How To Transfer IMEI Ownership In A Few Steps

Is it possible for someone to know how to transfer IMEI ownership? I was looking to purchase a secondhand AT&T phone from a private party. I heard about a scam in which some sellers will declare the phone as lost/stolen. It’s weird that they do it weeks after the process in order to collect insurance. And you can’t do anything about it because:

1) At the time of purchase, everything appeared to be in order. The item was not blacklisted and had not been reported stolen or lost.

2) The original owner can notify the insurance company of a lost or stolen item. It can do it at any time after the sale, weeks or months later. AT&T will mark the IMEI as lost/stolen when the insurance company sends the information to them.

How To Transfer IMEI Ownership

I’ve done a lot of studies online! There’s nothing that can stop this from happening other than the fact that you should never buy a used phone. So is it possible to transfer IMEI ownership at all?

So, my inquiry to AT&T was: Is there no way to lawfully transfer ownership of a gadget so that the previous owner does not report it lost or stolen? I mean, if the seller and buyer both go to the AT&T shop, show their photo IDs, submit their Social Security numbers, and activate the phone on the new owner’s account, is there still no way to prohibit the previous owner from reporting the phone lost or stolen after the sale?

It is impossible to transfer ownership. The payment plan is still active on the original account. In questions of ownership, a phone’s IMEI will always appear under the original account. Here, we’re not talking about a payment plan. Even if the phone has been paid for, the original owner can still declare it as lost or stolen to the insurance provider AFTER selling it to someone else.

Discussing Insurance Fraud

The original purchaser of the phone will remain the original purchaser of the phone, regardless of whether it has been paid off. You can’t do anything to avoid insurance fraud. You may be able to call the insurance company and register a fraud claim if you have all of the seller’s details, including identification, address, and contact information, but the process could take weeks or months.

If you’re going to buy a secondhand phone, do it where you’ll be protected as a buyer.

Call me naive, but I don’t see why insurance providers are unwilling to assist in the fight against insurance fraud.

Can’t the carrier post a note on the account/IMEI if the original owner presents his or her photo ID, SSN, and account? Do they need to present it in the store and freely surrender ownership of the phone? If the original owner files an insurance claim after surrendering ownership, the carrier must tell the insurer of the attempted fraud. Now it is more than clear why someone wants to transfer IMEI ownership!

In the eyes of the average Joe, that’s the correct thing to do, not just for the future owner, but also for the insurance company and carrier (consider all the headaches and man-hours wasted in the scam?

I’m aware that carriers are uninterested in assisting the used phone industry. That is most likely why they do not make an attempt to combat insurance fraud.

Process To Transfer IMEI Ownership

But I’m curious as to why insurance companies haven’t been more aggressive. False claims cost them a lot of money. Insurance companies will press carriers to establish agreements such as: if a phone is blacklisted as a result of an insurance claim. A legitimate buyer complains the carrier will help, including but not limited to:

1) Provide the claiming owner with the insurance contact information.

2) Notify the insurance company about the incident.

3) With the claimed owner’s permission, provide the insurance company with his or her contact information.

We hope that we provide some useful information on how to transfer the IMEI ownership question!