Buying · 8 min read
Buying used: make the seller prove it is theirs
A cheap phone that asks for another person’s Apple or Google account is not a bargain.
Meet in person. Watch the seller turn the phone off Find My / find my device, sign out of iCloud or Google, and factory reset it in front of you. Then you should reach a clean setup screen that does not ask for their email.
Check IMEI against the carrier’s blacklist / lost-stolen tools and, for iPhones, Apple’s coverage page. “iCloud locked” and “Financed — unpaid” are different failures. Both are the seller’s problem.
If they will not sign out because they “lost the password,” walk away. There is no honest service that will peel someone else’s account off a modern phone for a fee.
Keep the bill of sale with names, IMEI, and date. If a carrier later flags the device, you will want paper.
We write owner recovery. We will not help you past an account that is not yours.