What is a blocked mobile phone?

Question

I have just go this new phone that i got second hand. It is an O2 phone (at least that is the system in it) but when i inserted my virgin card it accepted it.
However i cannot make calls from it, even with an O2 card in it. It says call rejected.
does this mean that the phone is blocked?
will it work if i get it unblocked? is it worth doing etc?

Answer 1

I wouldn't waste your money getting it unblocked. From what I can see from what you've said, it's a phone that has already been unlocked in that it will accept your Virgin SIM card.

From what I can see, it would appear that the phone was reported stolen by its first owner. That being the case, it will simply not work, whichever network it's place on.

The bar is on the IMEI number and, if the phone is quite recent, this can't be overridden. Some of the older nokia phones, which have the DCT3 system can have the IMEI number changed, although this is now illegal and, just about every phone shop will refuse to do it.

Some networks will allow the phone to register on the network, such as O2 but, it will not make OR receive any calls. However, the same sim card will still work in any other phone. Some networks, possibly Virgin / T-Mobile / Vodafone, will tell you that Sim Card Registration Failed (or some similar message depending on manufacturer)

If this is the case with the O2 sim card, then it has been reported as stolen. That being the case, there's two things it's useful for:

1) A rather attractive, expensive paperweight.

2) Sell the phone overseas on E-Bay, the network block is only for UK networks and will not be blocked overseas.

Apart from that, there's nothing that can really be done with it :-(

Sorry it's not a pretty story

Answer 2

Phone Blocked

Answer 3

Blocked Phone

Answer 4

2

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is a blocked mobile phone?
I have just go this new phone that i got second hand. It is an O2 phone (at least that is the system in it) but when i inserted my virgin card it accepted it.
However i cannot make calls from it, even with an O2 card in it. It says call rejected.
does this mean that the phone is blocked?
will...

Answer 6

I agree with Evil J. Twin; I can't see why the text service should be working if the phone company has blocked it. Definitely need to go to the service provider. They may need to contact the original owner (which they may have on file) to check out he really did sell it to you. If you can supply a description then that's on your side, also any witnesses, otherwise it could be some bastard who's pinched a phone and trying to make it work. Definitely worth a try if you want that phone enough and don't want to lose your money. Any phone numbers stored in the phone's memory? They would be able to give you some idea who this guy was. Good Luck.

Answer 7

A mobile phone can be blocked by the company who originally supplied the phone(O2?) if the phone had been lost or stolen.
Inside the phone is an IMEI serial no.this can be used to blok the phone as it wont be recognised by any service provider.I suggest you copy the number down and then contact O2 to see if they have blocked the phone.I had the same problem some time ago and found out that the phone had been reported as stolen.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Answer 8

if a phone is blocked its usually either been stolen and blocked by the original network provider or the phone bill/contract has a debt still atteched to it. either way no mobile phone shop will unblock it because its illegal to do so. you might find someone down a weekend market do it though.

Answer 9

When a phone is blocked, it means you've entered your PIN incorrectly 3 times. Maybe there's a fault with the SIM card. Try another O2 SIM card.

Answer 10

it could mean its been blocked because it was stolen, or it might have been blocked because it has a password setup and you get 3 attempts, fail to put the correct code in and it will lockup. In that case you will need to get a puk code from the network provider. The only other solution is that its locked to the network, and will need unlocking. Also possible that the sim card that you are trying to use either has no credit or needs to registered.