Can I sell a mobile phone I found?

Charliezoo

Hi All,

I found a mobile phone in a shopping centre a few months ago and handed it in to the security desk.

I was shopping there again last week and thought I'd see if the phone had been claimed. The security man remembered me and went to check. He said it hadn't been claimed and I might as well have it.

I don't need this phone and I don't really know what to do with it other than sell it and I could do with the money right now. I'm worried if I try to sell it it might flag up as lost/stolen or something and I might get in trouble.

What should I do?

pulliptears

Charliezoo wrote: »

Hi All,

I found a mobile phone in a shopping centre a few months ago and handed it in to the security desk.

I was shopping there again last week and thought I'd see if the phone had been claimed. The security man remembered me and went to check. He said it hadn't been claimed and I might as well have it.

I don't need this phone and I don't really know what to do with it other than sell it and I could do with the money right now. I'm worried if I try to sell it it might flag up as lost/stolen or something and I might get in trouble.

What should I do?

Depends on the make of phone really, but there is a good chance that it is blocked. If it was part of a contract the provider will have record of the IMEI and block it.

Can I ask why you didn't call someone from it to alert them? On the occasions I have found phones I call either 'Mum' or the last number dialled and have reunited it with its owner within the hour.

Charliezoo

I handed it straight to security when I found it to let them deal with it.

It doesn't actually have a sim card so I can't try and call anyone. The battery's long dead so I'd have to buy a charger to see if anything's stored on the phone itself.

hcb42

donate it to a charity.

dmg24

Charliezoo wrote: »

I handed it straight to security when I found it to let them deal with it.

It doesn't actually have a sim card so I can't try and call anyone. The battery's long dead so I'd have to buy a charger to see if anything's stored on the phone itself.

What model of phone is it? I would be surprised if you did not know anyone with a suitable charger that you could borrow.

gordikin

Charliezoo wrote: »

I handed it straight to security when I found it to let them deal with it.

It doesn't actually have a sim card so I can't try and call anyone. The battery's long dead so I'd have to buy a charger to see if anything's stored on the phone itself.

What make/model phone is it?

zppp

If someone has reported the IMEI number, it will go on a database. When you sell mobile phones, the companies check this for stolen handsets. If on the database, it woud be treated as stolen. My advice - don't even go there.

MothballsWallet

If you knew which network it was locked to, you could always contact them and ask what their procedure is in that case?

(I know there's no SIM card - my Nokia's an unlocked handset, but the main body of the phone is orange because I'm with Orange, and bought the phone from one of their shops after losing my Motorola T191e on the train.)

Wintermute

MothballsWallet wrote: »

If you knew which network it was locked to, you could always contact them and ask what their procedure is in that case?

(I know there's no SIM card - my Nokia's an unlocked handset, but the main body of the phone is orange because I'm with Orange, and bought the phone from one of their shops after losing my Motorola T191e on the train.)

I doubt they'll have a procedure for things like that, while they will be able to find out who the phone was sold to (providing it was sold online, over the phone or is registered) they wont be able to tell you anything or even confirm it's one of theirs for data protection reasons.

Last time I tried a phone I tried calling a few numbers, but it was PAYG and they had no credit so I handed it to the nearest police station.

Unless you try and want to try and track down the owner I'd just send it to one of those recycling places, if it's barred you wont get it back and you've lost nothing, if it isn't you'll get some cash.

Charliezoo

Its was a Blackberry, I don't know anyone who's got a charger but I gave it to a friend who knew someone. They charged it and its got no info on it but does have a big blob on the screen where its taken a fair whack at some point so probably not worth much anyway.

Thanks for the advice.

fluffnutter

I'm surprised it was given to you after a couple of months. When handing found stuff in to the police it doesn't become yours unless unclaimed after six months. At which point, you can do what you like with it, including using it, selling it, eating it. As this wasn't given to you under these stipulated circumstances I'd be a bit wary of legal ownership.