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jalsaffar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2017
2
1
Dearborn, MI
I have a weird situation. I am a cellular store that took an iPhone trade-in from a customer (iPhone 6s to be exact). I did a carrier check on the device to see what carrier it is for and it came back Verizon. I attempted to activate it with T-mobile and it would not allow me to because it is coming back as blacklisted for fraud/stolen with T-Mobile. The T-mobile barring IMEI check website has confirmed this as well. First off how is it possible to have a phone reported stolen with T-mobile when it is not the original carrier of the phone. Also, there is a cleaning service that will clean the IMEI with T-mobile, but when I submit it, it gets rejected for this reason: WRONG CARRIER - NOT T-MOBILE

What to do if I want to use this with T-Mobile/MetroPCS?
 

Tthomas612

macrumors 65816
Aug 24, 2013
1,309
285
I have a weird situation. I am a cellular store that took an iPhone trade-in from a customer (iPhone 6s to be exact). I did a carrier check on the device to see what carrier it is for and it came back Verizon. I attempted to activate it with T-mobile and it would not allow me to because it is coming back as blacklisted for fraud/stolen with T-Mobile. The T-mobile barring IMEI check website has confirmed this as well. First off how is it possible to have a phone reported stolen with T-mobile when it is not the original carrier of the phone. Also, there is a cleaning service that will clean the IMEI with T-mobile, but when I submit it, it gets rejected for this reason: WRONG CARRIER - NOT T-MOBILE

What to do if I want to use this with T-Mobile/MetroPCS?

To me it sounds like it is on a lease on Verizon that wasn’t paid off. With Verizon devices that don’t get paid off T-Mobile is known not to activate them. However on the other hand I have known at&t to activate these devices.

That’s just what it sounds like to me. Verizon originally blacklisted which caused T-Mobile to do the same?
 

jalsaffar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2017
2
1
Dearborn, MI
Does you check the global blacklist database on swappa?
Swappa gives much broader responses than checkesnfree. On checkesnfree you can actually choose which carrier you want to check for blacklisting for. Swappa will check them all and if it is blacklisted with only one carrier it gives me this response "Lost / Stolen - This device is blocked by at least one carrier."
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To me it sounds like it is on a lease on Verizon that wasn’t paid off. With Verizon devices that don’t get paid off T-Mobile is known not to activate them. However on the other hand I have known at&t to activate these devices.

That’s just what it sounds like to me. Verizon originally blacklisted which caused T-Mobile to do the same?
It was actually reported stolen with Verizon. T-mobile actually lists it as stolen. The US blacklist check also lists it as blacklisted. I never thought to check AT&T, but after doing so, it was the only carrier that gave me a clear to activate response! Thanks for the heads up, will try an active AT&T sim just to make sure before selling it to an AT&T subscriber.
 
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kevjen888

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2008
767
236
To me it sounds like it is on a lease on Verizon that wasn’t paid off. With Verizon devices that don’t get paid off T-Mobile is known not to activate them. However on the other hand I have known at&t to activate these devices.

That’s just what it sounds like to me. Verizon originally blacklisted which caused T-Mobile to do the same?


What if the phone was brand new and it was successfully activated with T-Mobile SIM card and THEN the original owner skips on payment or reported lost to Verizon. Then I assume Verizon will blacklisted it, but question is since it was already activated by T-Mobile prior it been blacklisted, will the phone continue to work on T-Mobile or stop working all of sudden?
 

Audit13

macrumors 604
Apr 19, 2017
6,905
1,845
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I believe there are at least two types of blacklists: one where an imei is blocked by a specific carrier (e.g. for non-payment) and second where an imei is blocked by all carriers (e.g. a phone is reported lost or stolen).
 

kevjen888

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2008
767
236
My friend just bought a brand new sealed in the box iPhone 7+ Verizon model. The seller later admitted it’s still on payment plan. Now my friend is freaking out, afraid wake up one day his T-Mobile service will get locked out due to the phone be blacklisted by Verizon.
 
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