How To Unlist A Blacklisted Phone

You may have heard the term "blacklisted phone" at some point. Maybe it was on an iPhone bulletin board, or a Genius at the Apple Store mentioned it. But what exactly does "blacklisted" mean when it comes to phones? What can you do if your iPhone or Android has been blacklisted? Allow's explore this concept for a moment and talk virtually the implications if your device has been given this designation.

What Does "Blacklisted" Mean When You're Talking About Phones?

The simplest reply to this query is that a blacklisted phone is 1 that has been reported stolen or lost, presumably past the original or previous owner. Information technology makes sense that you may want to buy a phone used. That's because new, top-of-the-line iPhones can hands toll upwardly of $1,000, and Androids aren't much cheaper.

If you're not careful, though, you lot could end upwards getting stuck with a blacklisted phone, and that's bad news when y'all're trying to become it activated. There are ways to tell whether a used telephone has been blacklisted, though, so let's get over that now.

How to Check Whether a Phone has Been Blacklisted

About mobile phones accept what is called an IMEI. That stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. Retrieve of it like a barcode that gives you all the data about a production. If your phone doesn't have one, then information technology will have an ESN instead. That's an Electronic Serial Number. Some devices have both.

It's easy to observe these numbers. To do so, type #06# into the keypad. That will cause the numbers to evidence up on the display. It'due south on the back of some phones, or the battery. If you got your used device in the original box in which information technology came, and then you might see this number on the packaging likewise. That's the case with Apple tree products.

If y'all have an iPhone, yous can likewise go to Settings, then Well-nigh, so IMEI/ESN. It should be displayed there.

Is Your Device Make clean, or has it Been Blacklisted?

As for whether the device you're because ownership has been flagged as lost or stolen, the easiest style to know that is to contact the carrier when y'all're trying to get yourself set up with a plan. You're probably going to get put on concur for a while when you do this. It's worth it, though. If you buy a used device without going through this process, then you lot might exist in for a nasty surprise when you do get around to activating information technology.

There are as well websites and apps like PhoneCheck. PhoneCheck is a mobile diagnostic company. Y'all can use it to go all kinds of information about a used device, including whether information technology is on the so-chosen blacklist.

But What Exactly is the Blacklist?

The blacklist is a master listing of all the electronic devices that have been reported lost or stolen. It'southward a database containing all of those ESNs and IMEIs that correspond to the phones on the black market place. If your phone matches one of those numbers, it'due south highly likely that a carrier won't provide service for you. What's more than, they might even make a report to the government that you have that detail device in your possession. If that telephone was blacklisted for a valid reason, you lot might exist forced to requite information technology upward so the previous possessor can call up it.

What Tin can Y'all Do with a Blacklisted Phone?

Permit's say that the worst-case scenario has come to pass. You bought a used phone, called a local carrier, and they tell y'all that information technology'south blacklisted. What's the adjacent stride?

You tin't sell your iPhone if it is blacklisted, just you do accept a few options.

What you're going to practice depends on how you bought the phone. If y'all purchased information technology used or refurbished through a carrier, and then the onus of responsibility is on them. You can but tell them nigh the trouble, and they'll have to do whatsoever is necessary to get your phone off the blacklist or refund your money.

If yous bought the telephone from a private seller, then that makes things a little more complicated. Hopefully, you yet have their contact data. You can tell them the same thing that you would a carrier: go this device taken off the blacklist, or give me my money back. If they refuse to do so, and then you tin always go to the police or take them to modest claims court. Probably a judgment will go in your favour, though you will have to take the fourth dimension to make a court appearance.

Small Claims Court for a Blacklisted Phone

It's besides vital for you lot to know that in most cases, simply the private who kickoff reported the telephone lost or stolen may go it removed from the blacklist. If yous're able to become in touch with the person who owned the device previously and they're willing to practise that, and so y'all should be able to go the telephone activated with no further problems. Even so, go along in heed that what's more likely is they'll want to reclaim their property, leaving yous with nil.

What if You Don't Become Your Phone Taken Off the Blacklist?

Maybe y'all bought a telephone that yous find out has been blacklisted. The carrier you called does not carp to report the device to the authorities. Yous determine that you still want to keep it, and you lot don't want to become through the trouble of taking information technology off the blacklist. What is the telephone suitable for and so?

Well, in theory, yous could notwithstanding utilize the device for things like playing music, games and watching movies or Tv set shows. There'southward not something inherently wrong with this. However, almost people want a phone primarily so they can make calls and exchange texts, and you won't be able to do that without a carrier for it.

Realistically, when you buy a phone, and y'all find out that it's on the blacklist, you lot're going to have to practice everything you can to get it off of there. That will mean communicating with the carrier, the entity or individual who sold you the phone, and possibly the person who put it on the blacklist in the beginning place.

The wisest form of action is to check into a used phone'due south condition before any coin ever changes easily. That way, these sorts of problems tin can be avoided. If y'all practise buy from a private seller, like someone who's getting rid of their used iPhone on Craigslist or something along those lines, make sure that it'due south someone virtually whom you experience reasonably confident. If the person seems evasive about where they got the phone, or they won't let you cheque out the IMEI or the ESN, and so walk away from the bargain.

Generally speaking, it'southward better to buy a used electronic device from a recognized online or brick-and-mortar entity that you tin can hold accountable. If someone online is offering a telephone that seems like too adept of a bargain to pass up, then continue with extreme caution. More than likely, they got ahold of that device through quack means, and it could be on the dreaded blacklist.