Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone IMEI Unlock Sites
- Thread starter LandonDonovan
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Is there anyone still using eBay to purchase unlocks? Word was that they were cracking down on unlockers. I still see some popping up and then disappearing.
Also, what about any of you that own web sites, is PayPal giving you a hard time as well? Just trying to get a feel for what's going on out there.
Also, what about any of you that own web sites, is PayPal giving you a hard time as well? Just trying to get a feel for what's going on out there.
When I unlock my iPhone 4 will I still be able to use the AT&T service?? AT&T is unlocking one and http://att-iphone-unlock.com/works/ is unlocking the other (they said that you can't use AT&T after the unlock). I'll post if I have any luck with the site.
Damn I thought most of those eBay ones were scams. Cellunlocker.net told me if I make a video of the process they'll take half off.
Used swiftunlocks.com for my iPhone 5 and the wife's 4S. Best $4 Ive spent in a long time.
T-Mobile sim works and we get 3G. ATT sim also works as well.
T-Mobile sim works and we get 3G. ATT sim also works as well.
My friend gave me an iPhone5 left 3 months in his lost and found but it's blacklisted
We both use AT&T.
He activated the phone himself to replace his 4S that was cracked and it worked for a week before he said the number got cut off for having been reported lost/stolen. After which he bought another iPhone5 and gave this one to me to figure out and keep.
I was hoping to replace my Blackberry with the iPhone5 on my account. I am willing to go through cutyoursim.com and do their unlock for $40 but I am unsure if this will lift the blacklisting. Any ideas on what course of action I should take?
Thanks
We both use AT&T.
He activated the phone himself to replace his 4S that was cracked and it worked for a week before he said the number got cut off for having been reported lost/stolen. After which he bought another iPhone5 and gave this one to me to figure out and keep.
I was hoping to replace my Blackberry with the iPhone5 on my account. I am willing to go through cutyoursim.com and do their unlock for $40 but I am unsure if this will lift the blacklisting. Any ideas on what course of action I should take?
Thanks
Wait! You can unlock it for @ $2 almost everywhere else. I'm looking into the blacklisting thing ... just wanted to comment on the price first.
I double checked as many of the available services I could and can't seem to find one that will do the removing from the black list, yet. Guys and gals, please don't get too upset with me, but here's a link to a recent blog on our site about blacklisting:
Clean/Bad ESN and unlocking
Even though the blog applies to CDMA, the principles should be the same for GSM. From our research, you should be able to contact AT&T to have it removed. Again, not trying to self-promote here, just trying to help. You can check my history. I try my best to stay neutral in the forum and not advertise.
NOTE: A blacklisted phone may be unlocked using any of the available unlocking services with no problem. The blacklist will prevent it from being used on a particular network, even though it's unlocked.
Last edited:
I really just don't know what to do with this thing. My Blackberry like my friend's is cracked. The only difference is that his job pays for one of his phone lines. If I am going to have to open a new account with a different subscriber then I don't know if I should just unlock it and sell it. AT&T is trying to jew me out and charge me a $200 deductible for my insured blackberry AND retain the right of salvage.
I thank you for looking into the blacklisting and it is much appreciated but if you are able to find out anymore information or give further advice please do so.
Thanks again.
If you unlock it and sell it, just make sure that the buyer knows that it can't be used in the USA. There is a market for that. I'll keep on the look out for a "cleaning" service, if there's any.
A phone is blacklisted for a reason. It is no longer your property and should be returned to AT&T.
The blacklist also covers Europe and if you try and sell it in Europe you risk being prosecuted for selling stolen goods, I don't know if the same applies to the USA.
The blacklist also covers Europe and if you try and sell it in Europe you risk being prosecuted for selling stolen goods, I don't know if the same applies to the USA.
That may be true. Phones are also blacklisted because the previous owner did not keep up with their bills as well, please keep that in mind. That is why my first suggestion was to contact the original provider in order to be sure what the situation was and possibly remove it from the blacklist.
In the USA am into correct in thinking that the phone belongs to the phone company until the end of the contracted period and therefore if the contract was not paid, hence the blacklist, then it still belongs to them?
Here in the UK the phone is yours to sell from day one and phones are only blacklisted if they are reported lost or stolen.
Regarding an unpaid bill: The more you explain it, the more clearer it becomes, thanks. It would make sense for a USA phone company to keep it on a blacklist until:
1. The outstanding bill is paid OR
2. Until the contract period is over (if the bill is still UNPAID)
But even if #2 happens, the phone is still their property. Despite that, some phones end up in the "wild" and are sold. Some of my business acquaintances have had success, though limited, in presenting proof of purchase to the phone company, thus having it removed from the blacklist.
Before purchasing and unlocking any phone, there is a site that will allow you to check if its on a blacklist or not.
Again, back on topic, the unlocking process is not affected by it being on a blacklist or not. You just might get stuck with an unlocked phone that you purchased, that's still the property of the carrier, that you can't use - sad.
Last edited:
If the has the screens where I get to choose the language, country, etc. can I still unlock it using an IMEI site? if not then how can I get out of that screen?
Yes, you can still unlock it. All that you need to know is the original carrier and the IMEI. As someone stated earlier, you can get the IMEI# off of the side of the SIM tray. Hopefully, it's the original SIM tray.
Applenberry.com offers an iPhone IMEI unlock for many countries with a money back guarantee. Full disclosure, I work with applenberry.com on there IT side and have implemented a very expensive credit card fraud detection service for them. They are legit, and they accept both Paypal and credit cards on their site.
For the sake of merchant everywhere, only file a chargeback if absolutely necessary. The number of chargebacks you file will affect your credit card record and could get you blocked at checkout on other merchant sites. Credit card fraud detection services can see how many chargebacks you've made, and some merchants will set filters to block cards with one or more chargebacks within a certain period of time. Sincerely, the threat of chargeback is enough to motivate merchants to please you
Back to Mac. Just a note on the latest word on the legality of unlocking iPhones. The mechanism used to activate your iPhone on other networks is not on your iPhone, which means there is no circumvention of any technological measure that descramble a scrambled work, decrypts an encrypted work, or otherwise avoids, bypasses, removes, deactivates, or impairs a technological measure on such mobile device; nor does an IMEI unlock impair any technological measure on the mobile device that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work. So your good to go.
Blackberry, on the other hand, required a code to be entered into the device, which unfortunately is a violation of copyright law when applied to devices acquired from a carrier after Jan. 26, 2013.
Kevin
For the sake of merchant everywhere, only file a chargeback if absolutely necessary. The number of chargebacks you file will affect your credit card record and could get you blocked at checkout on other merchant sites. Credit card fraud detection services can see how many chargebacks you've made, and some merchants will set filters to block cards with one or more chargebacks within a certain period of time. Sincerely, the threat of chargeback is enough to motivate merchants to please you
Back to Mac. Just a note on the latest word on the legality of unlocking iPhones. The mechanism used to activate your iPhone on other networks is not on your iPhone, which means there is no circumvention of any technological measure that descramble a scrambled work, decrypts an encrypted work, or otherwise avoids, bypasses, removes, deactivates, or impairs a technological measure on such mobile device; nor does an IMEI unlock impair any technological measure on the mobile device that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work. So your good to go.
Blackberry, on the other hand, required a code to be entered into the device, which unfortunately is a violation of copyright law when applied to devices acquired from a carrier after Jan. 26, 2013.
Kevin
Applenberry.com offers an iPhone IMEI unlock for many countries with a money back guarantee. Full disclosure, I work with applenberry.com on there IT side and have implemented a very expensive credit card fraud detection service for them. They are legit, and they accept both Paypal and credit cards on their site.
For the sake of merchant everywhere, only file a chargeback if absolutely necessary. The number of chargebacks you file will affect your credit card record and could get you blocked at checkout on other merchant sites. Credit card fraud detection services can see how many chargebacks you've made, and some merchants will set filters to block cards with one or more chargebacks within a certain period of time. Sincerely, the threat of chargeback is enough to motivate merchants to please you
Back to Mac. Just a note on the latest word on the legality of unlocking iPhones. The mechanism used to activate your iPhone on other networks is not on your iPhone, which means there is no circumvention of any technological measure that descramble a scrambled work, decrypts an encrypted work, or otherwise avoids, bypasses, removes, deactivates, or impairs a technological measure on such mobile device; nor does an IMEI unlock impair any technological measure on the mobile device that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work. So your good to go.
Blackberry, on the other hand, required a code to be entered into the device, which unfortunately is a violation of copyright law when applied to devices acquired from a carrier after Jan. 26, 2013.
Kevin
Kevin it maybe all true but coming from a 2 post newbie asserting legitimacy being affilated with A&B makes it look highly suspicous.
Better to have A&B make there own claims, their reputation is well established within the community. You are actually providing a disservice to them.
how would I get out of that screen though? Would I need a AT&T Sim? (I was looking at swiftunlocks.com and found this) is there a way to do it without a AT&T SIM?
"How To Unlock IPHONE METHOD 1:
1. Send the IMEI to our server
2. Wait till we return the answer "Unlocked"
3. Then, install last version of iTunes if you don't have it already (also make sure you have internet connectivity)
LINK: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
4. Connect phone to iTunes with not accepted (not valid) SIM card or valid (AT&T) if your phone requires activation
5. Do a backup
6 Do a restore
7. Phone is now unlocked. (message should show up on ITUNES usually (if you dont see it, you can always test with a nonsupported sim card).
For information on backup and restore, please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414. "
on unlock fusions ebay page it says this: "unlock may not work on non activated iphones, please make sure your iphone is activated through itunes"
is my phone activated or not? I'm assuming it's not.
Hi,
I apologize in advance since I'm sure that this is answered somewhere in the forums, but I can't seem to find anything definite.
I had my AT&T iPhone 5 unlocked last fall by UnlockFusion and it worked fine.
My sleep button started failing, and Apple store was out of replacement buttons, so they gave me a shiny new phone today.
Before I even left the store, I bought an unlock from SwiftUnlocks and got my confirmation email about 5 hours later.
I restored but didn't get the "congratulations" message in iTunes.
I sort of suspect now that the new Phone may have already been unlocked from Apple, in which case I'm told that the message won't appear.
I put in an expired Japanese SIM (NTT-Docomo) and it simply says No Service. Obviously I'm not going to have service with a Japanese SIM in the US.
I assume since it simply says "No Service" rather than "Invalid SIM" that it is indeed unlocked? Can anyone reassure me that that is the case? I'm leaving the country in a few days and need to be sure that I'm unlocked before I go!
FYI I've tried 3 IMEI checker sites and they all say SIM lock status unknown.
Thanks in advance!
tys
I apologize in advance since I'm sure that this is answered somewhere in the forums, but I can't seem to find anything definite.
I had my AT&T iPhone 5 unlocked last fall by UnlockFusion and it worked fine.
My sleep button started failing, and Apple store was out of replacement buttons, so they gave me a shiny new phone today.
Before I even left the store, I bought an unlock from SwiftUnlocks and got my confirmation email about 5 hours later.
I restored but didn't get the "congratulations" message in iTunes.
I sort of suspect now that the new Phone may have already been unlocked from Apple, in which case I'm told that the message won't appear.
I put in an expired Japanese SIM (NTT-Docomo) and it simply says No Service. Obviously I'm not going to have service with a Japanese SIM in the US.
I assume since it simply says "No Service" rather than "Invalid SIM" that it is indeed unlocked? Can anyone reassure me that that is the case? I'm leaving the country in a few days and need to be sure that I'm unlocked before I go!
FYI I've tried 3 IMEI checker sites and they all say SIM lock status unknown.
Thanks in advance!
tys