Blocked phone, how easy to change IMEI ?

wife had phone stolen 4 years ago (Philips Savvy, on Orange) in a pub.
Last week she saw an "occassional regular" using said phone - (there
was a distinguishing scratch still on it).

Now as soon as my wife realised the phone was missing, she called
Orange, who assured her it would be blocked and useless. The operator
added the comment that if the phone should be found/recovered, then my
wife would need to call customers services to arrange unblocking.

If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy (I know it's
illegal).

In message
681f238b-069f-496e-acc5-0ab4d5a7a27f...oglegroups.com,
Jethro <jethro_uk@hotmail.com> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:

> wife had phone stolen 4 years ago (Philips Savvy, on Orange) in a pub.
> Last week she saw an "occassional regular" using said phone - (there
> was a distinguishing scratch still on it).
>
> Now as soon as my wife realised the phone was missing, she called
> Orange, who assured her it would be blocked and useless. The operator
> added the comment that if the phone should be found/recovered, then my
> wife would need to call customers services to arrange unblocking.
>
> If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
> How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy (I know it's
> illegal).

Depends on the phone (Not sure about the Philips model you mention) I
believe it can be pretty easy if you have the right equipment/software...

--
Regards,
Chris.
(Remove Elvis's shoes to email me)

On 19 Mar, 16:45, Jethro <jethro...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
> How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy *(I know it's
> illegal).

Modern phones are extremely hard if not impossible to change IMEI
on but savvy is an old dog and piece of piss to change.

In article <681f238b-069f-496e-acc5-
0ab4d5a7a27f@c19g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, jethro_uk@hotmail.com
says...
> wife had phone stolen 4 years ago (Philips Savvy, on Orange) in a pub.
> Last week she saw an "occassional regular" using said phone - (there
> was a distinguishing scratch still on it).
>
> Now as soon as my wife realised the phone was missing, she called
> Orange, who assured her it would be blocked and useless. The operator
> added the comment that if the phone should be found/recovered, then my
> wife would need to call customers services to arrange unblocking.
>
> If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
> How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy (I know it's
> illegal).

I can't imagine anyone would bother. It's most likely a different phone
with a similar scratch. If your wife reported it stolen it would be
blacklisted.
--
Regards
Jon

In article <27386091-b2af-4e10-b789-
73c747c5f24c@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com>, mustaphasiddique@aol.com
says...
> On 19 Mar, 16:45, Jethro <jethro...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
> > How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy *(I know it's
> > illegal).
>
> Modern phones are extremely hard if not impossible to change IMEI
> on but savvy is an old dog and piece of piss to change.

But it would be cheaper and less hassle to buy a brand new phone than it
would to spend money and time and risk 5 years to change the IMEI of a
10-year old savvy.
--
Regards
Jon

On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:31:50 +0000, Jon wrote:

> In article <27386091-b2af-4e10-b789-
> 73c747c5f24c@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com>, mustaphasiddique@aol.com
> says...
>> On 19 Mar, 16:45, Jethro <jethro...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
>> > How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy Â*(I know it's
>> > illegal).
>>
>> Modern phones are extremely hard if not impossible to change IMEI
>> on but savvy is an old dog and piece of piss to change.
>
> But it would be cheaper and less hassle to buy a brand new phone than it
> would to spend money and time and risk 5 years to change the IMEI of a
> 10-year old savvy.

Many places offer £5 phones or a free phone if you buy £10 credit. There
should be no need to mug people at these prices.

"Bob Robertson" <bob@192.186.0.4> wrote in message
news%fEj.5327$oJ5.630@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net

[snip]

: Many places offer £5 phones or a free phone if you buy
: £10 credit. There should be no need to mug people at
: these prices.

You fail to understand the criminal mentality. It's not a question of
cost - they just *like* mugging people.


Ivor

"Jon" <spam@jonparker.plus.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.224b9529788899a989732@nntp.aioe.org...
> In article <681f238b-069f-496e-acc5-
> 0ab4d5a7a27f@c19g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, jethro_uk@hotmail.com
> says...
>> wife had phone stolen 4 years ago (Philips Savvy, on Orange) in a pub.
>> Last week she saw an "occassional regular" using said phone - (there
>> was a distinguishing scratch still on it).
>>
>> Now as soon as my wife realised the phone was missing, she called
>> Orange, who assured her it would be blocked and useless. The operator
>> added the comment that if the phone should be found/recovered, then my
>> wife would need to call customers services to arrange unblocking.
>>
>> If they were telling the truth, then how is the phone still working ?
>> How easy is it to change the IMEI number on a savvy (I know it's
>> illegal).
>
> I can't imagine anyone would bother. It's most likely a different phone
> with a similar scratch. If your wife reported it stolen it would be
> blacklisted.
> Regards
> Jon
>
But someone 4 years ago could have changed the IMEI on it,
or back then Orange wouldn't have reported it to the Dublin database,
and when unlocked could still be used on T Mobile or one of it's virtuals
like Virgin

Anyone still using an old Savvy is a very sad person indeed,
they were rubbish when they came out 10 years ago.

Steve Terry