Guides

Check an IMEI before you hand over money

5 minute read · beginner

Most of the unfixable situations on this site start with a secondhand phone bought without an IMEI check. The check is free, takes two minutes, and tells you whether the phone can ever work on a network.

Getting the IMEI

  1. Ask the seller to dial *#06# and photograph the screen.
  2. Or read it from the SIM tray, the back of the phone, or the original box.
  3. A seller who will not give you the IMEI is telling you something. Walk away.

What to check it against

Your own carrier can tell you whether a device is clean and whether it will work on their network. This is the most reliable check and it costs nothing.

In several countries a national or industry IMEI status service also exists, which reports whether a handset has been listed as lost or stolen.

Check network compatibility too — a phone built for another region may lack the bands your carrier uses, and it will work badly rather than not at all.

What a bad result means

Reported lost or stolen: the phone cannot be legitimately used on a network and is not the seller's to sell. Do not buy it. If you already have, this is a police and payment-provider matter.

Still financed: the original account holder can have it blocked at any time. You would be buying someone else's debt.

Carrier-locked: not fatal, but you inherit the unlock conditions, and if the original account is not yours you may never satisfy them.

Also confirm the phone is signed out of all accounts and completes setup in front of you. A clean IMEI on an account-locked phone is still a useless phone.

Stop and get help when

  • The IMEI is reported lost or stolen.
  • The seller will not provide the IMEI, or will not let you complete setup.

Official route

Your carrier for a status and compatibility check; police and your payment provider if a device turns out to be stolen.

Who this is for: Ask the seller for the IMEI before purchase. It is a normal request.