Warning: Buying a used phone without checking the IMEI cost me $250

I used to just meet people from Craigslist at a coffee shop, hand over cash, and walk away thinking I got a deal. Last month I bought what looked like a perfect Galaxy S22 from a guy in Denver for $250. Got home, tried to activate it, and found out it was blacklisted because the original owner reported it stolen. Now I always run the IMEI through a free checker before even pulling out my wallet. Has anyone else had to deal with a phone that looked fine but turned out to be a brick?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly.emma8d ago

Bought an iPhone 7 off Facebook Marketplace that looked mint condition and found out it was still locked to the original owner's iCloud account. Now I run the IMEI on every single phone I buy, learned that lesson the hard way too.

harper_smith8d ago

@kelly.emma that's brutal but honestly the worst part is sellers who do that KNOW what they're doing lol. Seen so many people on those Facebook groups try to pass off locked phones as "for parts" when they clearly listed it as mint condition. What gets me is how easy they make it look with those generic "no returns, sold as is" lines. At least you caught it before trying to trade it in somewhere, that would've been a whole other nightmare with the serial number flagged.