Bought Used Phone from (FB/Gumtree) - Risk for Ex-Owner to Claim Insurance, Phone IMEI Blocked

tooblue on 03/07/2023 - 18:03
Last edited 03/07/2023 - 22:13 by 1 other user

What are the options for the buyer?

And what if the insurance claim and IMEI block were initiated a few months after the purchase? What if the seller is not the original owner? (could be a thief or a lucky second owner). In my case it was Vodafone's f'ed up and the seller/original owner was very helpful to sort it out.

In hindsight are there any measures to mitigate this risk?

  • Asking seller to provide an original receipt?

  • Bring the working phone to Apple store / Samsung store to register as the owner? Would it work if later it was claimed stolen?

Mobile

Comments

  • CodeXD on 03/07/2023 - 18:05
    +1

    Vodafone's f'ed up

    How do you figure it is vodafone's fault?

    • tooblue on 03/07/2023 - 18:09
      +1

      Seller sent me the chat history with Vodafone and phone unblocked, working fine since.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/07/2023 - 18:06
    -1

    lol

  • Hybroid on 03/07/2023 - 18:12
    +19

    You can also mitigate by not buying used phones from local marketplaces rife with scammers. Pay a little more for peace of mind.

  • andresampras on 03/07/2023 - 18:31
    +1

    Why did the seller claim insurance on a phone they'd sold to you? Or have I misunderstood something

    • brendanm on 03/07/2023 - 18:45
      +7

      You haven't misunderstood, it's just been very poorly explained.

    • follow on 03/07/2023 - 19:33
      +3

      Common scam. Sell your phone for $$$. Claim it as stolen. Pay excess $. Profit $$

      • 87percent on 03/07/2023 - 20:46

        Does anyone know if you can also do this with smart watches? Looking at grabbing a 2nd hand Apple Watch, and wondering if this could happen

        • follow on 03/07/2023 - 21:59

          guessing yes if it's the lte version

      • andresampras on 03/07/2023 - 21:28

        but OP goes on to say the seller was helpful in sorting it out, and that it was Voda's fault…

  • 87percent on 03/07/2023 - 18:46
    +2

    It’s not Vodafone’s fault

    • jv on 03/07/2023 - 21:05
      +1

      It's always Vodafone’s fault.

  • autonomate on 03/07/2023 - 19:49

    If it's not Apple, throw it on Ebay and sell it to someone in the US/EU.

  • Cave Fire on 03/07/2023 - 20:06

    So no actual problem? Suggest amending the title.

  • hasher22 on 03/07/2023 - 22:41
    +2

    TLDR: There's nothing you can do but to buy a new phone.

    Ex retail telco rep here

    There's not much you can do if the original owner blocks the IMEI.

    Few scenarios:

    1 When the original buyer purchases a phone through the telco on a plan over X months, the IMEI is linked to the service number. If the original owner sells the phone then upgrades to a new model on the same service number, the previous IMEI/phone will NOT be eligible for insurance thus the second hand owner (you) don't have to worry about getting it blocked through an insurance claim BUT if the seller wants to block the IMEI number just for funsies, the account will still have the previous IMEI and the telco can block it on request.

    2 The buyer (you) purchases the phone, IMEI blocks due to original owner makes an insurance claim. You can't do anything about it, you have a blocked IMEI. The best you can do is sell the phone internationally as IMEI blocks only occur in the country of the block, in this example, the phone will only be blocked in Australia but you can use it in USA.

    3 When you have your number in the phone, the telco will recognise your phone number is linked with its IMEI number after a few weeks the system will pick it up. If your phone is blocked by Vodafone but you're with Optus, Optus will advise to call Vodafone to unblock it as other telcos can't unblock IMEIs on each behalf. So you're screwed

    3a When you have your number in the phone, the telco will recognise your phone number is linked with its IMEI number after a few weeks the system will pick it up. If your phone is blocked by Vodafone but you're with Vodafone as well, you can call Vodafone to unblock it but it may go through background checks. If they see IMEI has been blocked due to lost/stolen and an insurance claim has been made with the original buyers account, Vodafone will go through their process to unblock or reject the request to unblock. Most likely it won't be unblocked.

    Conclusion: There's nothing you can do but to buy a new phone.

    That's why when people tell me they will purchase a second hand phone and get a BYO sim card with X telco, I always warn them about IMEI blocking and its always best to buy a new phone.

    • andresampras on 04/07/2023 - 10:26

      If you have communications to prove purchase from the original owner, could you not contact the telco and get them to lift the block?

      • hasher22 on 04/07/2023 - 13:27

        It could work in your favour but mostly not. If an insurance claim has gone through, the sold phone will most likely not be unblocked as the lost/stolen phone needs to be permanently blocked.

        Companies don't know if the phone was 'sold' or 'lost/stolen' to a friend, family member etc…..

        Even if the original account holder calls and says they found their lost phone or the police gave the phone back and they request an IMEI unblock, if an insurance claim has gone through, it won't be unblocked in most cases.

        • Grazz989 on 04/07/2023 - 21:43

          You would simply get in touch with the telco and prove you purchased the phone fair and square. If need be, you'd ask for which insurance company acted on the claim that it has been stolen, and report the fraudulent activity to their own insurer's.

          • hasher22 on 04/07/2023 - 22:57

            @Grazz989: It's not that simple mate.

            Good luck getting through privacy and the chances of the seller providing a legit receipt in their name is next to zero. What dodgy person would provide their details to a buyer knowing they're going to do a dodgy insurance job?

  • Educatedfool on 04/07/2023 - 10:59

    @tooblue what phone it is ?

    • tooblue on 04/07/2023 - 17:52

      iPhone

  • Cave Fire on 04/07/2023 - 17:46

    The Op's issue is resolved. In my case it was Vodafone's f'ed up and the seller/original owner was very helpful to sort it out. *title should be something like Advice wanted re IMEI blocking. Weird stuff like this does happen…

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