Finding owner of lost/stolen Clasic to attempt to get it back to them

Someone tried selling me a lost or stolen BlackBerry Classic. It is still in my possession and I would like to know if there's a way to find its rightful owner and contact them accordingly to see if I can get it back to them.

I have the device's PIN, but when I tried Googling it, I got 3 results all for porn sites (doesn't seem to be related to the actual device :-)).

The device has been wiped, and can't get any farther then the login screen to the BB ID, and it says that the device has been marked as stolen, and it can only be unlocked by its original owner.

So anyone have any ideas how I might be able to locate its rightful owner, and attempt to get a hold of them?

Is there any type of carrier branding on the phone, like a carrier logo? If so, maybe you could drop it off at a carrier store (if it's not too inconvenient.)

Worst case, you could always give it to the police and let them sort it out.

So far I haven't been able to locate any carrier branding. I've tried looking up its IMEI, and I haven't been able to find its carrier, but it's also been blacklisted in Canada as it's been reported lost/stolen. If I don't manage to find the carrier, I will most likely drop it off at the police like you mentioned :-)

Originally Posted by Sashko

So far I haven't been able to locate any carrier branding. I've tried looking up its IMEI, and I haven't been able to find its carrier, but it's also been blacklisted in Canada as it's been reported lost/stolen. If I don't manage to find the carrier, I will most likely drop it off at the police like you mentioned :-)

1. If you have access to SIM cards from the major local carriers that sold the Classic, you could try them in the phone to see which ones picks up a signal. So, for example, if Telus and Koodo both sold the Classic and this phone is from one of the two, SIMs from both carriers will get a signal on the phone (others should show SOS for signal.) This will narrow it down to Telus and Koodo (but not down to one carrier, unfortunately.)

Of course, this won't work if this is a factory unlocked phone. All Canadian carriers will get a signal.

2. If you're on Twitter, maybe you could tweet BlackBerry; hopefully they'll at least be willing to tell you which carrier's store to go to drop the phone off.

Those are some pretty good ideas. I actually work for one of the big 3, and I have spare SIM cards from my carrier. I also have a collection of almost every carrier's SIM cards, 'cause I'm a geek like that. So I'll definitely give that a go. Not sure if it will show the reception/SOS before getting out of setup, which is as far as I get, since it's been reported lost/stolen on BB Protect.

Twittering BB sounds like a good idea too. I have the feeling that the police probably won't make too much of an effort in attempt to locate the owner, so I'll keep that option as a last resort :-)

Edit: BTW if the phone was actually stolen originally, would it make sense to try SIM cards most of which were at some point associated to an account linked to me? Could that possibly make it look like I stole the phone?

Originally Posted by Sashko

Edit: BTW if the phone was actually stolen originally, would it make sense to try SIM cards most of which were at some point associated to an account linked to me? Could that possibly make it look like I stole the phone?

That's a great question. I don't think so, no. The transience of GSM should not tie this phone to you like that.

But realistically, who's going to accuse the person returning the phone of stealing it? If you want to be extra careful, just tell them you tried a bunch of SIM cards to figure out which carrier this phone was from, when you go to turn it in.

You don't have the box for this phone, or didn't see a PRD# anywhere, did you?

All that I have is the phone, no box, no SIM, no memory card.

Unfortunately I don't see a PRD anywhere.

I decided to try Tweating @BlackBerryHelp. They asked me for the device's PIN/EMEI which I've now sent them, and am waiting to hear back what they can give me. I think that'll save me time from trying to make sure all of my different SIM cards fit and what-not :-)

So @BlackBerryHelp responded that they'd need to follow-up with on this, and will get back to me on Monday, so I decided to try the different SIM cards I have. It seems that the Koodo one I have is the only one that didn't ask for a network unlock code. If Koodo to Telus is like Virgin to Bell (in that Virgin SIM card work on Bell phones without unlocking them an vice-versa), then it's either locked to Koodo or Telus.

Now I am attempting to get a hold of Telus to see what they'd like me to do with the phone (wow, does their chat support ever have a long queue of people waiting for their turn :-o).

Originally Posted by Sashko

If Koodo to Telus is like Virgin to Bell (in that Virgin SIM card work on Bell phones without unlocking them an vice-versa), then it's either locked to Koodo or Telus.

Yeah, Koodo is to Telus like Virgin Mobile is to Bell. And a very cursory search of CB tells me that Koodo may not have sold the Classic, so it's likely Telus'.

Yes, I just did a Google search on the same topic, and it seems that only unlocking sites are referring to a Koodo Classic, yet there are people who were begging for Koodo to start selling the Classic.

Either way, I can't believe that there have been 21 people ahead of me waiting to chat with Telus support, now for at least 30 mins. It started at somewhere around 25 or 28. I'm starting to wonder why they try to say in their commercials that they have the best customer service :-s

How'd it turn out BlackBerryHelp ever get back to you?

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Originally Posted by Sashko

Someone tried selling me a lost or stolen BlackBerry Classic

Any updates?

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