Can someone use my lost/stolen phone after I've reported it?

Question

I've got two questions. First I lost my cell phone and have already went through lockline, reported it lost and recieved a new cell phone. I have a feeling though that the phone might not be lost but that my room mate's friend might have stolen it. Is it still possible to activate my phone even if I reported it lost/stolen? Can they unlock it and use it on t-mobile (his carrier). Thanks All

Answer 1

yes, all he has to is order a new sims card/and throw away the old one.yes all he has to do to unlock it is get a new sims card/i use to a reseller for tmobile, and some other companies, answer to both question is yes, he can.

Answer 2

It depends on which country you are in... I can only answer for England which is where I live.

Every mobile phone has an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number which is unique to that phone. When you report your lost or stolen phone to your network, they tag that IMEI as lost or stolen.

When someone tries to use a barred phone, the IMEI (Which is sent to the mobile operator) is rejected and the call is not made.

One way to avoid this in certain countries is to unlock the phone (A relatively simple procedure for most mobiles) and insert a sim for another carrier. This 'loophole' is closing fast as most major mobile operators share their list of blocked phones so it won't work on any of the networks. The other way is to send the phone overseas because the list of blocked IMEIs is country specific and although plans to internationalise it are in the pipe line, I do not believe that this has actually occured.
The only other way to unblock a blocked phone is to change the IMEI of the handset to one which isn't listed as stolen on the operator's database. This is illegal in my country (England) and carries a maximum of 5 years in prison. However this is becoming increasing difficult because the manufactoreurs of mobiles phones have started storing the IMEI numbers on OTP (One Time Programmable) chips meaning that you would have to change the chip in order to change the IMEI.

So in short, in some countries once a phone is barred it is barred.... In other countries that may not be the case. I would suggest that you contact your service provider for further information.

Answer 3

well if your cell phone is Sim card based well smaller sized sim cards not like nextel sized, then odds are it can be unlocked and used with another carriers sim card. even though it is reported stolen the phone maybe able to be reactrivted except if the internal chip is shut down. so it could very well be used by another person/ carrier

Answer 4

No, it cant be used if you've reported it STOLEN, but if you reported it LOST it can be used. If its a VERIZON, or a SPRINT/NEXTEL phone it cannot be used on T-MOBILE. I know this for a fact seeing as i work for VERIZON and SPRINT/NEXTEL

Answer 5

If the serial number is blocked can the iphone 6 be used?

Answer 6

yup, hes right, chose him! ( the guy that answered above me) "chose me!!!"