IMPORTANT Buying iPhone on FB Marketplace

[samesam]

Hi, I’m looking to buy a iPhone on Facebook marketplace. It will be a public meet up. I’m going to ask them to go to Best Buy so they can get a diagnostic check and make sure everything is ok on it, and hopefully it’s not iCloud locked? Is this the best solution, and is there anything else I should know in order to not get scammed?

 

[chabig]

I don’t believe Best Buy can provide anything of value. They’ll just look at overall condition, which you can do yourself. If the physical condition meets your expectations, start the phone and begin the setup to confirm that it isn’t activation locked. That’s it. Once you own it, you can update the software, if required, and transfer your stuff over.

 

[samesam]

I don’t believe Best Buy can provide anything of value. They’ll just look at overall condition, which you can do yourself. If the physical condition meets your expectations, start the phone and begin the setup to confirm that it isn’t activation locked. That’s it. Once you own it, you can update the software, if required, and transfer your stuff over.

I just don’t know how to tell if it’s locked or not…

 

[chabig]

It’s very easy. See the section, “Check for Activation Lock before you buy a device fro, someone else”. If you begin the setup process and it asks for someone’s AppleID and password, its locked.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/108794

 

[JPack]

Other than activation lock, your biggest concern is whether the device is still tied to a carrier contract.

The seller can stop paying for it or claim insurance on the device. A few weeks or months later, you'll end up with a brick.