1. Piff Berry's Avatar
    Y its unbelievable how much scams are on cl. I've responded to at least 6 ads saying y i'll buy but meet me at the sprint store! Guess what, no response....

    Also Im noticing they're selling phones on ebay with "BAD ESN"...who da **** buys these? and the thieves have the ballz to list the bad ESN on ebay...Ive been checking ebay with bad esn's hoping to find my stolen Tour...actually i don't care about the phone I just want these punks to get busted.
    Carriers in some countries don't care and sometimes the value is high for these phones in these countries.
    01-06-10 12:04 PM
  2. eBoyDog's Avatar
    The eBay "Bad ESN's" are useful for parts, they tend to go for too much but if you are replacing everything but the radio they can be a good deal.
    01-06-10 02:02 PM
  3. JaunDawg's Avatar
    Paid cash and have no receipt... I might sound like you're hosed, but you have an email trail of the transaction as well as the phone itself. If the carrier says it was reported stolen by the same person you've done the deal with, the emails might just convince them to help you out. I've worked with a few fraud investigators at telcos on similar things in the past. Worth a shot.
    01-06-10 10:07 PM
  4. CarrierUnlock's Avatar
    They can still be unlocked it, but if you want to free the carrier will be your best bet.
    01-06-10 10:14 PM
  5. gregorylkelly's Avatar
    Resell the phone on craigslist.... Just kidding..... Or am I?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    01-06-10 10:46 PM
  6. D2TSHR1439's Avatar
    Atleast you can get some of your money back if you unlock it and sell it as an unlocked phone unable to be used on US Cellular. I know it sucks but you should atleast be able to get 50%-75% of the money back. There is nothing US Cellular can do. You're stuck at this point. Whenever I buy a phone off clist, I always call from where I am at to verify it and activate in on my account, that way its harder for them to report it. I usually have them talk to my carrier (VZW) as well and let them know it is being sold to me.

    Sorry about your luck, but atleast you are not 100% out of money.
    01-07-10 12:19 AM
  7. CatAlex's Avatar
    Wow, that really really sux. Scammers suck.
    01-07-10 01:15 AM
  8. gtroddy's Avatar
    and your expert advice is to eat the $250 loss.... you sound like someone that sells stolen phones and doesn't want to be reported to the police

    if he has any chance of getting his money back, he's going to have to do it through the legal system (which doesn't always work, but its still worth a shot)
    LoL i was thinking the same thing. He sounds like the perp that sold the phone.
    01-07-10 05:39 AM
  9. ddggttff3's Avatar
    Y its unbelievable how much scams are on cl. I've responded to at least 6 ads saying y i'll buy but meet me at the sprint store! Guess what, no response....

    Also Im noticing they're selling phones on ebay with "BAD ESN"...who da **** buys these? and the thieves have the ballz to list the bad ESN on ebay...Ive been checking ebay with bad esn's hoping to find my stolen Tour...actually i don't care about the phone I just want these punks to get busted.
    I bought a pearl 8130 on ebay that was listed as BAD esn from a unpaid corperate bill from the last account the device was on, funny enough, I tried activating it last night, and it successfully activated on my account. Not to bad for only 20 bucks! I know not all are like that, but most bad ESN blackberries on ebay are 99% unpaid bills, so there ESN is only blacklisted vi carrier, alot are sold for eathor repair parts, or reflashing to a diff carrier, like cricket or sprint.
    01-07-10 07:12 AM
  10. silk05f150's Avatar
    I recently got hosed on a BB tour off craigslist aswell. I took it to the verizon store and the guy told me it was lost/stolen but when I verify it on their website or call in, it says its currently assigned to another wireless number.

    You guys said I can get it unlocked and sell it to be used on another wireless network is that correct? If so, how do I go about doing this?
    02-08-10 01:05 PM
  11. CarrierUnlock's Avatar
    I recently got hosed on a BB tour off craigslist aswell. I took it to the verizon store and the guy told me it was lost/stolen but when I verify it on their website or call in, it says its currently assigned to another wireless number.

    You guys said I can get it unlocked and sell it to be used on another wireless network is that correct? If so, how do I go about doing this?
    You can purchase a code from us or any other unlocker and get it unlocked and then resell it. Usually goes for a higher resale value.
    02-08-10 01:14 PM
  12. Saukrateaz's Avatar
    dont get the cops involved, they wont do anything. Buying stuff "off the street" and off craigslist is a gamble. Unfortunatley your stuck with a brick unless you unlock it. Tifoso, if the cops or anyone else wants to be a di*k about it they can charge with him receiving stolen property whether he used legal tender or otherwise to buy it. Its always best to make transactions like that at or near a store so the device can be checked BEFORE you buy it. Sorry bout the loss man, it sucks.
    02-08-10 01:25 PM
  13. curve0644's Avatar
    Are you a cop, lawyer or judge? Stick to medicine and leave the legal stuff to those of us that are actually in the profession.
    I actually am in law enforcement. I don't know about the other person. But he's actually not going to get in trouble. It's not his fault. But he needs to do something now. He needs to sue this person. He can be found from his e-mail address. The person probably stole the phone from a friend or found it and sold it. I would sue that guy and get me a brand new tour plus more money.
    02-08-10 01:26 PM
  14. CarrierUnlock's Avatar
    Could it all depends if the work, wait, and money is worth it in the long run.
    02-08-10 01:26 PM
  15. curve0644's Avatar
    dont get the cops involved, they wont do anything. Buying stuff "off the street" and off craigslist is a gamble. Unfortunatley your stuck with a brick unless you unlock it. Tifoso, if the cops or anyone else wants to be a di*k about it they can charge with him receiving stolen property whether he used legal tender or otherwise to buy it. Its always best to make transactions like that at or near a store so the device can be checked BEFORE you buy it. Sorry bout the loss man, it sucks.
    The cops are not going to charge him with that and if they did it simply wouldn't stick. If you buy something off craigslist that is legal and if you had no idea it was stolen it's not your fault. But he needs to go to the cops now or it might look like he did know it was stolen. He needs to go and tell them what happened and if he finds a cop that cares enough they can locate this person. They have his name and email. So, then they will go question this person and if it turns out it is stolen he will go to jail. And this guy can light a law suit up under him.

    The internet is no different than in person. If you go to a yard sale and buy something and didn't know it was stolen it is not your fault. The police will investigate it before they start throwing charges at someone.
    02-08-10 01:28 PM
  16. Saukrateaz's Avatar
    all thats being said about contacting the cops is assuming A) his email address has any trail to who he actually is, internet proxies and fake email accounts are EVERYWHERE B) His phone number that he is using is also not a stolen phone.
    I've been through this all before. Same situation (kinda). I bought from someone, checked it at a store but didnt have my ID to change it. It was stolen that morning and had not been reported yet. By the time i called it in to activate it had been reported.

    CURVE: I said IF they wanted to be di*ks about it they could charge him with it. doesnt matter if it sticks or not, would make things hard for a little bit and he could lose the phone as well.
    02-08-10 01:33 PM
  17. tony bag o donuts's Avatar
    I am still out $$$ from an industrial sewing machine for my wife...
    Local officials won't/ can't do anything.
    I would just return the phone to the provider and maybe they will cut you a price break on a device.
    02-08-10 01:34 PM
  18. CarrierUnlock's Avatar
    I am still out $$$ from an industrial sewing machine for my wife...
    Local officials won't/ can't do anything.
    I would just return the phone to the provider and maybe they will cut you a price break on a device.
    Carrier will not cut him a deal I'm sorry.
    02-08-10 01:42 PM
  19. tony bag o donuts's Avatar
    Carrier will not cut him a deal I'm sorry.
    some have reported on here that they reported a stolen phone and their respective carrier gave them one for the two yr price.

    Doesn't hurt to ask.
    02-08-10 01:45 PM
  20. Saukrateaz's Avatar
    couldnt hurt. let us know how it goes. maybe play the sympathy card. just got layed off, wifes pregnant, got married a month ago, car needs a transmission and your dog died....couldnt hurt.
    02-08-10 01:47 PM
  21. CarrierUnlock's Avatar
    I guess worst they can say is NO.
    02-08-10 01:55 PM
  22. curve0644's Avatar
    Yeah, but believe it or not most people especially criminals are pretty stupid. Chances are the guy did use his real name and he could be traced with this email. And if this guy goes to the cops they aren't going to stick him with a stolen property charge because he's trying to do the right thing. Although this was posted a long time ago so it might not be a good idea now.
    02-08-10 02:10 PM
  23. moyjoy's Avatar
    Have you contacted the guy? Maybe he had lost the phone and got a replacement and sold that phone to you after he found it to make some money instead of returning it to Verizon. Maybe they can trace that. (long shot i know)

    Did you go through paypal? maybe they can do something.
    02-08-10 02:32 PM
  24. Dyzrv's Avatar
    this sucks man really bad...

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    02-08-10 02:54 PM
  25. ShireyJeff's Avatar
    Sorry to hear about this stolen/lost phone. I know this thread was back in January, but I found a website that can help check if a phone is clear or not. It might help for future craigslist or even eBay purchases. The site is called checkesn and it looks like they charge $2.99 to check an ESN.
    06-28-10 02:31 PM
100 1234
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD