Bad ESN iPhone in Europe?

[olivrthesecond]

Hi all, I'd just like to ask. I was about to buy a used iPhone 5s over eBay for my personal usage when I found "bad ESN iPhone". I googled it and found out that it cannot be used in the U.S. but can be used overseas.

I live in Central Europe so it would b a good deal for me (cause these phones are a lot cheaper than the "good ESN"). But I don't really understand the carriers.

I found one iPhone on ebay: bad ESN locked to AT&T, asked the seller if it can b used overseas and he responded yes. But I'm not quite sure about that. Could I use this iPhone here in central Europe?

Every response and tip appreciated
Thanks

 

[nebo1ss]

There is a difference between locked phone and bad ESN. A phone that is locked is locked on the Apple data base to a single carrier and will be useless to you in Europe. A phone that has a bad ESN is one where the original owner has either stopped paying for it or reported it stolen with his original carrier. The carrier blocks the phone from use either on the single USA carrier or in the USA generally.

Assume you understand the difference. The second type of phone if it was original purchased unlocked or was subsequently unlocked by the carrier before having the ESN blocked will work for you but not the first type.

 

[trekkie604]

Are you sure it was an AT&T locked phone? ESN numbers are only applicable to CDMA handsets (i.e. Verizon) afaik. The rest of the world uses GSM and there are IMEI blacklists to worry about.

 

[olivrthesecond]

There is a difference between locked phone and bad ESN. A phone that is locked is locked on the Apple data base to a single carrier and will be useless to you in Europe. A phone that has a bad ESN is one where the original owner has either stopped paying for it or reported it stolen with his original carrier. The carrier blocks the phone from use either on the single USA carrier or in the USA generally.

Assume you understand the difference. The second type of phone if it was original purchased unlocked or was subsequently unlocked by the carrier before having the ESN blocked will work for you but not the first type.

Ok, thanks for explanation.
[doublepost=1511207575][/doublepost]

Are you sure it was an AT&T locked phone? ESN numbers are only applicable to CDMA handsets (i.e. Verizon) afaik. The rest of the world uses GSM and there are IMEI blacklists to worry about.

Yes, in the ebay advert it was clearly said that it is locked to AT&T...