Block phone

GT60

Hi I reported my sons samsung galaxy Ace 2 as stolen with orange and the police.

Now what i would like to know is could it be unblocked by a shadey person / shop after orange blocked it?

My son is in care and i believe he may not be telling the truth over the whereabouts of the phone due to me activating the tracker when we bought it
Thanks

JJ_Egan

It could be unblocked .
As it is possible to change the IMEI on the phone .
That is the number that is born with the phone and is used as the blocker as it is the network connection first step .

GT60

Thank you
thats what i thought but wasnt certain

gjchester

GT60 wrote: »

Now what i would like to know is could it be unblocked by a shadey person / shop after orange blocked it?

Theres no global block list phones often leave the UK after being stolen and get sold overseas where they will work happily on other networks.

Techhead_2

JJ_Egan wrote: »

It could be unblocked .
As it is possible to change the IMEI on the phone .
That is the number that is born with the phone and is used as the blocker as it is the network connection first step .

Technically it is possible on some handsets to reprogramme the IMEI. However, there are two important considerations. The security module in the handset will record that the IMEI has changed.

Secondly, to change the IMEI without proper reason is an offence under the Mobile Phones (Reprogramming) Act 2002.

In practice this means that (for the small financial reward) it isn't worth the effort and risk. So blocked handsets are generally sold to countries that don't subscribe to the international blocking lists and don't require registration of handsets.

As the number of countries where blocked handsets will work is decreasing then the returns become smaller.

What tends to happen now is : handset taken , used straight away and then discarded/sold to unsuspecting punter in the pub. All before it's blocked.

Techhead_2

gjchester wrote: »

Theres no global block list phones often leave the UK after being stolen and get sold overseas where they will work happily on other networks.

That's good few years out of date. There are global block lists maintained by, in the case of GSM handsets, the GSMA. Furthermore, many countries now require the IMEI of handsets to be registered (which involves checking against the CEIR and also checking the IMEI is valid) BEFORE the handset will work on any network. Roaming phones will only work for a couple of weeks unless they are registered.

What this means is that many traditional destinations for blocked handsets (eg India) are now pointless.