How to make sure ESN, MEID, or Serial # is not tampered with

[floods77]

I bought an iphone 4 today and got taken. I thought it was a 4s but he somehow changed the serial number, MEID, actually the entire about page to look like a 4s and one that had a valid esn. Well i bought it and did a hard reset and the entire about page changed. The model number, the MEID and the serial number all changed. Come to find out this phone has a bad esn and is not a 4s, it is a 4. Now that I think about it, it didnt have a sim slot so that should have been a dead give a away but still....

My question is, in the future is there anyway to make sure that the MEID and Serial num are not fake? Even if I hard reset it before I buy it, can it still be tampered with so it holds onto those fake ID numbers after a hard reset?

Any help would be great as I am our $300 now...

[Error3194]

What do you mean, CDMA iPhone 4 do not have SIM Slots and CDMA 4S do have SIM Slots.

[Error3194]

Sorry I didn't fully read, Take a Snapshot of the About Screen I'm curious to see what your talking about.

[floods77]

I know the iphone 4 doesnt have a sim slot, but i didn not notice that when i bought it.

This is a pic of the "about" screen.

0W3eRh8mArWNerRRtV.jpg


This is a pic of the "about" screen after I did a hard reset.

WP_000133.jpg

Once I did a hard reset on the phone the MEID, and Serial numbers changed. Before I did the hard reset the MEID (ESN) was clean, after the hard reset the MEID number changed and it was a bad ESN.

The guy that sold this phone to me somehow changed the MEID and Serial numbers so when I checked them before I bought the phone, they would come up clean. I dont know how he did this, but once I did a hard reset the number went back to their real value, which showed the phone had a bad ESN.

So im asking how to make sure the next iphone I buy is showing the real ESN and not one that was modified by someone to appear clean.

Also this guy told me it was a 4s, which is obviously false, but when I ran the Serial number that he had in there it said it was a 4s, and again, when I did the hard reset I ran the serial number (which changed to the origional) and it showed it was a iphone 4.

[Error3194]

Wow I didn't even think this Cydia Hack worked on iOS5. This is what he did, he Jailbroken the phone, and installed "Fake About Screen" basically changed it all to match a 4S, it's just cosmetic, nothing in the phone was actually changed, basically the hack allows you to cosmetically change info.

This is horrible, where did you buy the phone from? EBay? Craigslist?

[floods77]

Craigslist.... He got me good

[Error3194]

Didn't get any info? I always write or take pics of license plates. I know this doesn't help now and their is little you can do about Craigslist scams. One thing about craigslist is, If the deal is too good to be true it is. Just to use the phone you could get it flashed to MetroPCS.

[floods77]

this Happened in a busy downtown area. So no way to get license plates but I put it on eBay as a phone with a bad esn.

[Error3194]

Guys on CDMAGurus have a way to "Repair" IMEIs. What area are you located in? May be able to suggest somewhere or something that you'll get the best from or out of the phone.

Next time use www.CheckESNFree.com sometimes they arent always on the ball but if you use www.CheckMend.com I think it's $1.99 it's basically like a carfax for a phone. I have used it a few times with great success.

[floods77]

Thanks for the info. Yah I will check the esn, and actually I did check the esn before I bought that one earlier. It was just the wrong esn...