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Scammed into a phone contract
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Or the 'friends friend' still has the shiny new phone for themselves and there was no intention of selling it
Does the purchaser have the paperwork with the imei number?
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Regarding the mention of the common scam above there is another warning for the OP. If your son is likely to be a little naive (I think that's a kind enough word) then warn them not to do anything foolish like report the phone stolen if they are asked to by the 'friend'.
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But the phone has been stolen.
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Sorry my wording was unclear. I was worried that ‘friend’ might try and get son into a further part of the scam by reporting g the phone as lost and claiming a new one on insurance or such like and then selling that phone as well ‘ie the common scam’.
Although actually the original phone wasn’t stolen, it was given away which is entirely different. It would be a shame if son now caught up in a scam as well.
I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
The phone was stolen ….. by deception, the same as granny willingly handing over life savings to "the policeman" to keep them safe from being stolen by someone working at the bank. Reporting it stolen would hopefully get the IMEI blocked turning it into a paperweight. Claiming off the insurance is completely different to simply reporting lost / stolen to the network.
Never associate with idiots on their own level, because, being an intelligent man, you'll try to deal with them on their level - and on their level they'll beat you every time.
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Can the IMEI / blocking be activated other than by the phone being reported stolen / lost?
Activating the IMEI to block the phone would be good, though you can be fairly certain that the "friend" who took the OP's phone has it sold on whatever platform they use and it will be whoever bought the phone that suffers the loss.
As long as the phone contract didn't include insurance that would pay out to the OP's son in the case of the phone being reported stolen to activate the IMEI block, as that claim would be fraudulent.
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If the "friend's friend" is ghosting them it seems unlikely that they would get in touch to ask op"s son to report it stolen...unless of course they are claiming the person they were selling it to hasn't paid them.
As far as the son is aware...was the phone ever advertised on social media?
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