Legal Phone Theft

frederick1950

Stragglebod....Nobody is being harsh just realistic.
The OP took the risk and it backfired on them , a sensible person wouldnt have touched it with a barge pole. 
The OP then comes on here with what is basically a tirade berating everyone except himself and doesnt seem to acknowledge they made a mistake .
That attitude doesnt deserve my sympathy.
As far as tools go you sound like an absolute spanner.

ballyblack

 They could have checked the IMEI using a service like Checkmend

Not much use if the seller reports it stolen or stops paying for it after selling it

badmemory

If it was stolen property why didn't the police take it of them?

Farway

badmemory said:

If it was stolen property why didn't the police take it of them?

See OP, "So I did, the police told me they couldn't find him lol, and there was nothing more they could do, the phone was according to them, my property"
To be stolen the lawful owner has to be deprived of the property, and the police unable to find alleged  lawful owner to confirm he has been deprived of 'phone, it''s open to guesswork just how hard they tried of course

Petriix

The police shoud investigate, but they won't. I imagine it would be possible (if not trivial) to get a warrant to compel the phone company to reveal the details of the original owner, then to interview them and see if they match the description of the Facebook seller etc..

Of course it's possible that the phone was stolen before the OP bought it, and that might be harder to resolve; but the police really should at least ask the question. It's understandably frustrating that they can't be bothered.

DCFC79

OP essentially yes it is your fault, you bought from FB Marketplace (not sure why), saw the phone and thought it was a good deal.

Why should 02 refund you the money ?

They didn't sell you the phone, you bought from a seller on FB.

A used one on Music Magpie is around the same price, some are lower depending on the condition.

DCFC79

Barny1979 said:

Caveat emptor

Very much this OP

The marketplace isn't a place I will use to buy a phone, I use Amazon or other websites for that.

apb123

If you know the name of the person try the small claims court. You will win if you have all this evidence.

Like is so difficult now. There are scams everywhere you have to keep your wits about you these days.It also puzzles me in these cases why "data protection" always seem to protect the criminal.