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Did you know that over 50% of cellphone owners – 58% – have been the target of phone scammers in the past year alone? This staggering statistic means that one in two people will receive a scam call, and it’s a 41% rise in the number of such calls since 2013. These figures were released recently by the Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) and usually such trends in the UK reflect a much worse situation in the USA, so it’s safe to say, there are a whole lot of scammers working the phones.

This type of phone scam has become known as ‘vishing’, but what is a vishing phone scam? This kind of call typically involves fraudsters deceiving people into believing they are speaking either to a police officer, bank staff, or a representative of just about any financial or even a government department.

There are apps that can be downloaded to create such spoof calls. Amazingly calls can appear to be coming from a number you know and trust such as your bank, when in fact it’s a criminal call you from hundreds of miles away.

Skilled fraudsters have convinced people they are genuine by appearing to know certain financial and personal information about them, all of the information has been previously hacked form your account details. The fraudster will then proceed to explain that your savings account or current account is at risk from hackers, and that they are urgently recommending you to switch the account to another account number.

This exact trick has robbed several unsuspecting people of tens of thousands of pounds of their savings. Sometimes it is possible to stop some of the funds before they reach the fraudsters account, but if you leave it too late to double check with the bank and the money is transferred, there is nothing your bank can do, and you are liable for the loss. Another variation of a phone scam involves the fraudster persuading people to hand over cash directly to a courier, or to invest in a scheme that is apparently making others a small fortune.

If you are suspicious about a call from your bank, tell the caller you are going to hang up and call back to verify the authenticity of the call. However, even then beware. Scammers actually encourage people to hang up and call their bank to verify the legitimacy of the call. A phone line can stay open for up to two minutes, so the fraudsters remain on the line and play a dialing tone to trick the individual into thinking they’re calling their bank. Banks, police and other official institutions will never ask you to call them back to verify their authenticity.

Leave the phone call to your bank for at least 5 to 10 minutes to frustrate the fraudsters, and always be wary of giving out bank details and other sensitive information. Most banks have a password you need to repeat in part prior to proceeding with the call, you might want to test the caller by deliberately mentioning incorrect letters to your password. If they say it’s ok, you know you are dealing with a scammer.

Information is everything to a scammer. Just your name, email address and phone number are enough for fraudsters to find out your home address and then sell your details on to other scammers in places as far away as Romania and Russia.

UnlockBase can stop criminals in their tracks

If you start receiving too many of these calls, and many people complain of being plagued by scam calls on a daily basis, UnlockBase can quickly come to your aid.

UnlockBase is the biggest online remote cellphone unlocking service on the web. If you find your cellphone number has been compromised by fraudsters, don’t put up with it. We can unlock your phone quickly, easily and economically, leaving you free to find another service provider and a brand new number the scammers don’t know about.

Guard your information carefully

Never disclose your new number to anyone you don’t know or trust. Do not broadcast your number on social media or fill in online forms that require a cell phone number unless you are certain you know the number will be handled in complete confidence. Whether you’re looking to invest, or searching for a new bank account, you should always be the first one to make contact. If the caller is trying to hurry you and brow beat you into a decision, be suspicious, say no.

Unfortunately, scammers have been able to steal information from official records and the DVLA, the British driving license authority, so always be on your guard when you receive calls from people you do not know.

Cellular phone tracking is not just a fantasy dreamed up by spy thriller movie directors to make you believe that there is no escape from Big Brother. Big Brother, to a greater or lesser extent, really is tracking you, or at the very least, can do so should they ever feel the need.

The process of determining the position of a cellphone on a map, whether it be stationary or moving can be achieved by either GPS, which most smartphones have automatically included these days, or by checking the triangulation of several radio towers used by the cellphone owner’s network provider. The cell phones GSM is judged by the signal strength of the cell phone to nearby aerials and/or antennas.

How is working Cellphone Triangulation

At UnlockBase we unlock thousands of smart phones around the world every year, in fact more than any other web based remote unlocking service, so we like to keep our customers knowledgeable about the clever technology that comes hidden inside every phone you own.

Sneaky cellphone tracking

Instant messaging apps such as Viber have taken the GPS tracking device a step further by actually providing an accurate location complete with map an address of where your chat buddy is living or working. You may have installed other apps that can enable malicious app writers to intercept or read your emails, your text messages and sensitive information on your phone such as your bank details. If you have clicked OK to a long list of permissions on a newly installed app, delete it!

Cell phone tracking that includes a location gives out the actual coordinates of the cell phone. While the government may or may not be interested in your whereabouts, this feature is more commonly used by your cellphone provider to get an idea of where the cellphone is. Why do they do this? It’s not because they care about your safety or are spying on you. They simply want to know when your cell phone moves into areas where there are extra tariffs applicable. And this usually includes traveling to other countries.

Cell phone tracking that uses GPS is achieved by using a constellation of 27 satellites that orbit our planet. In simple terms, the satellites send out a signal which reveal where they are and when they sent the signal, and the GPS receiver picks up these signals. This information is then used to figure out where the GPS device is in relation to these satellites, and by doing so, accurately works out where it is on the globe. Don’t blame your cellphone for letting people know where you are; the GPS will simply transmit this information to whoever wants to know where the phone is located. And if you think going into the great outdoors will make you harder to follow, think again, GPS tends to work better outdoors.

Scenes showing cellphones being broken in two or thrown into rivers are common place in thriller movies. Ever since Osama Bin Laden and several of his cohorts were traced by their cellphones in the early days of tracking technology, they quickly reverted to a pre-cellular era and delivered all messages by human couriers.

What does your cellphone broadcast about you?

Hopefully you’re not in that situation, but if you were, do you really need to go that far, and what information is your cell phone broadcasting about you?

For example, if you believe your cellphone is being tracked switching to airplane mode won’t help. Every phone has two operating systems, one that connects to cellular networks, and one that interfaces with the customer. Airplane mode would only disable features on the customer facing operating system, such as Android or iOS, but not in the OS used between the phone and the carrier network. A phone can be happily giving out a ‘ping’ and you will never know it.

Your phone doesn’t even need to be sending out GPS coordinates, because any communication at all with a cell tower can expose you. By comparing the signal strength of your cell phone on multiple cell towers, someone looking for you can approximate your location with the triangulation technique, and criminals are still caught by this on a regular basis. Access to this data from your mobile network is, thankfully, out of reach of criminals, but service providers can be compelled to provide this personal data to law-enforcement agencies.

You often see the SIM card being thrown away by operatives in the movies. While this may provide an obstacle to cyber criminals, every phone has a built-in feature set of identifiers that may be detected via tools and devices used by the police and military. The NSA has even installed fake 2G cell towers thereby forcing a phone to 2G which means no encryption so it is easily detected and tracked.

At short range, your phone can also be tracked by Wi-Fi. Every time you turn Wi-Fi on, your phone is sending out a signal that includes your unique MAC address, a fingerprint for digital devices. Stores already employ this technology to track customer movements. It’s not ideal for surveillance, but with armed with your MAC address, surveillance teams don’t need an announcer to tell everyone you have left the building, they will already know.

Cellphone tracking is only going to get smarter, but unfortunately, for most of us, it’s too late to step off the merry go round. Could you go back to a pre-cellular era?

We have updated the HTC unlocking code Database with 2,188,215 new IMEI entries, last update was in Dec 2015.

With this update, we are now able to source the Unlock Code of no less than 208,682,441 HTC Cell Phones, and almost 99% of latest HTC phone models are available in our Database, including HTC Desire 620, Nexus 9, Desire 816G, One, M8 Eye, Desire Eye, Desire 612, Desire 820, Desire 510, M8, Butterfly 2, One Remix. You can check for free whether the Unlock Code of your HTC phone is available in our Database by using our Widget to get real time status, just visit the widget page to do this: http://www.unlockbase.com/widget/htc.php

Order the Unlock Code for your HTC Cell Phone with UnlockBase and get Instant Delivery 24/7 !

You can check our prices on our Wholesale Unlock Pricing page.

Whether you’re new to the ultra-competitive remote cellphone repair and unlock business or a seasoned pro, there is always a way to do things better and make life a little easier. That’s the idea behind MRC Manager. It’s a software designed specifically for the cellphone repair and unlock business to help business owners gain a competitive advantage by streamlining their operations, managing an unlimited number of technicians, automating invoicing, and tracking and organizing jobs as they come. In short, it’s a complete blueprint for running a cellphone repair and unlock business. All the thinking has been done for you. As you work with the software you will discover efficiencies and time saving procedures you never thought were possible.

Repair Service Center: MRC Manager = Easy scalability

The beauty of MRC Manager is that it’s not just a one size fits all solution to your business. There are different levels suited to each size of enterprise, but each software package, from the entry level MRC Manager – Standard to the top of the line MRC Manager -Ultimate, works in very much the same way, so there is no new learning curve every time you upgrade.

MRC Manager helps with some of the most important reasons you are in business in the first place: to be able to take on more work, and of course, to make more money with ease.

MRC Manager: Easy billing

Receiving jobs and then billing them promptly and efficiently should be the easiest part of your daily work schedule. With MRC Manager, you can achieve this in just 3 simple steps. First, you can easily oversee and manage all repair orders from receiving to processing repairs and then get paid by your customer, second, you can generate professional receipts & invoices your customers will appreciate and understand. And third, when you process a job, the invoice is automatically generated. This puts you in complete financial control of your business from the first day you try the software.

MRC Manager: Easy job tracking

One of the most frustrating aspects of the cellphone unlock business can be customers who constantly call up to check on the progress of their particular phone repair or unlock. MRC Manager takes that hassle off your hands. It enables customers to be able to check their own repair status online by simply inserting their job number.

With the MRC Manager Pro version customers can even ask for pricing on another unit at the same time and can choose to follow or contact you through social media such as Twitter or Facebook where they can make enquiries or brief in new jobs. Not only does this mean you no longer constantly need to handle phone calls, it ensures greater communication with customers and can result in more repeat business.

MRC Manager: Easy inventory keeping

With thousands of spare parts, you need MRC Manager to keep a quick and easy to understand log of what you have in stock, and what you need to restock. A manual stocktake can hours, with MRC Manager it can take just minutes. As you will know, one great way to frustrate customers is to not have popular items in stock when they need them.

MRC Manager: Easy E-Marketing

Of course, like any business, marketing yourself effectively remains a key component of your success. Again, this is where MRC Manager can help you. You can keep customers informed of new stock arrivals, impress them with prompt invoicing and receipts, and beat other rivals to be first with the news of new developments. You can even opt to communicate with customers instantly through SMS rather than risking emails getting lost in the spam filter, but if you or your customer prefer emails, the option is there too.

MRC Manager: Easy affiliation

If you want to make money from MRC Manager, that’s easy too. Just sign up for the free affiliation program and each time someone clicks on our banner on your site, you get paid.

MRC Manager: Easy on you

MRC Manager doesn’t stop working when you close the shop door. It works when you’re at home, at work, asleep, away on business, or even on holiday, and you can monitor all your activities in real time. All this, and it’s not expensive to run. MRC Manager – Standard starts at just $10.00 a month, and there’s a 50% discount on an annual subscription. There’s even 24/7 support via support tickets, email or via TeamViewer. Find out more today with the free trial (no credit card required)!

http://www.mrcmanager.com

All products, and company names, logos, and service marks (collectively the "Trademarks") displayed are registered® and/or unregistered trademarks™ of their respective owners. The authors of this web site are not sponsored by or affiliated with any of the third-party trade mark or third-party registered trade mark owners, and make no representations about them, their owners, their products or services.

Good question, and right now the answer is quite simply Lycamobile! That’s because they currently have a buy two months get one month FREE offer on a choice of bundles.

Who is Lycamobile?

In case you are new to Lycamobile, founded in 2006, the company rapidly became the pioneers in cheap international phone calls using prepaid pay as you go Sim cards. They claim that a new customer joins them every two seconds.

Lycamobile Sim cards make calling not only cheaper in the UK, but all around the world. The brand’s stated mission is to connect family and friends wherever in the world they may be. They are the world’s largest international mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), providing low-cost, high-quality data and voice services to over 14 million customers across 19 countries.

Lycamobile is now expanding its product offering to include a broad range of financial and travel services, such as Lycamoney and Lycafly, that help people stay in touch across borders.

How to take advantage of the Lycamobile 3 months for the price of 2 deal

Upon arriving in the UK you can pick up a Lycamobile Sim card before you even leave the airport. Just head to WH Smith inside the terminal and ask for a Lycamobile Sim card or you can go online to the Lycamobile site and order a sim card for free.

Remember, you must have an unlocked cellphone!

Before you can take advantage of Lycamobile’s generosity, make sure you have an unlocked cellphone, so that it is free to accept any sim card from any service provider. If you want to break free from your current service provider UnlockBase can unlock your phone in minutes, quickly, easily and cost effectively.

Choose your tariff

When you visit the Lycamobile website you have a choice of 3 tariffs, UK Plan 15, UK Plan 20 or UK Plan 25, each of them offering 3 months for the price of 2, representing a saving of 33%. Note that these offers are for UK calls and SMS only. If you want to make overseas calls you will have to add more credit to your sim card and check the rates that apply to the country you want to call.

UK Plan 20
Pay £24 for 3 months with 1000 minutes per month, unlimited SMS, and 2 GB of data, and unlimited Lycamobile to Lycamobile calls and SMS.

UK Plan 15
Pay £38 for 3 months with 1000 minutes per month, unlimited SMS, and 3GB of data. You also enjoy unlimited calls and SMS Lycamobile to Lycamobile.

UK Plan 25
Pay £60 for 3 months with unlimited calls and unlimited texts to any UK service provider as well as Lycamobile to Lycamobile, and you also get 5GB of data.

Lycamobile Call to order

To buy the tariff of your choice there is a special phone number next to each tariff you can call and then you just follow the instructions on the screen. Lycamobile have championed low cost national and international calling, and if you’re looking for a great deal, right now theirs is the best prepaid sim card deal on offer in the UK.

This is another new phone making its debut at CES Las Vegas this month. It’s an entry level model from ZTE, a fast growing Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

The all new ZTE Avid® PLUS is designed with comfort, convenience and the budget conscious in mind. It works quickly and efficiently enough, powered by a Qualcomm® 1.1 GHz quad-core processor matched with fast nationwide 4G LTE network. And if it’s affordability you’re after, the deal from MetroPCS doesn’t get any better. With an original price of $119, MetroPCS, after mail-in rebate MetroPCS are offering the phone at just $29.00!

The phone comes with an on-trend 5″ LCD screen with pixel density of 196 ppi, which allows you to enjoy pictures, play games and watch videos, while the screen is protected with Dragontrail™ scratch-resistant glass.

Camera technology on the Avid PLUS is a bit basic, nothing more, and nothing less than you would expect from a budget phone. There’s a 2MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing camera, with 720 pixel video recording which means you can easily capture what’s going on around you at short notice. There are effects including Color Effect, Scene Mode and Anti-Flicker to help you create quality photographs, but of course at this lvel of pixellation, you can expect some pictures to be grainy.

The ZTE Avid Plus was not designed as a high-end smartphone. Internal storage starts at 8GB upgradeable with a microSD slot to 32GB. The phone is made from an all-plastic build but still manages to have a quality feel when held. Unlike a lot of the newer generation phones, the Avid PLUS has a removable backing, allowing access to the replaceable battery, the SIM card slot, and the microSD card slot, which is much easier than trying to open the SD card and SIM card slots with the aid of a supplied pin to press into a tiny slot in the side.

The phone runs on Android Lollipop 5.1 and includes a built-in battery saver with additional security features and enhanced WiFi/Bluetooth controls

The resolution and pixel count is admittedly low as compared to more high end models, but with a MetroPCS price of just $29.00, it still represents outstanding value.

Unlock your Avid PLUS from MetroPCS with UnlockBase

If you love the phone but you want to be able to use extra SIM Card from a non compatible network, UnlockBase, the leading online remote unlock site, with the largest database of phones and service providers around the globe, can unlock this phone for you quickly, easily and cost efficiently. Our new, easy to use MetroPCS Android Mobile Device Unlock App supports ZTE Avid PLUS and the app can be yours for just $24.oo. Full step by step instructions are supplied and if you get stuck and you’re not sure what to do, our team are on hand 24/7 to answer your questions and sort out any possible problems. You can buy the app in seconds on the site and have your phone unlocked within just a few minutes, but don’t take our word for it, before you buy check out some of our genuine testimonials from satisfied customers.

ZTE Avid Plus Specifications:

• 4G LTE enabled
• 5″ FWVGA LCD Touchscreen Display
• 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash + 2MP front-facing camera
• 8GB ROM / 1GB RAM
• Expandable to 32GB with microSD card (sold separately)

To Unlock your ZTE Avid Plus from MetroPCS, please follow this Link:
https://www.unlockbase.com/phone-unlocking-service/metropcs-device-unlock-app-official-unlock/

UnlockBase unlocks more phones from more cellphone providers around the world than any other online remote unlock website. We’re known to thousands of satisfied customers for our efficiency, our speed of response and our fair, cost effective pricing, – so much so that we won’t be beaten on price. If you can find an unlock deal online for the exact same phone model and service provider that is better than what we are offering, we guaranteed to match it or better it.

One of the latest smartphones we can unlock for customers using MetroPCS as their service provider is the popular LG K7 from South Korean company LG. It’s the younger brother of the more powerful K10. Making its debut this month at CES in Las Vegas, it’s not surprising the K7 is expected to be such a popular choice. That’s because this smartphone is the complete package. With this phone you can tap into both your creative and practical sides and enjoy a great experience either way. It has outstanding camera features, and solid, speedy performance at a price that truly won’t break the bank.

The LG K7 MS330, (or LG Tribute 5 as it is also known by some service providers), is a value for money Android phone with a slim arched screen and sleek back cover. Its 5-inch display is contained within a smart looking plastic design with a matte finish. MetroPCS will offer this phone as a pre-paid deal with an affordable price tag. In fact, the phone brand new costs $129.90, but with an after mail-in rebate you can have one shipped to you for just $49.00 online at MetroPCS.

LG like to describe their K Series as ‘glossy pebble design language’, so called due to the curved, modern finish of the phones, aimed squarely at a younger audience without a lot of budget to blow on a high-end smartphone. LG claim the design cues of the phone are borrowed from nature, and the phone certainly punches above its weight in terms of cost vs performance and looks.

The LG K7 is a 5-inch 854×480 resolution smartphone. It’s running on Android 5.1 Lollipop along with LG’s Optimus UI on top. It’s powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, with 1GB or 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of storage inside. There’s a microSD card slot inside, which can support an upgrade of up to 64GB of storage as well. LG has packed an 8MP camera in the back with a surprisingly good quality 5MP camera in the front. The phone is equipped with LG’s easy to use photo technology including Gesture Shot and Gesture Interval Shot, making the taking of selfies easy and hassle-free.

With Gesture Shot you can take photos simply by raising an open hand in front of the lens and then clenching it into a fist. When you close your hand twice the camera automatically goes into Gesture Interval Shot mode whereby it will run off four consecutive photos. There is also Flash for Selfie on the front to help capture moments on the fly, whenever, wherever the moment presents itself, even if it’s in the dark. The phone is powered by an 2125mAh battery that is non-removable, and therefore non-replaceable.

Get the UnlockBase Android Device Unlock App

Our new, easy to use MetroPCS Android Mobile Device Unlock App supports the LG K7 and the app can be yours for just $24.oo. Full step by step instructions are supplied and if you get stuck and you’re not sure what to do, our team are on hand 24/7 to answer your questions and sort out any possible problems. You can buy the app in seconds on the site and have your phone unlocked within just a few minutes, but don’t take our word for it, before you buy check out some of our genuine testimonials from satisfied customers.

LG K7 Specifications

• 5-inch 854×480 display
• 1.1GHz quad-core processor
• 8-megapixel or 5-megapixel rear camera
• 5-megapixel front camera
• 1.5GB or 1GB of RAM
• 16GB or 8GB of storage
• 2125mAh non-removable battery
• Android 5.1

To Unlock your LG K7 from MetroPCS, please follow this Link:
https://www.unlockbase.com/phone-unlocking-service/metropcs-device-unlock-app-official-unlock/

Device Unlock is an Android app that allows you to request and apply a mobile device unlock directly from the device. This allows you to automatically apply Mobile Device Unlock to the device without using a manual code. When your phone is locked with “Mobile Device Unlock” it’s totally useless to order an unlock code.

Only supported devices (see below) may download the app or have it pre-installed. Supported devices may download the app from: Google Play.

It’s very important to order the unlock service of your Cell Phone using the correct service.

How to apply a “Mobile Device Unlock”

1. From that Application list, tap Device Unlock.
2. Tap Continue.
3. Choose the desired device unlock type: Permanent Unlock
4. If successful, restart the device to apply the settings.

Note: If you do not restart the device, you will have a persistent alert in the notification tray.

Troubleshooting “Mobile Device Unlock” app

1. Check that you have an active data connection.
2. Clear the application cache.
3. Check that the device memory is properly managed.
4. Restart the device and try again.

If you receive an error, review the following table for troubleshooting:

1. Make sure you use the original Stock ROM (no custom Firmware like CyanogenMod, or Unbranded ROM).
2. Make sure you’re using the latest version of Firmware for your Cell Phone.
3. Finally (after upgrade) perform a Hard Reset on your Cell Phone.
4. Turn off 3G/LTE and force the use of a local WiFi Hotspot.
5. Make sure you use home Wifi (and not a public/company WiFi since they might limit somehow your internet usage).

Select one of these two services below to unlock with “Mobile Device Unlock“

This is an occasional series that reviews some exceptional cellphones that represent either the latest in cutting edge features, or all round great value for money. Available in the UK, the 4G Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 falls into the latter category. In fact, it offers specs that might cost you £300 or more in a Samsung handset, but costs £125. That’s without a contract, with no obligation beyond the phone being locked to Vodafone – but more about that later.

Designed by Vodafone and manufactured by telecoms giant ZTE, one of the top five largest smartphone manufacturers in its home market,and in the top ten, worldwide. The cellphone features a 5.5-inch Full HD screen, 3000mAh battery, Snapdragon 615 processor and a 13MP rear-facing camera, the device has formidable specifications. At 5.5” it’s a big phone and it’s quite simply the highest-spec budget phone you can get without importing something cheap and dubious from China.

With the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 you have a well-known name, with a phone made by a cellphone world leader.

Some of the major players such as Samsung, LG and HTC do offer handsets in the same price range but these are usually with significantly lower specs than the Smart Ultra 6. Alternatively carriers often offer better specs but then add large amounts of bloatware resulting in a poorer experience. Vodafone has avoided this and as a result, delivers the Android experience as Google designed it to be enjoyed.

The Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 has very little bloatware, and a generous 16GB. The internal storage is 16GB of which around 10 GB is available to use, plus there’s a microSD card slot so you can expand the storage up to 64GB.

Sprightly performance includes speeds of up to 150Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps when connected to a compatible network. The handset remains lost locked to LTE well and has a strong antenna. The handset offers rich sound while on a call or listening to music.

The handset sports a 13MP rear camera and uses the stock camera app to deliver an easy-to-use feature-rich interface. With a simple swipe next to the shutter button, you can switch between Manual, Auto and the various modes, which include the useful Filters, Multi-Exposure and HDR modes.

The overall look of the phone isn’t really going to scoop any design awards, with no really distinguishing style features that you would find on the likes of a Samsung Edge, an Apple iPhone 6 + or just about any top spec Blackberry, but then it is literally two thirds less expensive than these premium priced cellphones.

Unlock your Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 with UnlockBase

When you buy the cell phone it comes locked to – no prizes for guessing – Vodafone, and this can be a disadvantage. Vodafone’s service can leave a lot to be desired, you nearly always have to pay to speak to a customer service advisor, even if the problem is Voadafone’s, and their Pay As You Go rates are somewhat uninspiring, starting at £10 a month for 300 minutes of calls (Giff Gaff offers 250 minutes for just £7.50) unlimited texts and 250 MB of data. Fortunately UnlockBase, the web’s largest remote cellphone unlock website can quickly and efficiently unlock the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6, and with our Price Match Promise we will unlock it for less than the £20 charged by Vodafone for the same service.

We also supply Vodafone unlock codes for 115 Vodafone cell phone models. Since launching this phone unlocking service, over 2,051 customers have already received Vodafone unlock codes. It doesn’t matter if it’s an old Vodafone, or, like the Smart Ultra 6, one of the latest releases, with UnlockBase you will find a solution to successfully unlock your Vodafone, fast. Unlock it here

Buying a used cellphone can be a great idea: you can save money, obtain an already unlocked phone, or buy a brand or a particular model you couldn’t otherwise afford. It sounds ideal, but unfortunately, buying a cellphone that is blacklisted can mean not only is your phone completely useless to you, you could potentially end up with a knock at the door from the police asking some difficult questions.

Think it can’t happen to you? In 2013 over 3.2 million cellphones were stolen in the United States alone, double the amount stolen in the previous year, so this is a fast growing problem. It means millions of cellphones are out there being advertised daily on online auction sites and listing sites around the world that could well be stolen, and you won’t know anything about it until you arm yourself with what to look for and what questions to ask.

Every mobile device in the world, whether it’s a cell phone or a tablet, has a unique serial number known as the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier). In a growing number of countries, operators enable consumers to report a mobile phone or device as lost or stolen using the device’s unique identity number, the IMEI.  The operator can block the phone from their mobile network, which is called IMEI blacklisting. Participating operators have an up to date Device Check database which contains the IMEI for devices reported as stolen or lost, as well as the device model and capabilities.

Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM), established in 1982, defines the GSM standard as the internationally accepted digital cellular telephony standard. Global mobile connections now exceed some 10 billion connections, and as of 2015, exceeds the total population of the globe.

As a means of controlling this vast number of global connections, which is increasingly important in an age of international organized crime and terrorism, blacklisted IMEIs are provided to the GSMA central IMEI Database which allows operators to exchange data and to block devices on multiple networks both nationally and internationally.

Each time you make a call your SIM card immediately identifies you as a subscriber to that particular carrier. If your account is in order, then you can make the call and use the services of your service provider. Before that can happen, however, the network will check your phone’s IMEI, which is a number that is unique to every GSM handset.

Like IMEI, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) devices also use something similar called an Electronic Serial number, or ESN. The IMEI or ESN identifies the phone to your carrier and it checks that the handset is valid to use. If the phone is locked to another carrier or if it’s lost or stolen your service provider can use the IMEI to “blacklist” a device which means you won’t be able to make calls.

So for example, it’s the IMEI, and not your customer profile that lets a large carrier such as AT&T know that you are using an iPhone. Even if you switch to a different type of phone, a BlackBerry or an Android, your service provider will know which phone you are using. Even when you jailbreak a phone, your IMEI will still give your chosen service provider the information they need to know.

Each time you switch your phone on or attempt to make a call, the network systems check the IMEI number of the handset you are using as soon as you insert a SIM card.

In the USA, the cellphone blacklist is operated by the CTIA, which works with leading cellphone providers including AT&T, Cellcom, Nex-Tech Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless to provide a vast database of blacklisted phones. They are also linked to the GSM IMEI database.

In the UK, when the SIM card is inserted, the IMEI number of your handset is cross referenced with the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), which is also known as the IMEI database. If the IMEI number of your handset is on the CEIR/IMEI blacklist then the network will either refuse to send a signal to your phone (No signal strength at all or will supply a signal but will not allow any outgoing or incoming calls.

If your IMEI number is on the CEIR your handset is blacklisted and therefore of no use to you or anyone else except for spare parts.

Despite huge efforts by service providers and international cellphone network organizations to clamp down on stolen cellphones, inevitably the system has its shortcomings and criminals can still get around the blacklist database by sending blacklisted handsets overseas, which is why cellphone theft still tops the list of stolen items. It’s a crime worth billions every year to international organized crime syndicates. The so called petty criminal who pickpockets your handset while you gaze into a shop window could be passing the phone on as his part in a global crime syndicate. Also, IMEI’s can in some circumstances be changed or rewritten. Don’t be tempted to try it, it’s against the law and will result in a jail term, but it still goes on.

Another major reason criminals want to get hold of your cellphone is not just to sell it on the international market, it’s the chilling fact that while 77% of users use their cellphones for online banking transactions, less than a quarter of these have any type of security on their phones! Accessing sensitive banking details on an unprotected cellphone is much easier than robbing a bank!

There are also several examples of incomplete data with all of the blacklist databases because the submitting of details is still voluntary. For example, a handset that is barred in the USA could still work in Mexico and vice versa, and a cellphone bought or stolen in the UK can work in a different country. A large number of UK barred handsets find their way to Italy, Spain and France.

There is an important difference between unlocking and unblocking a cell phone. Unlocking a cellphone from a service provider to be able to choose another is perfectly legal, but when a mobile phone is “unblocked” criminals can change the IMEI number and make the cellphone operational again. This practice is illegal and only the manufacturers are allowed to alter it.

Unblocking mobile phones is a criminal offence and carries custodial sentences. It is even an offence to simply offer to unblock or reprogram a phone.

If you are buying a phone online, and amazingly, 74% of consumers do, and you see one you want to buy on an auction site or a listing site, first determine whether the phone in the picture is the exact same phone you are actually being offered. No matter what site you are on you should expect to be able to glean some basic stats about the phone: the color, the correct model number, its storage capacity; all these are vital details in the device description.

The next step is to see if you can contact the seller to ask for the IMEI, if he or she refuses to give you this important piece of information, be wary and walk away. It could mean they have something to hide, and the fact is, there are so many other options you could explore rather than running the risk of a blacklisted phone. For example, Amazon and eBay have a safeguard of profiles and seller reviews that make them more trustworthy than buying from unmonitored websites. Also, Swappa and Glyde, have policies and safeguards in place for buyers. For example, Glyde holds the seller’s payment in escrow until the buyer has checked the device and confirmed that it’s clean and offers a full refund policy if not satisfied.
If you pay for your phone through PayPal or with a credit card you should be able to obtain a refund if the phone proves to be blacklisted.

If you are buying an iDevice, Apple now has a service on iCloud.com called Check Activation Lock Status. This enables you to quickly see if a device was obtained illegally. If you have managed to obtain the IMEI serial number from your seller, you can tell if someone used ‘Find My iPhone’ to switch on Activation Lock.

Activation Lock was introduced in iOS 7. It locks down the device, making it unusable until the correct Apple ID and password have been entered. So if you do purchase a bad Apple so to speak, you won’t be able to use it. You can also check how much warranty is left on the device by checking the serial number too.

Buying a cellphone online is always a case of ‘buyer beware’, which is essential for any major purchase from a complete stranger on the internet.

IMEI stands for International Mobile Station Equipment Identity. It’s the key identifier of each and every cellphone around the world. You can check your phone’s IMEI quickly and easily on a number of free sites:

For Canada you can check here: http://www.protectyourdata.ca

In USA, you can check on the T-Mobile Website as well as Verizon, Ringplus, and Ting.

In Australia you can check for free on Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association Website:
http://www.lost.amta.org.au/IMEI or http://www.amta.org.au/pages/amta/Check.the.Status.of.your.Handset.

There are also some well-known free Check Services such as: https://swappa.com/esn
(ESN Check FAQ: https://swappa.com/faq/esn)

So it really is very easy to do some basic homework before you allow yourself to become stuck with a blacklisted mobile phone. If in doubt you can also check with the service provider that is hosting the phone or even your own current provider. You can quickly look for free IMEI services in your own country by checking on the internet.

There is also a paid for service called Checkmend but beware, if you use this site and the IMEI is blacklisted, you might just be approached by your local Law Enforcement agency who have direct access to the searches made on the Checkmend website. This could result in an unwanted visit to the police station at an unsociable hour of the day.

What to do once you are certain your phone is not blacklisted

This is the easy bit. If you obtain a clean cellphone but you are not happy with the service provider that is hosting it, or you simply want an unlocked phone, UnlockBase offers the web’s largest database of service providers and cellphone models that can be safely, quickly and economically unlocked via remote unlocking, and it can all be done in a matter of minutes. Also, UnlockBase won’t be beaten on price, so if you find a genuine deal elsewhere that unlocks the same model for less, UnlockBase will match it or beat it for price, and you can’t say fairer than that!

Buying a new cellphone can be a fun and rewarding experience provided you exercise caution and know your facts prior to purchase. Study this article well, ask questions, don’t be fobbed off and walk away if you are in the least bit suspicious. Also, let your friends know about this article by sharing it.

A complete guide to Blacklisted Cell Phones – the eBook

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