Lost a Cell Phone.

Hi,

My friend dropped his Cell Phone at Markville mall yesterday. It was a week old Samsung a920. Someone actually picked it up and when my friend calls this guy. This guy asked my friend to give him 200 dollars to get it back. I was wondering if you can really sell Bell phones.... if this guy sell it to another Bell customer it's trackable right? and if he wants to unlock it...is it unlockable?

Poor guy just got his phone for his Birthday and now he lost it. There are some unsavory characters out there who dare to ask for money to give back something that doesn't belong to them...

If your friend phones Bell and reports the phone as stolen, then the ESN (Electronic Serial Number) of that phone will go on a "denied" list. That means, anyone who tries to use that phone, it won't work, and if they try and activate it or switch it to their number, it won't allow them to. Also, if he makes it clear that it was stolen, then it will be noted as stolen. If anyone tries to do anything with it at a Bell retailer (be it indirect or a Bell World store), and the account rep does his/her job properly, they will phone in and find out why it's on the denied file, and when they find out it's been reported as stolen, they will keep the phone in the store and track down it's owner (your friend).

And yes, the phone is locked with a subsidy lock code. Basically, the phone is absolutely useless to this guy.

Personally, I'd agree to paying him the money, pick a meeting spot to exchange the money for the phone, and show up with a police officer. You'll get your phone back and you won't have to pay a thing, because this person is in possession of stolen property. He'll be more worried about getting arrested rather than losing a phone that's not his.

a cell phone sting operation...i'm loving it. good advice abom!

lol, thanx. I was thinking about it while I was writing the post, and I did an analogy such as, you leave your keys in your car, someone drives off with your car, then calls you and says they want $1000 and you'll get your car back. All you have to do is agree to meet him, call the cops, and the cops will arrest the fool for vehicle theft !

Therefore, the same idea can be applied to this. Of course it would only be considered "theft under $1000", which is a misdemeanor offense, but I'm sure he'd gladly return the phone and avoid being arrested.

Personally, I'd do it this way, might teach this unsavory character a good lesson.

Great advice! Good luck with those "unsavory characters"

yeah, I thought about that too but unfortunately my friend reported it stolen and his phone plan is already on hold. so I don't think anyone can call his cellphone now. Thanks for the advice though, I hope this guy is stupid enough to try and activate the phone through bell so the phone will end up back into my friend's possesion. Thanks for the advice really appreciate it!

Sucks for your friend...I lost my Audiovox 8910, and I had to pay $249+Tax for a new A680 a little while ago.

The A680 is a big upgrade from the 8910 tho. All Audiovox phones are crap for reception. At least up here they are.

Heres an idea! Why not try to make use of your Samsung a920's AGPS feature. If you had enabled AGPS on your phone, chances are you can locate it using Bell's Seek and Find service. This service is $5 per month and you can make up to 20 locates per month. So.. If you were really desperate you could track your cellphone and attempt to steal it back

Since I'm sure the phone is no longer active, I don't think this will work. Good idea though, but could lead to a not so good encounter.

I was just wonderin, cus i just bidded on some phone where its new but does not come in the box, so i was thinkin could it be possible these phones were stolen or cloned? I still dont understand how the ESN thing works

Quote
[ESN WILL NOT BE RELEASED. I guarantee all my phones to be clear and ready for activation. In the unforseen event that the ESN is bad I will REFUND your money.

Item is new however does not come in orginal box.]

If I were to buy a phone from Ebay, could I activate it at Bell? And if it is stolen, would I be taken the phone away even if I didnt steal it? Could I just get another ESN

Hmmmm, interesting.

ESN stands for Electronic Serial Number. It's embedded in the phone's memory, and can't be changed. So when a phone is stolen, or the account is racked up and not paid, they lock out the ESN so the phone can not be used. The plus of this is if it's stolen, at least you know it's nothing but a useless paperweight. If it's locked out because a bill wasn't paid, then the cellular company has some sort of recourse to try and get you to pay the bill, especially if you paid a lot for the phone and don't want to see it go to waste.

I'd be warry of this guy, make sure you check his feedback and maybe send him an e-mail. I've heard of sellers not letting the ESN numbers out until they have a buyer, because it is "possible" to use an ESN number to do illegal activity, such as cloning and other things.

thanx abom, i sent him an email, and if i dont get satisfactory results, i will try to retract my bid.

You should proceed with the sting and film it and upload it! hehe