[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] lancesng:
I don't think he's saying that there is no law against changing IMEI's, cause I really think there is a law against changing IMEI's. If something belongs to you, then you can change it whenever you want.

However, with regards to the law, what is illegal is the receipt of stolen property. If the phone is stolen, no matter what happens, the phone will always belong to the original owner. However, if the phone was lost or abandoned, then it becomes a different story. If lost, you would have to attempt to find the original owner, where it would end up being yours after a certain amount of time. If it was abandoned, well, then the original owner didn't want it to begin with.

Then there's also the issue like OP's post, where he purchased the phone, where it was then reported stolen by the seller subsequent to the purchase. Same thing happened to me...but that's another story. Since OP was a bonafide purchaser, purchasing for value and not knowing that the seller would report it stolen, OP is the true owner of the phone.

Therefore, with regards to lost, mislaid or in OP's case, purchasing through fraud, the phone belong's to the subsequent owner, and they can change the IMEI or do anything they want to with the phone.

This is ofcourse on condition that no one has any other claim of ownership, such as a 2 year contract of the phone, where the phone actually belongs to the phone company. But if the phone was purchased outright, even with or without insurance, the owner is the subsequent owner. And I'm pretty sure the IMEI change is legal.

Only thing is that the majority of the time, IMEI changes are due to stolen devices, and hence the hate for changing IMEI's.

---------- Post added at 02:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 PM ----------

I don't think he's saying that there is no law against changing IMEI's, cause I really think there is a law against changing IMEI's. If something belongs to you, then you can change it whenever you want.

However, with regards to the law, what is illegal is the receipt of stolen property. If the phone is stolen, no matter what happens, the phone will always belong to the original owner. However, if the phone was lost or abandoned, then it becomes a different story. If lost, you would have to attempt to find the original owner, where it would end up being yours after a certain amount of time. If it was abandoned, well, then the original owner didn't want it to begin with.

Then there's also the issue like OP's post, where he purchased the phone, where it was then reported stolen by the seller subsequent to the purchase. Same thing happened to me...but that's another story. Since OP was a bonafide purchaser, purchasing for value and not knowing that the seller would report it stolen, OP is the true owner of the phone.

Therefore, with regards to lost, mislaid or in OP's case, purchasing through fraud, the phone belong's to the subsequent owner, and they can change the IMEI or do anything they want to with the phone.

This is ofcourse on condition that no one has any other claim of ownership, such as a 2 year contract of the phone, where the phone actually belongs to the phone company. But if the phone was purchased outright, even with or without insurance, the owner is the subsequent owner. And I'm pretty sure the IMEI change is legal.

Only thing is that the majority of the time, IMEI changes are due to stolen devices, and hence the hate for changing IMEI's.