yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] louiscar:
Vejay,

A couple of questions as I have bought a blacklisted phone from ebay.

Background: the phone worked ok when it arrived (hermes). After I put Olipro's HardSPL and hard reset I found I couldn't dial out on my T-Mobile sim.

A little research gave me to suspect it was blocked. I called Vodafone (as it is a 1605) and they confirmed it was reported stolen. Next was to phone the police to report it. They took the details and I asked 'what do I do with the phone' The answer was that I'd have to wait a few days, if they wanted it they'd contact me. That was on the 24/10.

Next was to raise a dispute with paypal. I eventually got some **** an bull story from the seller who's now initiated a refund. I had told him that I've provided a reference number for the police and Vodafone and if his explanation was valid there should be no problem in sorting this out. Incidentally I marked him 2/10 for the credibility of his story and that was before I clocked his reaction to my reporting it to the police. :-)

The upshot is that he's now told me Vodafone will not unblock the phone so "keep it" :)

OK so now I have a phone that the police may or may not ask me for - it's only day 3 so I'll give it a week. Vodafone are not interested curiously.

So the question:

If I end up with this phone, under what circumstances can one LEGALLY get the phone de-blacklisted? I am not prepared to look for a way of changing the IMEI, so it's either a free PDA or get the proper IMEI unblocked.

My guess is that if one can prove that the phone has been recovered or the original person who reported it reversed his / her claim.

However, I'm not sure what the circumstance are or (if the seller is telling the truth by any stretch of the imagination) Vodafone imply that once blacklisted, always blacklisted. Is there any law that allows for legitimate de-blacklisting given adequate proof of recovery or is this at the network's discretion?

Another question: If the police don't show any interest in recovering the phone and Vodafone aren't interested am I legally entitled to keep the phone? I can probably ask them that but I find it strange that their interest in actually recovering the phone seems less than enthusiastic.

I'd be interested in your comments as you appear to know about the legal aspects of these issues.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] :
That's interesting. Are the police going to pay the seller a visit?

My guess is that the IMEI block is permanent. It's there to make stealing phones a waste of time and being able to unblock them would weaken that premise.

You might get it to work in another country as (to my limited knowledge) the UK's IMEI blacklist only gets shared around the UK networks.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] louiscar:
The seller is in Bristol, I reported to the East Sussex Police, they told me that they may pass it on to the Bristol police, yes.

I agree to a certain extent but there should be some provision for a recovered phone to be taken off the blacklist given adequate proof and confirmation of its recovery. It needn't threaten the premise as long as the rules that govern it are solid enough.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] flexte:
N2h

"1> same IMEI number will not be active at the same time on the network"

are you sure about this? the IMEI associated with my phone is actually the IMEI of the employees phone who signed me up with ATT. at the time i did not have my phone on me so he used his to sign me up. later on i came back and used my phone to activate the sim. he never did get the IMEI from my phone. and the 2 times that i called the cust serv rep asked me questions as if i had a BB phone( which of c0ourse was the employees phone.)
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] PxDxA:
Not quite true. In Turkey, because of a huge problem of muggings and cell phone theft, every phone's IMEI and its owner is now registered. In a year Turks are allowed to bring one phone from abroad which they then have to register. I would strongly advise against altering an IMEI in Turkey as penalties far outweigh any benefit.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] james21170:
Imei

Why when reading my IMEI number with the Iwizard tool does the number seem to be corrupt, ie when i read using the program it returns the number with letters in it, am i missing something??? The number it returns ( with letters is ) C4BC6400C4BC640

This is obviously wrong but what am i doing wrong or what is going wrong with the reading process?? ??

O2 XDA iis PDA by the why!
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] efikra:
yes it is a pencil
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] eliasjcastillo:
exactly the same error..

HTC touch p3452 elf..

iwizard shows imei: C4BC6400C4BC640

what can we do? WST 4.2.1 , didnt work neither..:(

IPL 1.11

SPL 1.11

aku .0.2.3
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] jungl1st:
After reading with interest this thread, I had a check of my emei and find out that the one listed in settings/system/device info/identity has two more numbers at the end compared to the one written on the sticker by the battery.

I have an Artemis with tom B&B v5

Can someone has an idea of what happens here ?
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] saopacic:
It is probably the CRC
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] jungl1st:
Sorry for been a newbie, but What do U mean by CRC
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] skusa93:
This exact question was already answered in this thread.

If you had taken the time to read rather than post, this would have been apparent to you.

The last two digits correspond to the software version of the phone, which is why it does not show up on the sticker underneath the battery, but rather in the OS.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] jaskani:
Guy any luck with kaiser imei change?
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] im_e_freak:
hay, you seem like a very experienced person, can i ask for a private msg asking for details of how this IMEI worKS?
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] Sinuyasha:
Hey guy,

If you face same problem as me, you may support me to change Imei. I up radio rom in my P51 by using radio rom 1.08. After I up it, my P51 change imei to 0000000. We try to change and got tool which it's official tool from BenQ. But I am lack of base information or file, user name, password. So I can't change my imei from 0000 to actual imei. I need it.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] shadowmike:
well after reading this thread..

I agree, that there are legitimate and non legitimate reasons to change the imei of a phone. but at the end of the day it comes down to morals.

I may not kill somone if i have a loaded gun, but some other user here might. I may use a imei changer to fix my screw up. Somone else my use the imei changer to switch a stolen phone imei's to a older broken phone so they could use it.

also the original poster wasn't trying to say its illegal and we shouldnt do it.

he was saying if we could do it. we could get free phones. because we could then switch the stickers and the internal code so that they match a old phone and trick the phone companies "TECH SUPPORT" into thinking its a legal phone and then having ... 2 working phones.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] jasonsmr:
Well Its good stuff.. morals, and all, and far abet from me bringing up such a matter as that would cause some state of being..

that may allow a-nother to become screwed such as being hammered on by big businesses cell phone giants (crying home to the momma fish)

conglomerates with horrid customer service or not...

They seem to handle themselves and some may say that inconveniencing them will cause others to

suffer in the long well thats on them bro, seriously when the momma fish of big corporation reticulates her ugly head to us do we submit and flinch our

shinny little cell phones away to be controlled by them another day..?

hell no we develop and do our own, wondering why were here, hell ya! its our Raison d'etre, Ive been reading all these post on this cell phone stuff and this is a very personal thing for all of us I'm sure like having a car stolen maybe, or better yet having a page in our personal journal burned.

I know if I had mine stolen I wouldn't want someone else to take the same meaning from it that i did, well news flash that just don't happen they will go on to use the thing regardless of me or us or "U" one will always do what one must. I hope I'm making since here If ya can't stand to read along I completely

understand.

Its a presence thing and we are always going to do what things we can we all have our own situations its called the human condition, regardless of

whether your a car thief or a happy go lucky consumer who got a pleasant bitter sweet $300 kaiser shipping mistake at his front door with a bad IMEI if

reported and BAD customer service and reception if he does. I'm not one to ever ask for advice and even less to ask what people think, unless I know I can

help.

So thats where I'm sitting where to help where to continue with the next thing, and to succeed brilliantly, as we seem to do, the point is when working at this, and we find that we can question a bit too much, halting, rather to even go anywhere with is seems like a point not to be yielded. Well, Ill tell you Guys and Girls this, that we're going to be the ones that a accountable, and yes some things are going to be always awaiting on that far reaching point "B,"

Question is: how ya get there?

Well I hope that lit a fire or at least an eyebrow or three. like I said I feel morally responsible for lots of stuff least of all of theses is to the cell phone companies

just think about it will YA?
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] tangwd898:
just found the tools can't work on my HTC Touch.

can anyone tell any other good tools?

thanks.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] xdaking:
nice info, you might even go prison for upto 5 years for changing IMEI in uk. (no sunshine for 5 freaking years, just bcos of a damn mobile phone)

don't let this happen to you. you are not a criminal. :)
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] ldnpat:
UK. Sunshine. I sense a contradiction there. It's August, for chrissake :(
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] xdaking:
exactly, theres no sunshine in uk, once in a bluemoon the sun comes out, only the dark clouds. outside is just like inside. :)

i almost forgot it mate.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] -888-:
what is the point of that website?

To check what?

For all I see there, that website is doing nothing else but HARVESTING IMEI numbers - and informations specific to devices with the number.

If I was to "steal" anybody's IMEI numbers I would have set up exactly same website and ask people to enter their IMEI#, brand and model of the phone, frequencies etc etc... it'll make my life much easier to clone someone's IMEI into another phone when I know all the details ;)

I'm sure Osama ibn Laden has plenty of your IMEI numbers and all the details to clone them into correct phone models now ;)
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] Ev0luti0n_:
i came late to this thread, but i laughed damn hard! :D

won't comment on the imei changing thingy though... :D
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] mestrini:
the irony of it all is that the purpose of the thread was to warn about the risks associated to IMEI changing and some members came here asking for help and solutions :p:D
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] carlistillo:
Ok Someone Has Changed Imei In Hermes100?

I HAVE A 8525 i bought it in the USA ,,,AND I WANT TO CHANGE MY IMEI , I hadTHE PHONE for 6 MONTHS AND ITS MINE I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW CAN I CHANGE MY IMEI, this is not stolen , the stupid people in my country blocked my phone thinking mine was stolen, i can use it in another company changing the sim chip but not in my operator,,,...,,, i didnt bought this phone here im from el salvador, and i wanna cryy...please tell mee how can i change it ..i can pay you a donation via paypal :( please. :(
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] PoisonP:
Hi, I see that you are very clued up and hope you can help me.

I am very new at this...actually I know nothing about this. I am hoping you can help me with this. I am from South Africa and through a provider called i-Talk got a Nokia N95 on the MTN network with an upgrade.

They upgraded on their side to the wrong package at the wrong time messing up the free minutes story. As a result we ended up with a huge bill and queried this...ever since then we had no real assistance and we are currently in dispute and requested the contract be cancelled...no definate feedback yet.

They blacklisted the phone on all networks but since we will have to pay the phone and cancellation fees I feel that we should still have use of the phone.

I therefore need assistance to change the IMEI number. Someone has given us codes to put in but it only works for a few minutes then it blocks again. I quess the only thing that can be done is to flash the phone and reload it...hopefully this is how a new IMEI number is generated.

Can anyone please, please, please help me as this phone was only used for 3 months and I do have the receipt from i-Talk as confirmation of ownership.

Thanking you in advance. :-)
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] duscsc:
I must change it!!

How to doing ???
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] freexdalogin:
found this post on the fourm if i am wrong please correct me ..thanks

21-02-2008, 12:16 PM

This (http://www.orate.co.uk/Mobiles/imei.html), this (http://support.gsmliberty.net/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=3), and this (http://www.wikihow.com/Find-the-IMEI-Number-on-a-Mobile-Phone) page gave me enough information to stop worrying about it all.

IMEISV (International Mobile Equipment Identity and Software Version number) is also sometimes used. It offers the possibility of adding the handset's original software version number. It adds a two digit SVN (Software Version Number) at the end of the code, so the numerical format is:

111111-22-333333-4-55, which changed to 11111111-222222-3-44 on 1st April 2004.

So we know that the added 01 is a software version number, that's added to the code itself. Since the first 15 numbers are the same as on the box/insurance papers, that suggests that the IMEI itself is not changed. It just got the SV part added to it.

Several sources suggest that having more than 15 numbers is not a problem at all:

NOTE: If your phone prints out more than 15 digits for your IMEI , please only supply us with the first 15 digits the phone provides, no dashes or space. The remaining numbers are unimportant as they are just checksum numbers.

Look on the phone for a white sticker/label, which would be now exposed after removing the battery, for the IMEI. It would be 15 or 17 digits not including a few forward slashes included and without any letters. Only the first 15-digits are needed.

Hope it helps :)
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] vikashrmalya:
Can somebody tell me as to how a modified/changed IMEI number can be identified? :confused:

Can the service provider know if an IMEI number is original or a modified one?:confused:

Does the manufacturers provide the list of all valid IMEI to the service providers for them to identify?:rolleyes:

I am just curious from the forensics perspective. Please let me know if someone knows the answer.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] Nokser:
Very interesting topic, I have to say that he is not tried, but I have to ... And so in general you want to change the IMEI?
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] jasond:
Very funny thread, I have always wondered about what it was that changed my IMEI. I have upgraded my i-mate sp5m 100's of times since 2004 when I first got it. I noticed my IMEI changed several times after flashing. It sucked because some of the software I purchased for the phone would not work anymore.

anyways, I always though the carrier don't really give a hoot about the IMEI, I thought it was illegal to clone sims. From my experience with the carrier not being able to read the IMEI was that they could not update your device OTA or PUSH some content.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] DaveShaw:
The last 2 digits of your IMEI are the SVN (software version number) and can change from time to time. Check Wikipedia for more.

Ta

Dave
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] cappsie:
Freedom of Speech

I've read, with interest, this thread.

The thing that gets me is the endless *dire* warnings about changing one's IMEI number.

Is it possible, more than likely, is it illegal, of course.

But since when did discussing a subject or researching a subject become illegal.

I love guns, have books on guns, have fired guns before the government made owning a gun illegal, I talk about guns. You get the point.

However, none of that makes my love of fine craftsmanship illegal.

Why on this thread are people being doom mongers? We are all well aware that hacking (or more correctly cracking) is illegal yet is openly discussed but seems to be a more grey area.

If someone had a phone that was blocked, went out and bought another, cheaper phone, perhaps from a local supermarket, but then decided that they'd like to use the legally purchased IMEI on the blocked phone because it was their preference. Now, IMHO why shouldn't we discuss that?

You can get plans on making drugs and bombs even nuclear warfare - morally speaking that is ALL illegal in the crassest sense, however, freedom of speech allows it.

Were I to go into a store and buy the components for a bomb and then build it, that would be illegal.

My two penneth.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] davey1980:
hmmm IMEI..the finger print of the fone. why would u want to change the IMEI unless to scam and ruin some1 elses fone.

service providers - we record SIM activity therefore ANY fone u put that sim into and use we RECORD the IMEI.

if you break ur fone or comes faulty we will send it away for repair AS long as the IMEI matches the 1 on account.(if u get ur fone from ur network they record the IMEI)

if u lose ur fone we'll check the IMEI linked to the account and IMEI of last used. make sure they match.

CHANGING ur IMEI will make ur fone USELESS for help. ur network provider wont help you and nor will ur manfacture!

if ur fones blacklisted and u dont know why..take proof of purchase (request this from network provider if sent out ) - and if theres no insurance claims on ur account u can get this unblacklisted.

Insurance companies will either request proof of IMEI blacklist or contact the service provider to check this.

other info.. the last digit can sometimes change but only once eg ends in 1 we mite have 0 at end. this is fine.

taking the 1st 8digits will tell us the make and model of that number.

SO..is it really worth it? (this info is used in UK)

how do i know this? cos im able to blacklist and unblacklist any IMEI for UK fones :p (we also have the ability to locate where the fone was last used however this costs alot more and only used under special reasons.)
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] Neolithian:
I have another question. It is illegal to change the IMEI on the phone, that remains undisputed, so the question is . . .

If someone purchased a phone and it had its IMEI tampered with, would a provider know the IMEI had been changed without physically holding the phone and comparing the *#06# with the printed label inside the unit ?
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] oklan:
great !but I won't my imei because it is useless for me,though I dare to against the law .
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] davey1980:
Neolithian - NO. we'd be able to see the new IMEI once a call is made from it but have no way to prove that the fones IMEI was changed unless checking stickers.meaning u could be using a different fone which is same make/model,

eg i have samsung i900. imei 1234 make a call now service provider has 1234 showing.

i buy new samsung i900 from shop imei 4321 again make a call again the service provider has imei 4321

if i was to change the imei from 1234 to 2345 the service provider would think its a different fone and system doesnt show imei change.

only reason to change the IMEI is to poss use a blacklist fone thats been recorded as stolen etc, BUT by changing the IMEI u mite get a IMEI thats not in the system making ur fone useless. (eg- u mite change ur IMEI to a blacklisted IMEI therefore wont work)

would be extremely hard to be caught by police, they would have to know wot to look for and old imei on fone to prove it i believe and pretty much impossible for fone companys to detect.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] cappsie:
A simple question

Bingo. Ok this was my point - I had a Nokia 6300, I dropped it and trashed the screen and then stepped on it in a drunken haze. I then purchased a replacement 6300 from Tesco's, swapped over my existing components to the new case never actually using the new components. Now, nothing illegal about that so far.

I have a new N95 that has been blocked (call my friend stupid) anyways the phone was passed to me as I already have an N95 and thought it might come in handy for more spares, however, it occured to me that the Nokia 6300 Tesco phone hasn't been used and therefore is still a legal phone. So my question is, why shouldn't I be allowed to transfer the Tesco number, which I have *already* legally paid for, on to the spare N95.

Simply telling me "it's illegal" and "if you're caught you will go to jail" is pointless and not answering my question - I know all this and I'm not interested in hearing it over and over again.

What I want to know is - is it possible to change the IMEI number on an N95 - yes or no - it's a simply question.

I've heard conflicting opinions on this so I'd love to know one way or the other in a proven way - i.e. someone saying "I've tried it myself - tried this way and that way and no you cannot." that would be acceptable.

Thoughts?

Thanks
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] davey1980:
the imei will show make and model etc, so poss changing from n95 to n95 is ok but n96 to mokia6300 hmmm system would show it as a n95, i guess it can be done but not 100% sure all features would work.. be pointless sending away for repair or geting tech help. is it such a biog deal to change the imei tho? only reason i can see if the handset is blacklisted and u want it working,

i guess u can change it as its just a number.
[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] cappsie:
Hazar

Ok that sounds more positive.

Today I was in one of those "unlocking" shops where they claim they can do anything, well almost anything after a brief conversation with the store hand who informed me they do not write IMEI numbers - they do however, de brand and unlock the phone even upgrade all the firmware for you - in fact everything not of use in this case.

I appreciate that the IMEI says "Hi I'm a Nokia 6300 registered on XXX network" but let's be honest, if 1. the IMEI hasn't been blocked and 2. the number is being used by a handset then who is to know?

If, in my meagre understanding it is the IMEI number that advertises what handset is using the phone then it doesn't matter what handset IS using the phone so long as the IMEI number hasn't been black listed.

I heard a claim that NSS could be used to rewrite the IMEI number but contrarily, a claim that NSS could not be used to rewrite the IMEI number. I'd wager it depends on where the IMEI is stored and if that chip is a one-way write only chip with its fuses blown after programming as I understand all protected chips to be.

Ideas?