Buying a used phone can save you hundreds of dollars. In any case, the latest models are becoming more and more expensive when in fact they offer a little more than the previous model.
You decided how much you want to spend, you did your research, you searched in all online markets for the phones you are interested in, you found the best, the product description clearly said that it is in excellent condition and completely unlocked and of course, you bought it.
And while everything looks perfect, turning it on you discover that it doesn’t accept your SIM card because it is probably blacklisted.
Before giving up and feeling down with your purchase, give me five minutes and I’ll show you:
- What exactly the blacklist is
- How it works
- And above all, how to unblacklist a phone
How to Unblacklist your iPhone with an IMEI Unblacklist Eligibility Check:
An IMEI Unblacklist Eligibility Check will confirm in seconds:
- If your phone has a blacklisted IMEI or not
- Which network did it?
- For what reason?
- Within which country or countries?
- If the device is eligible for Blacklist Removal
- If there is an available service online through a network of 1500 IMEI Unblacklist suppliers worldwide
What is the Blacklist
Everything started in Europe in 2004. Something had to be done with tracking down stolen mobiles and preventing thieves from using or selling them. The GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications) created the very first GSM database.
Canada created CWTA (Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association) database in 2013 and the USA joined in after a while, finally developing the CTIA database (Cellular Telephone Industries Association) which integrated international blacklist databases.
How these databases work
Every phone has a unique 15 digit IMEI number. If it is a CDMA phone it will have an ESN or MEID number but they are exactly the same thing. The first 8 digits are the TAC emanating to all mobile brand owners and the last 7 digits are added by the original equipment manufacturer.
All carriers and manufacturers record, monitor, and update the status of all phones, Android and iPhone, through these IMEI databases.
Αnyone who has access to them can immediately see the following, for any phone on earth:
SIM-Lock Status
(and which carrier is locking it if locked)
Blacklist Status
(and which carrier has blacklisted it, for what reason and inside which country)
Contract Status
Outstanding Financial Balance Status
(Unpaid contract bills or device installments
Warranty Status
IMEI/Serial Replacement Status
Phone Specs
All this information is necessary when you want to unblacklist a phone successfully
Αnyone who has access to them can immediately see the following, for any phone on earth:
SIM-Lock Status
(and which carrier is locking it if locked)
Blacklist Status
(and which carrier has blacklisted it, for what reason and inside which country)
Contract Status
Outstanding Financial Balance Status
(Unpaid contract bills or device installments)
Warranty Status
IMEI/Serial Replacement Status
Phone Specs
Why a phone gets blacklisted
Any suspicious activity will be recorded in the IMEI databases. The IMEI databases will be updated and the phone will be automatically blacklisted when:
- It is reported as lost or stolen to a Mobile Network
- Unpaid Bills or device installments are piling up
- It is involved in illegal activities (eg unauthorized purchase, fraud, etc.)
- It is flagged as replaced due to an Insurance Claim
Insider tip:
If there is nothing wrong with it, we can consider the iPhone as Clean.
What happens when the phone becomes blacklisted
Since you will have No Service, you cannot make or receive text messages and calls. At the same time, you won’t be able to connect to Cellular Data with any network within the country where the phone is blacklisted.
Although the blacklist is valid in a single country, things get a bit more complicated in some cases.
Since 2013, when the US and Canada joined forces, the first shared blacklist has been created, with Mexico, Brazil, and Puerto Rico added shortly afterward. From the beginning of 2020, Colombia was added to the group. What does this mean?
If a phone is blacklisted in one of these countries, it’s blacklisted in all of the counties that share the database.
Example: If you have a blacklisted iPhone in the United States, your iPhone is also blacklisted in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Colombia.
The Ultimate Guide To Unblacklist your iPhone
Officially, a phone will be removed from the blacklist only when the reason for which it was blocked is no longer valid.
This means that depending on the case, the original owner must report that the phone has been found, paid off his debts, returned the device given to him as a replacement, and in the case of fraud prove otherwise to the authorities.
Unofficially, however, there is another way to remove the blacklist through various third-party blacklist removal tools. I will discuss these tools below to make sure that you are fully equipped to choose which service is the right one.
Ηow to unlock a blacklisted phone for free
Our first move is always to contact the source of the sale and ask for a replacement of the faulty phone or full compensation.
Scammers are always deliberately trying to resell blacklisted smartphones through the anonymity provided by online markets but it is still not certain that you have fallen for one of them. In fact, if you have not yet IMEI checked your phone then you still can not say for sure if it is blacklisted.
Either way, contact the person who sold you the phone and you might be able to unblacklist it for free, get a replacement or get your money back.
If nothing good comes out of it, then the next move is to contact the network that has blacklisted the phone. Of course, you need to know what this network is so again, IMEI Check is one way.
Call them or visit a store but in any case, you should have proof of purchase to avoid further problems.
But even with the proof in hand, the chances of success are slim as only the original owner can give them unblacklist permission. The same is practically the case with unpaid bills since even if the outstanding financial balance is affordable, you can not pay on behalf of the one who owes it.
You have nothing to lose by trying one of these two options but this is the only way to unblacklist the phone for free.
What Is IMEI Blacklist Removal and How Does It Work?
The only way to unblacklist a phone is to clean its IMEI in the databases (GSMA, CTIA, CEIR, etc.) with a third party service.
In many forums, you will read that it is illegal or impossible. Neither is true.
Sure, phone unblacklisting is a gray area especially in the case of a stolen device but there is no law in the world that prohibits it. Let’s try to understand exactly how unblacklist services work to also avoid unpleasant surprises.
Without anyone knowing exactly how, these services change the blacklist status of a phone from Blacklisted to Clean. To achieve this, they need to change various values that are not necessarily related to the blacklist.
At the same time, the IMEI databases are updated simultaneously by networks and manufacturers so changes should be made to components of both.
Finally, these databases were created so that no one can reuse a blacklisted phone. Of course, they know that these services exist and they are constantly trying to stop them.
With all this in mind, this is the whole truth about all Blacklist Removal tools.
There is no one-size-fits-all unblacklist service
Each blacklist removal tool has separate and specific requirements.
Although unblacklist services are the only ones that can be applied to iPhone and Android phones, your device model may not be supported. Then, the network. But these two are just the tip of the iceberg.
The smallest detail such as why the phone was blacklisted, the contract or warranty status, or how long the mobile phone was activated with the network, play their role in the whole process.
Misleading unblacklist suppliers
The real problem is created by the providers of these services.
What all unblacklist providers actually do is check your phone IMEI. Then find out if a service is available and if your phone is compatible with it. And there is nothing wrong with that but here is what happens.
There are no services for all networks. Although they have permanent effects, they are not always available. For example, right now I can say with absolute certainty that you can unblacklist T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint phones if they are blacklisted as stolen or lost. A few days ago, the unblacklist service was ONLY available for Verizon.
And yet if you go to any IMEI unlock company, you will see that they support all carriers, all models without any other requirement, and any unblacklist service costs $20 to $30.
If you look at the details before you pay, you will find that this is a pre-order. What does this mean?
- If the blacklisted phone is not fully compatible with the unblacklist service you selected, you will not get your money back.
- If the service is immediately available, you will be asked for a lot more as they usually cost $100 or more in total. If you do not wish to continue, then they will keep the pre-order money
- If it is not available and you don’t want to wait, once again, forget the pre-order money
Basically, they hide the pre-order part, provide the unblacklist service at a very low price. If you bite the bait, they have made a few dollars doing nothing.
What we suggest
Throughout the post, everything revolves around knowing the full status of the blacklisted phone.
I cannot promise you that your phone can get unblacklisted immediately or that the service you need will be available in a few days. Instead of spending money on pre-orders that most of the time lead nowhere, a Full IMEI Check will immediately reveal all your device problems and more importantly, how to proceed if there is no unblacklist service at the moment.
Υou should not forget that there is also the option of blacklisted iPhone unlocking, which is a completely different story…
We also recommend reading:
- What Chimaera Device Policy really is & How to Fix an iPhone Blocked by Apple
- How to Activate and use Blacklisted iPhones
- T-Mobile Blacklist Removal. Can you unlock a blacklisted T-Mobile iPhone?
- Someone Sold Me a Stolen iPhone. What can I do to remove the Blacklist Status & iCloud Lock
- How to Unlock Blacklisted iPhone
- How to repair a blacklisted Sprint iPhone with Bad ESN /Blacklisted IMEI
1 comment
[…] How to Unblacklist an iPhone […]