Database Develop

[Q] Blacklisted Phone AT&T

Hi guys.
I went through a lot of web sites past couple of months and now I've decided to ask you by myself. I got a present from my GF. Sam Gal S5.
She bought it on a craiglist. She tried it with her AT&T SIM card and it worked. Anyway.. she gave it to me. SIM card denied. I've paid $30 to get a code to unlocked.. Great. Buy what was my surprise. After I got in and made a couple of phone calls to providers I find out that the phone is blacklisted. I tried to get ATT sim card also but doesnt work.
So I started to look for an advice... Ive done root, changed ROM etc. But now... i dont know where else to look.
Obviously it was stolen. But I feel sorry for her and she for me...
Is that just a piece of garbage or is there ANY way to fix it?
I dont even know if im able to ask here.
Any advice or opinions helps.
Thank you
Mike

I think you're kinda screwed...Craigslists scams happen all the time..best bet if your gonna buy a phone on there is to both meet at the AT&T store and go through the whole transfer process.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using XDA Free mobile app

So ... there is no way to make it work?

Unhived__Mind said:
I think you're kinda screwed...Craigslists scams happen all the time..best bet if your gonna buy a phone on there is to both meet at the AT&T store and go through the whole transfer process.
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The official reply from carriers is that once a phone is blacklisted it is impossible to undo. Whether or not it's a limitation of the technology (one-way trip) or if it's just company policy, the output is the same. You and your girlfriend have learned an expensive lesson. You can use it as a wi-fi-only device or a media player, but once a phone is blacklisted it will never be able to connect to a cellular network again.
The reason the phone worked with your girlfriend's SIM card was because the real owner of the phone hadn't called to report the phone stolen yet.

taytrlik said:
So ... there is no way to make it work?
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Click to collapse
If you have proof of purchase and go to At&t whit it they maybe able to add to your account and unblock it.
Clicking from notecable N910A

Change Carriers
taytrlik said:
Hi guys.
I went through a lot of web sites past couple of months and now I've decided to ask you by myself. I got a present from my GF. Sam Gal S5.
She bought it on a craiglist. She tried it with her AT&T SIM card and it worked. Anyway.. she gave it to me. SIM card denied. I've paid $30 to get a code to unlocked.. Great. Buy what was my surprise. After I got in and made a couple of phone calls to providers I find out that the phone is blacklisted. I tried to get ATT sim card also but doesnt work.
So I started to look for an advice... Ive done root, changed ROM etc. But now... i dont know where else to look.
Obviously it was stolen. But I feel sorry for her and she for me...
Is that just a piece of garbage or is there ANY way to fix it?
I dont even know if im able to ask here.
Any advice or opinions helps.
Thank you
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mike, your situation stinks so bad. I was in a similar spot with a T-Mobile HTC M8, which stopped working after I got it off craigslist and then subsequent IMEI checks shows that it is blocked/blacklisted from T-Mobile's network due to a balance owing from the original purchaser. However, since the phone was not reported stolen, the IMEI is not actually blacklisted/blocked from all carriers, but only T-Mobile. So I bought the SIM unlock code for a few bucks online so that I could unlock the phone for other carrier use. I have tested and verified that my phone works on AT&T, even though it is blocked on T-Mobile. So...you might consider changing your carrier or selling it to someone who can use it on another carrier (with full disclosure to that buyer, of course).

How to unlock SIM?

I'm in peculiar situation: I bought my T-mo S8 direct from Samsung, paid in full, so now whom do I go to unlock my SIM? People from Canada received unlock code together with copy of bill, but I can't find anything on mine, any suggestions? Of course I want to do it as painless as possible and I want to ask here before calling customer service and waste few hours.

pete4k said:
I'm in peculiar situation: I bought my T-mo S8 direct from Samsung, paid in full, so now whom do I go to unlock my SIM? People from Canada received unlock code together with copy of bill, but I can't find anything on mine, any suggestions? Of course I want to do it as painless as possible and I want to ask here before calling customer service and waste few hours.
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Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat as you
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

pete4k said:
I'm in peculiar situation: I bought my T-mo S8 direct from Samsung, paid in full, so now whom do I go to unlock my SIM? People from Canada received unlock code together with copy of bill, but I can't find anything on mine, any suggestions? Of course I want to do it as painless as possible and I want to ask here before calling customer service and waste few hours.
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Click to collapse
I am in the same situation. From my understanding of past and present TMo devices, the account has to be in good standing (EIP/equipment paid off) AND your device needs to have 40 or 45 days (someone correct me) of continuous usage on TMo network before you can request the Device App unlock = carrier unlock.

So just wait until then
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

As I suspected, I called Samsung to unlock my phone, they told me to call T-mo, called T-mo, they told me to call Samsung, wasted already 1 hour on this.

escabar said:
I am in the same situation. From my understanding of past and present TMo devices, the account has to be in good standing (EIP/equipment paid off) AND your device needs to have 40 or 45 days (someone correct me) of continuous usage on TMo network before you can request the Device App unlock = carrier unlock.
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Click to collapse
It's 40 days, that is I was told by CS. After that you use "Device unlock" app on your phone and choose permanent unlock.
Same techniques for S6 and S7 and it worked for me.

First of all I'm leaving on a trip in 20 days, second, the phone is paid in full now, not in 40, third I didn't buy it from T-mo so most likely they wont have any record of it. It's total BS and should be illegal, in Canada Samsung sends unlock code with the phone., but I guess here consumers have no protection. Last time I'm buying carrier phone. This whole locking of the phones is leftover from carrier subsidies and should not exist outside of those plans, if they still taking place. And a funny thing is I have no intention of leaving T-mo anyway and there are services to unlock phone for money. I remember some law about phone getting unlocked when paid I read about few years ago, but can't get any details now.

pete4k said:
First of all I'm leaving on a trip in 20 days, second, the phone is paid in full now, not in 40, third I didn't buy it from T-mo so most likely they wont have any record of it. It's total BS and should be illegal, in Canada Samsung sends unlock code with the phone., but I guess here consumers have no protection. Last time I'm buying carrier phone. This whole locking of the phones is leftover from carrier subsidies and should not exist outside of those plans, if they still taking place. And a funny thing is I have no intention of leaving T-mo anyway and there are services to unlock phone for money. I remember some law about phone getting unlocked when paid I read about few years ago, but can't get any details now.
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That is T-Mobile branded phone, and that is their rules, sorry for that. What you can do, before going on the trip, on that app/ choose Temporary unlock, it's good for 30 days and you can have it up to 5 times in a year.

pete4k said:
First of all I'm leaving on a trip in 20 days, second, the phone is paid in full now, not in 40, third I didn't buy it from T-mo so most likely they wont have any record of it. It's total BS and should be illegal, in Canada Samsung sends unlock code with the phone., but I guess here consumers have no protection. Last time I'm buying carrier phone. This whole locking of the phones is leftover from carrier subsidies and should not exist outside of those plans, if they still taking place. And a funny thing is I have no intention of leaving T-mo anyway and there are services to unlock phone for money. I remember some law about phone getting unlocked when paid I read about few years ago, but can't get any details now.
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You can call T-Mobile and let them know that you are travelling out of the country on ___ date and ask for an unlock code for a long time customer. It has worked for me in the past if you get the right rep.

mrbear01 said:
You can call T-Mobile and let them know that you are travelling out of the country on ___ date and ask for an unlock code for a long time customer. It has worked for me in the past if you get the right rep.
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I have the same problem, I bought the phone from Samsung.com and there was no option to purchase an unlocked phone. I am traveling in two days for a few weeks and I called Tmobile several times trying to at least get a temporary unlock and even that cannot be done. They said it has to be on their network for 40 days. I even called Samsung and they said all the unlock codes are sent to Tmobile and only they can unlock it due to the stupid Device Unlock app. You cannot unlock it even if you have the code, only the app can unlock it. If I didn't like the S8 so much I would have switched to the iPhone 7. Absolutely ridiculous!!!

I still don't understand how T-mo will know the phone you purchased direct from Samsung is paid for and should not have SIM locked to begin with.

I have the same problem with my S8. Bough it directly from Samsung. I contacted Samsung and they told me that I need contact tmobile; contact tmobile and they told me that my phone does not show in their system as a tmobile phone because I did not buy it from them. I need my phone unlock so when I travel overseas I can use a local sime card. I don't want to wait until 40-45 days go able to unlock my phone and then not be able to return it to Samsung. There some unlock services charging $50.00 plus to unlock it. I don't want to expend more money, since this phone is already very expensive.

kindongo said:
I have the same problem with my S8. Bough it directly from Samsung. I contacted Samsung and they told me that I need contact tmobile; contact tmobile and they told me that my phone does not show in their system as a tmobile phone because I did not buy it from them. I need my phone unlock so when I travel overseas I can use a local sime card. I don't want to wait until 40-45 days go able to unlock my phone and then not be able to return it to Samsung. There some unlock services charging $50.00 plus to unlock it. I don't want to expend more money, since this phone is already very expensive.
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It's not even about money, this should be illegal. This whole business of locking the SIM card is left over from contract subsidized phones and I could perfectly understand that phone belonged to phone company and you just leased it until end of contract. Now I praise T-mo for getting rid of this practice and changing whole industry, so now at least you know what are you paying for and how much. But now SIM locking shouldn't even happen anymore: if phone is stolen/unpaid for, blacklist IMEI and also you can unlock SIM for the fee, even if it is stolen, so what purpose this SIM locking serves? Canada gets unlock code with the phone.

Anybody had any luck getting the phone unlock.?I waited too long to return the phone, now I'm stuck with it.

http://www.cellunlocker.net/t-mobile-device-unlock-app.php
the service is expensive $130 dls for the unlock

kindongo said:
Anybody had any luck getting the phone unlock.?I waited too long to return the phone, now I'm stuck with it.
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I was in the same boat as you. Went through T-Force on Twitter and seemed to have gotten a rep on the first go who understood the situation and submitted my IMEI number to the right place. Your IMEI number needs to be added to their "device distribution inventory system" and needs to be submitted to their highest level tech support, this allows the Device Unlock app think your phone came from T-mobile's inventory and will let the app unlock your phone.
There may be hope for everyone in the future, this one of the final responses I got from them:
"I am right there with you. It definitely makes things harder on both sides since the phone isn't technically bought from us, even though it is branded a T-Mobile phone and our system rejects any IMEI that didn't come from our inventory. None the less, we're all about giving you full access to what is yours. Teams are currently working on a process update that'll make things a lot more seamless, but in the meantime we've got this work around! I really appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us today!"
14 hours later I tried the Unlock Device app and requested the permanent unlock and was greeted with "Unlock Approved: Mobile Device is permanently unlocked"
Device is fully unlocked, tested with an AT&T SIM card and everything worked fine. After 2 reboots the Device Unlock app even disappeared from my phone. I'm so happy with how fast T-Mobile dealt with this. The more people that make a stink about this issue on social media hopefully T-Mobile will find a permanent fix for people buying a SIM locked at full price and have it easily unlocked under their standard procedure.

INGHUGO said:
http://www.cellunlocker.net/t-mobile-device-unlock-app.php
the service is expensive $130 dls for the unlock
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Click to collapse
Did this work for you and were you able to successfully unlock ?

no,unfortunately it couldn't be unlocked because cellunlock no longer have access to their server ,I had to have a contract and wait the 40 days that are the requirement so I can release it

I dont think anybody has now. nearly all the sites i checked unlocking tmobile does not seems to be available.

fragg3d said:
I was in the same boat as you. Went through T-Force on Twitter and seemed to have gotten a rep on the first go who understood the situation and submitted my IMEI number to the right place. Your IMEI number needs to be added to their "device distribution inventory system" and needs to be submitted to their highest level tech support, this allows the Device Unlock app think your phone came from T-mobile's inventory and will let the app unlock your phone.
There may be hope for everyone in the future, this one of the final responses I got from them:
"I am right there with you. It definitely makes things harder on both sides since the phone isn't technically bought from us, even though it is branded a T-Mobile phone and our system rejects any IMEI that didn't come from our inventory. None the less, we're all about giving you full access to what is yours. Teams are currently working on a process update that'll make things a lot more seamless, but in the meantime we've got this work around! I really appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us today!"
14 hours later I tried the Unlock Device app and requested the permanent unlock and was greeted with "Unlock Approved: Mobile Device is permanently unlocked"
Device is fully unlocked, tested with an AT&T SIM card and everything worked fine. After 2 reboots the Device Unlock app even disappeared from my phone. I'm so happy with how fast T-Mobile dealt with this. The more people that make a stink about this issue on social media hopefully T-Mobile will find a permanent fix for people buying a SIM locked at full price and have it easily unlocked under their standard procedure.
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Thanks, I will try that

my G4 was reported stolen been using it for more then a year

bought this phone on april of 2016 off craiglist it was unlocked. brother sent it to me to mexico used telcel and then movistar..
and on this past 19th my phone didnt want to make calls only emergency.. i live a place where theres alot of killings as they fight for control of the towns. drug lords are in a battle since feb.. so i heard that when the marines or military are in cities or towns they cut all cell phone comunications. not sure if its true.. so i tought it was that as theres been alot of military on the town and 3 helicopters.. so next day samething but my moms phone was working fine... so i asked my niece for a telcel sim card. i inserted the sim and i got service and called my moms phone.. so i assumed i had a bad sim. but then i tried other movistar sim my mothers and samething happened no service. but not on telcel.. so i tought movistar blocked me. my mom lost her phone a cheap phone and i reported from my phone for stolen.. but its was confusing.. so a might have enter mine.. day after it was locked.. partially as i could use telcel..
so i call movistar and they said that my sim card was inactive cause it was reported lost . i gave my info and customer service activated my sim card again... supposely never tried it in another phone.. then i waited but no service i only get emergency calll only.. so i used telcel for 2 days and then samething it now tells me emergency calls only on telcel too.... called tmobile and they said that the imei was not on their records....tmobile website that checks imeis status and i tried it and it says that it was reported stolen.. after more then a year.??
was it really reported stolen..?? or did movistar locked it.? can they read imei with sim card inserted.? cause ive never gave them my imei.. ??
am very pissed stress anxiuos.. and hurt.:crying::crying:. i hate people that take advantage of others. they deserve to die.. yes die.. we donst need those people... sorry am very frrustrated.. and mad.. i dont like beign lied to.
i happen to have anxiety attacks.. so i gather this money with alot of sacrifice... i cant hold a job besides jobs in mexico are a joke..

I bought a G4 on craigslist and it turned out being blocked. It was blocked because there was an unpaid balance with Tmobile. I bought it very cheap for at the time I got it so i was a little suspicious to begin with but I got it so cheap it was not worth my time and gas money to return it to the guy I bought it from. I got his name and had his phone number and picture i took of him with the phone when i got him to write me a receipt. He gave me some story about he let his room mate put it in his name and and the room mate didn't make the payments and so on. He was willing to give me my money back but i just decided to keep it and use it as a Wifi phone.
I called Tmobile and they couldn't really tell me anything because the account was in someone else's name and they also did not seem to care about getting the phone back and told me they would be glad to sign me up for service and sell me a new phone.
I had planned to use it on Ting and it was blocked...not locked. From what I understand the phone sends out a code ever time it logs onto the network. I am not sure if it is just imei number but there is some unique identifier for every phone. And once the blocked process is done the phone can not connect to the network. I found out companies in the US share these blacklist numbers now and if you are on it there is not much you can do besides changing out the chipset for one with a clean imei. I did not know they were now sharing these numbers with Mexico but it makes sense as i read that a lot of stolen phones go either there or to Europe where the info was not yet being shared.
I really enjoy my G4, even though it is just for wifi use, I use it with google voice. I really hate i can't connect it to a mobile network though, so much in fact that I am considering buying another G4 off ebay or somewhere (an unlocked, unblocked one). If the G4 was waterproof and had a fingerprint reader I would have already bought one. Oh and another thing that is holding me back now is the locked bootloaders. I have been reading and trying to figure out which ones can be unlocked and rooted now. From what i can gather is that 811 and 815 models can still be rooted...and 811s only if they are not updated to a certain point.
Now I am debating Moto G's and a few other phones that are unlocked and will work on all US carriers. I still feel the G4 is a nicer phone for the money than a lot of them, even with all the issues there have been with the G4s. Sorry to hear about your phone, not sure if you have google voice in Mexico but if so you might want to check it out. There may also be some other apps that let you use it as a wifi phone as well.

fuzzy_ said:
I bought a G4 on craigslist and it turned out being blocked. It was blocked because there was an unpaid balance with Tmobile. I bought it very cheap for at the time I got it so i was a little suspicious to begin with but I got it so cheap it was not worth my time and gas money to return it to the guy I bought it from. I got his name and had his phone number and picture i took of him with the phone when i got him to write me a receipt. He gave me some story about he let his room mate put it in his name and and the room mate didn't make the payments and so on. He was willing to give me my money back but i just decided to keep it and use it as a Wifi phone.
I called Tmobile and they couldn't really tell me anything because the account was in someone else's name and they also did not seem to care about getting the phone back and told me they would be glad to sign me up for service and sell me a new phone.
I had planned to use it on Ting and it was blocked...not locked. From what I understand the phone sends out a code ever time it logs onto the network. I am not sure if it is just imei number but there is some unique identifier for every phone. And once the blocked process is done the phone can not connect to the network. I found out companies in the US share these blacklist numbers now and if you are on it there is not much you can do besides changing out the chipset for one with a clean imei. I did not know they were now sharing these numbers with Mexico but it makes sense as i read that a lot of stolen phones go either there or to Europe where the info was not yet being shared.
I really enjoy my G4, even though it is just for wifi use, I use it with google voice. I really hate i can't connect it to a mobile network though, so much in fact that I am considering buying another G4 off ebay or somewhere (an unlocked, unblocked one). If the G4 was waterproof and had a fingerprint reader I would have already bought one. Oh and another thing that is holding me back now is the locked bootloaders. I have been reading and trying to figure out which ones can be unlocked and rooted now. From what i can gather is that 811 and 815 models can still be rooted...and 811s only if they are not updated to a certain point.
Now I am debating Moto G's and a few other phones that are unlocked and will work on all US carriers. I still feel the G4 is a nicer phone for the money than a lot of them, even with all the issues there have been with the G4s. Sorry to hear about your phone, not sure if you have google voice in Mexico but if so you might want to check it out. There may also be some other apps that let you use it as a wifi phone as well.
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Click to collapse
h811 can be unlcoked but only in MM from version 20i upwards upto latest 20v.
I had planned to use it on Ting and it was blocked...not locked. whats the difference.?
well i have called tmobile and i have heard this morning that its is not blocked from their side.. but last night anotherone said it was.. i had this phone for more then a year.. i hope maybe it isnt blocked by tmobile but from movistar .. as i accidentally placed my sim card number its so confusing.. talked to movistar but they want me to show proof of purchase.. wich i dont have.. at the time i got mine they were around 450$ am really depressed..

Blocked is blacklisted, once it goes on it doesn't come off the blacklist unless the original account owner pays off what is owed, at least in the case of my phone it is like that. Tmobile has an IMEI online checker https://es.t-mobile.com/verifyIMEI.aspx when i enter mine i get a message:
Your device is locked and will not work on the T-Mobile network. If you think this is a mistake, call Customer Service.
Another IMEI checker I use says that: The device has been BLOCKED by T-Mobile carrier.
I guess if i were you and the person at Tmobile told me it wasn't blocked by them, I would have said send me a sim card. And then got their name.
I have read about a lot of people getting scammed with the G4, person finances the phone, sells the phone then files an insurance claim. The person that buys the phone can use it for a while, sometimes months, not sure about years. The process finally catches up, the phone gets blacklisted and the person that bought it second hand and thought things were fine is left with a phone that can't be put on a network. I don't know if that is what happened with your phone or not, just saying it could be. I would check several imei checker websites if I were in your position.
I have other phones but none as nice as my G4, I like the phone and would really like to have it as my main carry phone but now I have seen them for 139 USD new on ebay, a good used one under 100. I may go for one or I may try to get something that is unlocked and works on all US carriers.
I hope you get things worked out with yours. I never even got mine hooked up with a carrier but I have enjoyed rooting it and using it as a wifi home phone and using the IR blaster. I have got moneys worth out of it just doing things like that. I now run Lineage on it and have Hangouts, Google assistant, Atmos and Nova launcher among other things so I am happy. I am pretty sure i don't want one that is not rooted though.
Edit: Locked means it can only be used on a certain network. If a phone is network locked say it is a Tmobile phone, it can only be used on Tmobile.

fuzzy_ said:
Blocked is blacklisted, once it goes on it doesn't come off the blacklist unless the original account owner pays off what is owed, at least in the case of my phone it is like that. Tmobile has an IMEI online checker https://es.t-mobile.com/verifyIMEI.aspx when i enter mine i get a message:
Your device is locked and will not work on the T-Mobile network. If you think this is a mistake, call Customer Service.
Another IMEI checker I use says that: The device has been BLOCKED by T-Mobile carrier.
I guess if i were you and the person at Tmobile told me it wasn't blocked by them, I would have said send me a sim card. And then got their name.
I have read about a lot of people getting scammed with the G4, person finances the phone, sells the phone then files an insurance claim. The person that buys the phone can use it for a while, sometimes months, not sure about years. The process finally catches up, the phone gets blacklisted and the person that bought it second hand and thought things were fine is left with a phone that can't be put on a network. I don't know if that is what happened with your phone or not, just saying it could be. I would check several imei checker websites if I were in your position.
I have other phones but none as nice as my G4, I like the phone and would really like to have it as my main carry phone but now I have seen them for 139 USD new on ebay, a good used one under 100. I may go for one or I may try to get something that is unlocked and works on all US carriers.
I hope you get things worked out with yours. I never even got mine hooked up with a carrier but I have enjoyed rooting it and using it as a wifi home phone and using the IR blaster. I have got moneys worth out of it just doing things like that. I now run Lineage on it and have Hangouts, Google assistant, Atmos and Nova launcher among other things so I am happy. I am pretty sure i don't want one that is not rooted though.
Edit: Locked means it can only be used on a certain network. If a phone is network locked say it is a Tmobile phone, it can only be used on Tmobile.
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Click to collapse
i had so many things going thru my mind i didnt pay attention to ir. you right and i get it.. well thanks for your wishes...
in the morning i called and a guy told me that my phone isnt locked or blocked. that its fine theres no report of it. for beign stolen.. so not so sure i gave them another call later today and this time a nice lady talked to me and kindly check and told me samething that it isnt blocked or locked from them. no reports. that i should ask the carrier am on to unlock it..
thing is they want proof of purchase my carrier already told them that it was a used phone... they still want proof so ill see how that goes.. at lest it isnt blocked. :good:

update
took it to customer service and the block has been removed.. yay.

raptorddd said:
update
took it to customer service and the block has been removed.. yay.
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:good:

Note8 blacklisted by provider, blacklisted. (Exynos)

Hi. At first i want to apologize all of you in case of my english.
I bought few months ago Samsung Note8 (Exynos) from a regular person. There was no problem till i recived an allert from my provider (Plus, Poland). Now phone is blocked. I spent almost my entire money for this phone. I want to unlock it. Oem is disabled, I tried everything but it's to much for me.
Is a method that can unlock my phone or is it a completly trash ?
Once again i want to apologize my language.
Thank you for yours respodns.
Bcv8

If it is blacklisted, there must be a reason for it, no help for unlocking a blacklisted device will be offered here, you should contact the person who sold it to you, that is the only way to solve the problem, there are people that sell devices that have not been paid in full or are still bound to the time period of the contract, they report the device as lost or stolen, pay a fee, and get another device

Most the time a phone is blacklisted, its been stolen. Now like the other reply said, your not going to help to unblock it as it's wrong, and doing so could get heavy fines pressed against anyone involved if it does turn out to be stolen (which if it wasnt bought from an official retailer, it probably is).

Carrier Locked? Sim Locked? UICC Locked? What state is my phone in?

I bought an SM-N960U used off of letgo about a month ago now and I have been trying to get it to work for me but I am still having a few issues.
The guy I bought it from, who himself bought it used, was using it on T-Mobile and I am able to make and receive calls okay and get internet okay with Verizon. The phone was originally a Sprint phone. It continuously gave me "Activation was Unsuccessful" fullscreen messages repeatedly until I used adb to disable com.sec.omadmspr and com.sprint.ms.smf.services.
When swapping SIMS from different carriers the phone DOES NOT ask for an UNLOCK code.
When I first got the phone I tried to call Sprint and ask if the phone was Carrier locked thinking that if there was a small amount owed or something perhaps I could pay it and UN-Carrier Lock the phone... Well, that didn't go well. Since I wasn't on the account and couldn't provide the name or phone number of the old owner they wouldn't tell me if there was OR wasn't a carrier lock on the phone. Eventually I got them to take the IMEI but they still told me nothing.
So, I've been using the phone daily for about a month now, but because of it's problems (the app that won't run) I still have to carry my old phone as well. This phone is always on Roam. One time when trying to fix it I dialed the *228 PRL update number. That was a mistake. It broke my internet to the point where NO ONE was able to fix it. I went to a Verizon stone. No help. I called customer service. No help. They transferred me to Tech Support.... finally they had me swap in one of my older SIM cards and they programmed that one to work.
TLDR; The phone works with VZW voice and data, but is always on roaming, some apps refuse to work properly, under UICC Unlock the phone says it is locked to Sprint Sims and sometimes the data connection drops and it says it doesn't work because of "Data Roaming" being disabled.
What version of locked is my phone? Is it safe to start flashing it?
ref: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...h-firmware-t3958791/post80093967#post80093967

you probably has nothing to do with your problem but it may be of some help if you contact the guy mentioned in this thread for the LG V20, it's a guy that works for sprint and you can contact him on the Sprint Users forums ..
He may be able to help you with the sim unlocking of your phone, there's nothing to lose I think!
give it a shot ... look at this thread and then register for an account on the Sprint Forums and look for the guy..
https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/help/lg-v20-ls997-successfully-unlocked-oreo-t3835061

You need to contact the person who sold you the device and ask them for assistance. As they may need to contact Sprint to activate the device and unlock it for you.

kbrn said:
you probably has nothing to do with your problem but it may be of some help if you contact the guy mentioned in this thread for the LG V20, it's a guy that works for sprint and you can contact him on the Sprint Users forums ..
He may be able to help you with the sim unlocking of your phone, there's nothing to lose I think!
give it a shot ... look at this thread and then register for an account on the Sprint Forums and look for the guy..
https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/help/lg-v20-ls997-successfully-unlocked-oreo-t3835061
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Hey thanks! I looked at this link and think maybe this guy can help. I sent him a message!
Hoping for the best!

iceepyon said:
You need to contact the person who sold you the device and ask them for assistance. As they may need to contact Sprint to activate the device and unlock it for you.
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Thanks, but the guy I bought it from bought it used, so he wont have any Sprint account info, so then I'd have to try to track down the person he bought it from... and on and on and I dont know how long or fruitful the search would be... and again... I'm on the phone right now, on Verizon with a Verizon SIM. I dont think its carrier locked... but then I dont know what's going on.

towdy said:
Thanks, but the guy I bought it from bought it used, so he wont have any Sprint account info, so then I'd have to try to track down the person he bought it from... and on and on and I dont know how long or fruitful the search would be... and again... I'm on the phone right now, on Verizon with a Verizon SIM. I dont think its carrier locked... but then I dont know what's going on.
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They don't want to make it easy for people to re-purpose stolen phones. There are things a legitimate owner can do in order to make a phone ready for re-sale, and it sounds like these things didn't happen for the phone you bought. It all sounds a bit fishy, doesn't it?

gruuvin said:
They don't want to make it easy for people to re-purpose stolen phones. There are things a legitimate owner can do in order to make a phone ready for re-sale, and it sounds like these things didn't happen for the phone you bought. It all sounds a bit fishy, doesn't it?
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Thanks, but if I thought "it sounds a bit fishy" I probably wouldn't have bought the used phone in the first place... and I certainly wouldn't have called Sprint and given them the IMEI and asked them; the people that could render my phone a useless brick, with one tiny bit of information, for help. Each smart phone I've bought in the last few years has been used because frankly to me it seems to be the best way to buy them financially. $1000 the day they come out or $200 - $300 6 - 12 months later used.

towdy said:
Thanks, but if I thought "it sounds a bit fishy" I probably wouldn't have bought the used phone in the first place... and I certainly wouldn't have called Sprint and given them the IMEI and asked them; the people that could render my phone a useless brick, with one tiny bit of information, for help. Each smart phone I've bought in the last few years has been used because frankly to me it seems to be the best way to buy them financially. $1000 the day they come out or $200 - $300 6 - 12 months later used.
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Point is, when someone is about to buy a used phone from a stranger, make sure it is factory reset and then immediately call the carrier and confirm the IMEI is clean and that it has been carrier unlocked, else, don't buy it. Obviously it's not advice for you, since you already did it the wrong way. This is a good lesson for posterity.