Friend bought a possibly stolen cell phone...

[Super_Geo]

Alright, so my buddy just got home from university in Ontario and his parents have bought him a cell phone from some guy in the bargin finder.

His mom doesn't speak English very well and didn't do a very good job of questioning the seller... just forked over the cash, no real questions asked (it didn't even come with a box or a recharger.. just the phone and a battery). It still has that thin plastic coat on it.

Anyway, he looked up what the phone is going for in stores, and it turns out that it's amost twice what he paid for it... and the phone he got is basically new. So we're thinking that it's stolen.

What should he do? He tried calling the person he bought it from, but the number's disconnected. Is there anyway to check?

*edit: it's a Telus phone, oh and forgot to mention, the battery isn't completely dead (or fully charged)... it has like 2 seconds of life left in it, which seems like an odd thing for a supposedly 'new' phone.

[Gonthro]

what network?

[Super_Geo]

Telus

[BebeAphrodite]

^^--- in that case you're somewhat screwed. ESNs are very easily traceable on the network. The store from which it was stolen will have the ESNs of the stolen phone. The ESN is like an identification number. They just need to put the ESN into the client account management and then it'll trace the phone to the account that it's on. From then, because it's not legal to sell stolen property, the actions are based on what the rightful owner decides to do.

Good luck.

[BebeAphrodite]

Call Telus to ask if it's stolen.

[BebeAphrodite]

Ooo just read the last part, all of the Telus phones have just a little bit of charge in them.. either one or two bars.. that enables the dealer to program the phone. Also, if you want to call Telus push *611 on the cell phone. That number always works even if the phone is not programed. PM if you have more questions.. (I work for Telus Mobility).

[Super_Geo]

Hey thanks for the info. I just got off the phone with him and he took the battery off and on the back there's a Cell City sticker and all the seriel numbers and stuff. So what number should he call to check the numbers and what not?

Haha, he sounded pretty choked that he might have to return it... espcially cause his parents dropped almost $200 on it. Let's just hope it's not stolen.

[BebeAphrodite]

Oo geez.. that's no good. Number to call is *611 on the cell phone. Or else you could also call Cell City. Which phone is it? The prices of some phones are quite a bit inflated than what they really are if you visit a Telus dealer.

[RiCE-DaDDy]

If it is stolen, only thing u can do is give it back to telus and take the loss. Unfortunate but what can u do

[Kor]

Might as well call, its no good if its not hooked up!

[Super_Geo]

Haha, so it turns out it was stolen after all...

They called Telus, the phone was stolen. I think they're going to try and involve the cops and try tracking down the old phone number of the seller, but it looks like it might've been a cell... maybe evey a stolen one!

Anyway... just a reminder for all you guys out there I guess... check those used cell phones before you buy them.