As unfortunate as it is, most people only discover what a blacklisted phone is once they have become a victim of buying one, and it happens all the time.
A blacklisted phone is essentially a phone that has been reported lost or stolen. The phone may appear to work 100%, except it will not connect to the cell phone network.
This can happen to a phone at anytime, if the original owner calls into their cell phone provider a says the phone has been lost or stolen, even when it has not been for fraudulent gains and corruption. This is an all too common insurance scam, when the individual will sell their device, then turn around and say it was lost and collect the insurance money. The phone is then useless to the unsuspecting purchaser and the victim is out money and a sense of peace and security.
Since this can happen at anytime, even weeks or months after the purchase, there is no way to 100% prevent this from happening to you. We can however provide a few tips to help minimize your risk:
Don’t risk buying from an unknown person on a site like craigslist, Kijiji or Facebook marketplace.
Buy from a trusted person or a reputable used phone store like the Fix Factory Canada.
Make sure you get a guarantee and a detailed receipt, one preferably with the S/N and IMEI on it and with a release disclaimer. We always issue a detailed receipt, so you have peace of mind.
Check the blacklist before buying and test a phone call with a SIM card. This won’t guarantee it won’t be blacklisted in the future, but will at least prevent you from buying an already blacklisted cell phone. You can check the blacklist status for free at https://www.devicecheck.ca/check-status-device-canada/
Once your phone has been blacklisted, there really isn’t anything you can do to fix this issue, so the best way to deal with a blacklisted device is to prevent it from happening. You can try contacting phone providers, but unless you are the one that reported it, it’s usually unsuccessful and much wasted time and / or money.
We offer fully guaranteed refreshed devices, which are blacklist checked and covered under our exclusive 90 day Warranty + Guarantee – As long as there is no physical damage or water damage. See the guarantee…