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Note 8 Hates me

D

Dnapz1080

Newbie
Did factory reset after thinking my phone was compromised a few months ago and it hasn't worked the same since. It's not getting updates, stopped suggesting new features and options, and stopped letting me send and recieve mms messages. It's just so basic now.

If I really was hacked, whoever's did it had to have got my imei number and used it to carrier lock my phone to another company. It was carrier unlocked to metro tmobile and at&t but after looking it up I noticed they changed it and a carrier locked it to sprint now I can't unlock it because i dont have whoever locked its information for sprint so they won't allow it.

Anything like this ever happen to anyone here? Let me know if there's anything I can do to get the phone working normally again? I've tried so many things and I'm at my waist and with this. Please help.
 
Dnapz1080 said:
Did factory reset after thinking my phone was compromised a few months ago and it hasn't worked the same since. It's not getting updates, stopped suggesting new features and options, and stopped letting me send and recieve mms messages. It's just so basic now.

If I really was hacked, whoever's did it had to have got my imei number and used it to carrier lock my phone to another company. It was carrier unlocked to metro tmobile and at&t but after looking it up I noticed they changed it and a carrier locked it to sprint now I can't unlock it because i dont have whoever locked its information for sprint so they won't allow it.

Anything like this ever happen to anyone here? Let me know if there's anything I can do to get the phone working normally again? I've tried so many things and I'm at my waist and with this. Please help.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the factory reset also cleared the carrier APN details in your phone, especially with been unable to use MMS. Suggest you go into the Settings and check the APN under Wireless Networks. Your carrier should be able advise you of their exact APN details.
 
Dnapz1080 said:
If I really was hacked, whoever's did it had to have got my imei number and used it to carrier lock my phone to another company. It was carrier unlocked to metro tmobile and at&t but after looking it up I noticed they changed it and a carrier locked it to sprint now I can't unlock it because i dont have whoever locked its information for sprint so they won't allow it.
Click to expand...
Someone can't use your IMEI to lock the phone to a different carrier. There is a lot of mythology about IMEIs on the web, and you really shouldn't believe everything you read.

Was this originally a Sprint phone? Or did you buy it second hand and unlocked and don't know its history? It seems to me that the most likely explanation is that this was originally a Sprint phone, perhaps unlocked using a third party solution, and the reset had somehow undone the unlocking. Unless you bought it new, shrink-wrapped and know its history that seems a far more likely explanation than someone hacking it at a distance and somehow installing a carrier lock to a carrier it was never connected to (which would essentially require magic).
 
Yes I bought the phone from ebay and it was not shrink wrapped when I got it. If the unlock was undone how can I get it back on? Is this not possible. Do I have to get a new phone?
 
mikedt said:
Sounds like the factory reset also cleared the carrier APN details in your phone, especially with been unable to use MMS. Suggest you go into the Settings and check the APN under Wireless Networks. Your carrier should be able advise you of their exact APN details.
Click to expand...

I've had those settings reset numerous times. Still not working.
 
Dnapz1080 said:
Did factory reset after thinking my phone was compromised a few months ago and it hasn't worked the same since. It's not getting updates, stopped suggesting new features and options, and stopped letting me send and recieve mms messages. It's just so basic now.

If I really was hacked, whoever's did it had to have got my imei number and used it to carrier lock my phone to another company. It was carrier unlocked to metro tmobile and at&t but after looking it up I noticed they changed it and a carrier locked it to sprint now I can't unlock it because i dont have whoever locked its information for sprint so they won't allow it.

Anything like this ever happen to anyone here? Let me know if there's anything I can do to get the phone working normally again? I've tried so many things and I'm at my waist and with this. Please help.
Click to expand...
you were most likely not hacked.......people tend to think they were hacked when they cannot explain why something is not working right.

so lets go over some things.
1. you are not receiving updates because your phone is now considered old. samsung tends to put out major updates for about 3 years and that's it.
2.what do you mean stop suggesting new features or options? my note 10+ never gets this.
3.as suggested by @mikedt, you should look into your apn settings or if anything talk to your carrier about your texting issues.
4. how do you know you are on sprint? this does not make sense. have you talked to your carrier about it?

Dnapz1080 said:
Yes I bought the phone from ebay and it was not shrink wrapped when I got it. If the unlock was undone how can I get it back on? Is this not possible. Do I have to get a new phone?
Click to expand...
this is why you should never buy a phone on ebay......no matter how good the deal is.....the headache having to deal with issues like this is not worth it to me. can you contact the seller? maybe this is why you are on sprint. maybe the previous owner never cancelled with sprint.
 
Dnapz1080 said:
Yes I bought the phone from ebay and it was not shrink wrapped when I got it. If the unlock was undone how can I get it back on? Is this not possible. Do I have to get a new phone?
Click to expand...

Could be it's IMEI/MEID/ESN carrier blacklisted? And if it is, it could be that you have to buy a new phone. Carriers can and do blacklist phones if they're reported stolen, missing, or have an outstanding contract commitment.
 
ocnbrze said:
this is why you should never buy a phone on ebay......no matter how good the deal is.....the headache having to deal with issues like this is not worth it to me. can you contact the seller? maybe this is why you are on sprint. maybe the previous owner never cancelled with sprint.
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I've tried they dont respond. Also tried apnea setting numerous times
 
Dnapz1080 said:
Yes I bought the phone from ebay and it was not shrink wrapped when I got it. If the unlock was undone how can I get it back on? Is this not possible. Do I have to get a new phone?
Click to expand...
Unofficial unlocks sometimes vary between models. If that's what the original seller did, and was undone by the reset, then it would be a matter of finding one that works for that phone. I doubt you will get much help from Sprint.

As for no updates, carrier-branded handsets usually need to connect to the carrier's network in order to get updates, even if unlocked, because they are running carrier-modified firmware. So unfortunately there's nothing suspicious about this.
 
Dnapz1080 said:
The seller from ebay. Sprint just said the phone is unlocked but imeiinfo shows carrier locked to sprint.
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this is another reason why i will never buy a phone off of ebay. its pretty shady when you can't contact the seller. these phones as good of a deal as they may seem, are just too much of a headache for me. i hope you give the person a bad review.

if it is unlocked then your carrier should be able to make it work. but if it was unlocked by some other method as suggested @Hadron who knows if it is possible now.

so the only thing i can think of is either just deal with how your phone is setup or get a new phone. if you do buy a phone from ebay, buy it from someone that is in your city. meet that person if you can and setup the phone (preferably at your carrier's store) just so that you can make sure it is legit. have the carrier check the imei to make sure everything is on the up and up......if everything is ok then hand over the money.
 
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