Triton. Then you see them for sale for €150 new still in the box on DoneDeal & Adverts. These are obviously stolen, especially when the same person sell the same thing week after week. A shop would take the shower back if it was still unopened.
If it looks to good to be true, it usually is.

nava

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I use all three & have to say there's an equal amount of crooks using DoneDeal & Adverts. You have to remember a lot of people buying on these sits are looking for cheap stolen goods.
If someone is selling something new & its cheaper than the shops its usually stolen. My business is showers. Triton wholesale Triton T90z showers for €210. this is what the shops pay Triton. Then you see them for sale for €150 new still in the box on DoneDeal & Adverts. These are obviously stolen, especially when the same person sell the same thing week after week. A shop would take the shower back if it was still unopened.
If it looks to good to be true, it usually is.

Not always the case, cheaper doesn't mean stolen, some shops might only let you exchange the item or store credit if you have the receipt, if you loose the receipt they will not refund you, also if you get an item as gift you are not getting receipts, shops in those cases if they give you anything they will only give store credit, but for some people might not be using that shop in the future so for those cases people would prefer to sell it even if they loose some money.

Sleeper12

nava wrote:

Not always the case, cheaper doesn't mean stolen, some shops might only let you exchange the item or store credit if you have the receipt, if you loose the receipt they will not refund you, also if you get an item as gift you are not getting receipts, shops in those cases if they give you anything they will only give store credit, but for some people might not be using that shop in the future so for those cases people would prefer to sell it even if they loose some money.

I agree but when you see the same person sell the same new item week after week all year round, below wholesale prices it's stolen. Or the same person selling different new items throughout the year. The buyer should be asking themselves questions about this guy. If people didn't buy stolen goods people wouldn't steal them.