Help Different esn on phone and back of battery

[Christina Martinez]

I purchased a phone on craiglist. I was told it had a clean esn and would be able to activate on sprint network. When I went to the sprint store I was told that the phone had been flashed or rooted to boost mobile that the esn# on the bac of the phone was not found. Also the esn number on the phone itself is different from the esn on the back of the battery. Is there any way I can get it activated on my account and back on sprint network? ? TIA

 

[Mikestony]

Hello!
Welcome to AF!
My first guess is that the device is a cloned device flashed over to boost.
However, that's my guess.
Perhaps someone else may have more input on that issue

 

[Christina Martinez]

Can that be fixed??

 

[Mikestony]

Can that be fixed??

It may be able to but I don't exactly know how.
What about returning the device? I mean, there are issues with your purchase so is there any return policy with the seller?

 

[Jfalls63]

When you power up the phone, which carrier logo shows up Sprint or Boost Mobile. I never had a Sprint phone But S3 that I've seen didn't have a sim card and software had to be flashed to work on another network. One way for ESN / IMEI to be changed is to replace motherboard. I have a few phones that I have fixed that I play with that don't match what's under the battery. Still clean numbers.

 

[mikedt]

If the IMEI/ESN has been changed or cloned, there's almost certainly something illegal being going on with it, like it was originally stolen or something.

 

[Christina Martinez]

I wish there was... but I tired contacting him and he just ignored me and ultimately blocked my number.

When you power up the phone, which carrier logo shows up Sprint or Boost Mobile. I never had a Sprint phone But S3 that I've seen didn't have a sim card and software had to be flashed to work on another network. One way for ESN / IMEI to be changed is to replace motherboard. I have a few phones that I have fixed that I play with that don't match what's under the battery. Still clean numbers.

Niether. But when I dial *2 sprint customer service is heard.

 

[mikedt]

Take it as lesson learned I think. Next time be much more careful about buying second-hand phones. I believe swappa.com is a good site, all devices checked and verified. Or meet the seller at carrier's store, e.g. Sprint, so that they can verify that the phone is indeed good, and isn't blacklisted, stolen, cloned, contract defaults, etc.

FWIW I've only ever tried to buy a used phone once, met with the seller at a friend's phone repair shop, but when we checked the IMEI against the trade database, what was supposed to be a Nokia N95, came up as an Apple iPhone...ooops!

 

[WarrantyVoider]

The phone could have been refurbished by the seller like Jfalls63 said. Take a phone with bad ESN and a phone with a broken screen/case. Swap the motherboards to get a working phone whose ESN/MEID doesn't match the number on its case.

Use the ESN/MEID checkers at RingPlus and Ting to see whether the phone passes Sprint's Financial Eligibility Check. Get the value from the phone's software (About Phone). Well, check the other value from the label too while you're at it. If the internal MEID is clean and you do decide to activate, call Sprint. If they can't see the phone, they can't get the MEID number from the back of the phone. Ultimately it's up to you whether to trust the seller/phone. Good luck.

https://my.ringplus.net/device_validation_requests/new
https://ting.com/byod

 

[Christina Martinez]

If the IMEI/ESN has been changed or cloned, there's almost certainly something illegal being going on with it, like it was originally stolen or something.

h
How would I be able to tell if it's been cloned.

Take it as lesson learned I think. Next time be much more careful about buying second-hand phones. I believe swappa.com is a good site, all devices checked and verified. Or meet the seller at carrier's store, e.g. Sprint, so that they can verify that the phone is indeed good, and isn't blacklisted, stolen, cloned, contract defaults, etc.

FWIW I've only ever tried to buy a used phone once, met with the seller at a friend's phone repair shop, but when we checked the IMEI against the trade database, what was supposed to be a Nokia N95, came up as an Apple iPhone...ooops!

Yes this what happening here. If I give sprint the imei that's in the phone it shows a samsung rant.

The phone could have been refurbished by the seller like Jfalls63 said. Take a phone with bad ESN and a phone with a broken screen/case. Swap the motherboards to get a working phone whose ESN/MEID doesn't match the number on its case.

Use the ESN/MEID checkers at RingPlus and Ting to see whether the phone passes Sprint's Financial Eligibility Check. Get the value from the phone's software (About Phone). Well, check the other value from the label too while you're at it. If the internal MEID is clean and you do decide to activate, call Sprint. If they can't see the phone, they can't get the MEID number from the back of the phone. Ultimately it's up to you whether to trust the seller/phone. Good luck.

https://my.ringplus.net/device_validation_requests/new
https://ting.com/byod

The Esn/MEID on on the back of the phone shows it can be activated on RingPlus.

 

[glc]

What is "Shows a samsung rant." supposed to mean?
If it is a stolen phone, turn it in to the police and demand your money back.
If they won't return it, you can file in small claims court. It would be an open and shut case.

The MEID on the back of the phone means nothing. It is the one that appears in "About Phone" in settings that matters.

 

[KOLIO]

Yes this what happening here. If I give sprint the imei that's in the phone it shows a samsung rant.

It's become quite obvious this phone is either delinquent on the original account,or stolen.
The Samsung Rant isn't even an Android phone.
It's been cloned to hide the original info to prevent it from being found.

Sorry for your troubles,however,a lot of good info to be gleaned from this thread the next time you decide to buy a used phone.

 

[WarrantyVoider]

Yes this what happening here. If I give sprint the imei that's in the phone it shows a samsung rant.

The Esn/MEID on on the back of the phone shows it can be activated on RingPlus.

OK, my guess is the phone was a Sprint phone. Someone wanted to use the phone on Boost, so he/she flashed the ESN from a donor phone, a Samsung Rant in your case. So basically cloned ESN, like others have said. It was something enough people have done in the past that there are Google results and YouTube videos.

The result from the RingPlus checker suggests the original phone was not tied to a delinquent account, so it might be possible to flash the ESN back to its original value.
http://www.wikihow.com/Flash-a-Phone

Check with a knowledgeable Sprint tech to see whether they can help you. Good luck.

 

[marctronixx]

TO the op,

it's unfortunate you have been caught in a sham of a deal. It's not much anyone else here can suggest as several helpful suggestions have been posted. Thread has reached its peak in terms of helping and anything else is superfluous.