Advice needed swapping my smartphone with someone else.

sam5959

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to read this, I just wanted to ask some general questions really.

I'm looking into swapping my mobile phone with another person who has put an as up on Gumtree SwapShop. Are they any 'warning signs' that I should look out for? I plan on taking friends of course and meeting in person, in a public place. There isn't any cash being exchanged so there is no danger of that.

What happens if I trade the smartphone with this person and I find the handset has some kind of fault that has been hidden from me. Would I just be stuck then?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

d123

You would be stuck with any fault that appears, you'd also be stuck with a paperweight if the person were to report it lost/stolen for insurance purposes.

Be aware it's a risky thing to do.

Rusty!

At least if it was reported stolen, you could do the same for yours.

Won't really help you, but it should be satisfying revenge lol

sam5959

Rusty! wrote: »

At least if it was reported stolen, you could do the same for yours.

Won't really help you, but it should be satisfying revenge lol

Haha I was thinking this! But it is a good point brought up. Is this quite a common scam used when trading phones?

d123

sam5959 wrote: »

Haha I was thinking this! But it is a good point brought up. Is this quite a common scam used when trading phones?

It happens, I wouldn't say it's common, take as many precautions as you can, ask the person to bring photoID with, make a note of name address and phone numbers. Get a receipt detailing the swap, and make a note of IMEI numbers of the phones.

Drop in a hint of a "family member in the police" , so you need all the details to make sure it's all ok.

End of the day if it happens it is very difficult to resolve and 99% of the time you'll be stuck with a blocked phone.

sam5959

d123 wrote: »

It happens, I wouldn't say it's common, take as many precautions as you can, ask the person to bring photoID with, make a note of name address and phone numbers. Get a receipt detailing the swap, and make a note of IMEI numbers of the phones.

Drop in a hint of a "family member in the police" , so you need all the details to make sure it's all ok.

End of the day if it happens it is very difficult to resolve and 99% of the time you'll be stuck with a blocked phone.

This is great advice! Thanks.
Do you think though asking for these kind of details and ID may put genuine swappers off ?

d123

sam5959 wrote: »

This is great advice! Thanks.
Do you think though asking for these kind of details and ID may put genuine swappers off ?

Why should it? If they are honest they shouldn't mind giving their name address etc.

I wouldn't deal with someone who didn't want to show ID and sign a receipt of the swap.

Only a scammer would be hesitant, they don't want you to be able to go around if something goes wrong.

sam5959

d123 wrote: »

Why should it? If they are honest they shouldn't mind giving their name address etc.

I wouldn't deal with someone who didn't want to show ID and sign a receipt of the swap.

Only a scammer would be hesitant, they don't want you to be able to go around if something goes wrong.

Okay that makes sense. Thanks.

Just finally. Say I use use the precautions mentioned (photo ID, receipt etc), is there anything I could do if something did go wrong, say the handset was faulty or became blocked. Would the police get involved for instance? Or would I have to go into vigilante mode? Haha.

Also, does anyone happen to have some kind of example receipt I could use? Or maybe just the details I'd need to put in it.

Thanks very much.

macman

No, it would be at your risk. You can report it to whoever you like, but the phone will still be bricked. So only proceed if you are prepared to take the hit if the worst happens.

matelodave

I'm wondering why either you want to swap phones.
What is the benefit to you, are you getting a better or worse phone. If his phone is better than yours, then you should wonder why he wants an inferior phone. Likewise why would you swap a better phone for a worse one.


Just sounds a bit strange to me - could be a way of offloading a stolen or faulty phone

Frozen_up_north

While the advert may be genuine, there are a lot of scammers out there and swapping a "dodgy" phone for a good one is the same as swapping a counterfeit note, or money laundering... As an example, you only have to check eBay to see how many lost and stolen iPhones are offered for sale, do a search for "iPhone 5 iCloud locked", and you will find loads!

I have to ask why you want to swap phones? I may be too careful at times, but in my opinion the risks outweigh any possible advantage.