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August 24, 2018

7 Tips for IMEI Blacklist Removal For Used Smartphones

Buying a used or refurbished smartphone can save you hundreds of dollars and get you a great mobile device that should be able to serve your needs nicely for at least a handful of years. But there's always the chance, when buying a second-hand phone, of encountering problems. And one of the most distressing issues involves buying what ultimately turns out to be a blacklisted smartphone. The reason this is so serious an issue is that a blacklisted smartphone will, until or unless the phone is taken off the blacklist, be rendered incapable of initiating or receiving calls.This is how it works...Smartphones have unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers. If a smartphone is reported as lost or stolen to a wireless carrier, the wireless carrier will add the IMEI number to a blacklist. This means that anyone with such a phone will not be able to connect to the wireless carrier's network -- thus the need for IMEI blacklist removal.While criminals or fraudsters will sometimes purposefully try to resell stolen smartphones, many times the blacklist problem has nothing to do with intentional efforts to bilk people out of their hard-earned money. Whether done intentionally or inadvertently, you don’t want a blacklisted smartphone that will be little more than a costly MP3 player, camera, or gaming machine.Read on to learn about these 7 tips for IMEI blacklist removal -- so that you can enjoy your smartphone without any problems that affect usability.

1. Check Out the Network

Depending on the underlying network technology of your used smartphone, you might be able to essentially skirt around a blacklisted IMEI. Consider that smartphones can have CDMA technology, GSM technology, or both. If your smartphone has a blacklisted IMEI and is based on CDMA technology, it will be blacklisted by CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint. However, if the smartphone also supports GSM technology, then the blacklisted IMEI will still be able to connect to a GSM network. So you may be able to use your phone despite the blacklist.

2. No-Cost Carrier Unlock

One common scenario is for a seller is to seek to unload his or her smartphone before the contract has ended, which means that the seller could potentially find a buyer before the IMEI on the smartphone in question is added to the IMEI blacklist. In order to avoid any surprises, ask the seller to call his or her wireless carrier and request that the smartphone be unlocked. This should be done before a sale transaction so that there’s no need for IMEI blacklist removal.

IMEI Blacklist Removal

3. Unlock for a Fee

You can unlock a smartphone that has a bad IMEI courtesy of a company that provides such a service. It should be noted, however, that it might still not be possible for you to use your smartphone to connect to the networks of the major wireless carriers in the United States. This route could be an option if, after paying to get the unlock done, you wish to sell the smartphone internationally where the blacklisting issue won't be a problem.

4. IMEI Cleaning Services

You can find service provides who can fix your IMEI problems. You can go either of two routes if you pursue this course of action:a). Pay a set amount to the service provider providing the IMEI cleaning servicesb). Pay to facilitate a process whereby your smartphone will be exchanged for a smartphone that has a non-blacklisted IMEI

5. Square Accounts

If the blacklisted smartphone was blacklisted because of lack of payment from the previous owner of the mobile device, you should first contact the seller and request that he or she pay up. But if the seller won’t do so, you can attempt to contact the wireless carrier in question and then ask the wireless carrier if it would remove the smartphone from the blacklist if you were to pay the outstanding balance left unpaid by the previous owner of the smartphone.

6. Check Before You Buy

This should actually be your first order of business. If you meet with the seller, call the wireless carrier to check out the IMEI. This will inform you of any blacklist issue so that you can get it fixed before buying a used phone.

7. Software

There are software applications out there that promise to help cure smartphones of IMEI woes. You should beware though since there’s really no guarantee that all these solutions will solve blacklist dilemmas.If you follow these 7 tips for IMEI blacklist removal for used smartphones, you’ll be able to shop with more confidence. The blacklist problem is more prevalent than you might think, so take the proper steps to ensure that you end up with a used smartphone that you can actually use.

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