I appreciate this might sound a bit random but, has anyone tried ringing EE to see what they have to say?

They wouldn’t give out any details to me.

I got an EE phone recently and it said in the contract details that I didn’t own the phone until I had paid the monthly fees for a few months (6 IIRC) so I doubt it was the original sellers phone to sell on. EE might want it back as if the contract was the same EE own the phone still.

Just looked up an old FB conversation I had with Orange (part of EE) which I had when I bought a blacklisted iphone from here (owner didn’t realise and all sorted with no fuss). It was blacklisted by Tesco (O2).

Orange’s response when I asked if they could unlock it was that the IMEI, SIM or mobile number would have been blocked therefore I was not able to use on our network.

It (the blacklisting) can be removed but only for the registered account holder. (we tried this but the owner was unable to get hold of the account details so refunded me).

Based on this any chance of you getting hold of the original owner? Otherwise it looks like you are a bit stuck. I’d say sell as parts and you should get decent money (check what similar items have sold for on ebay).

Would jailbreaking get around the block and allow the phone to be used?

WTF is that site all about..

Gathering stolen iphones to break for spares from people who have bought stolen phones from dodgy sources id imagine.

Must be quite hard to report an already stolen phone to the police as being stolen from the new owner whos bought it from the fence…..

” whats the imei number sir”

” its xxxxxxxxx”

” thats already been reported stolen and blocked ”

“Oh”

Fwiw the phone I have is not stolen or lost. At least according to checkmend.

so why is it locked?

Not exactly

Yourcheckmend isnt rosy…

“Ever blocked: An amber result indicates that the device being checked is has been blocked during its lifetime by one or more GSM/LTE network operators worldwide. This is important as, if a phone has been blocked during its lifetime it may affect your decision as to whether to purchase or handle it. Network operators generally block phones because of loss or theft reports made by subscribers.

Currently blocked: A red result indicates that the device being checked is currently blocked by one or more GSM/LTE network operators worldwide. Network operators generally block phones because of loss or theft reports made by subscribers. This is important because you want to know if a device may stop working if you travel abroad. If a device is blocked it may also impact its value.

Note that mobile phones/devices shown in the “Ever blocked” category but not “Currently blocked” may still be blocked by some network operators as the networks are not compelled to unblock them depending on the reason for the unblock. Any device that has been blocked historically should be carefully checked for proper functionality. We strongly recommend that blocked phones should not be traded as they are generally blocked only due to loss or theft reports. In either case you may be trading stolen property or cause a theft to occur by the act of trade.
“
The stolen lost being clean means nothing as that means reported as stolen or lost by anyone other than the operator as when reported lost or stolen by the operator they block the, as per your check mend report….
“
Lost: A red result indicates that the item being checked is currently reported to us as lost, other than by a network operator.

Stolen: A red result indicates that the serial being checked is currently reported to us as stolen, other than by a network operator. Note that outside of the US the FBI NCIC dataset is excluded.

“

Its dodgier than a string bag of fish im afraid..