Jakeglea90
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- California
Hello,
Thanks for anybody who is able to reach out and provide clarification. My company operates in an industry of wholesaling iPhones and other electronics. With wholesaling iPhones comes the responsibility to check and vet the devices to make sure they are legitimate and aren't "blacklisted". You can do this with a series of tools online or via the carriers from whom the devices were purchased.
Devices are blacklisted because of three reasons: they were lost, stolen, or obtained fraudulently through carriers not paid for.
The part that makes this area a little gray and confusing is the fact that anybody can misplace their device, report it to their carrier to blacklist it, then find it later and resell the device. Using a tool like checkmend.com that communicates directly with government databases on stolen property they are able to offer an expansive report on the device that would uncover any police reports attached to it.
If we were to purchase blacklisted devices that after running through checkmend.com say there are no police reports attached and only show that it was blacklisted through the carrier, could we be opening ourselves up to any civil or criminal liabilities? If using checkmend and identifying that there are no police reports attached would this help in being our "due diligence"?
Some big box names like Gamestop via their wholesale.gamestop.com website have in their fineprint that all the devices are ran through this checkmend tool:
"CheckMEND has been run on all units to ensure product has not been reported stolen. The IMEI/ESN's are not tested for network activation eligibility. Units may or may not be eligible to be activated or unlocked from a particular network. Product is sold "as is" and returns for IMEI/ESN reasons will not be accepted."
Thank you all for your help regarding this, it's been quite a confusing and gray area of this industry.
Thanks for anybody who is able to reach out and provide clarification. My company operates in an industry of wholesaling iPhones and other electronics. With wholesaling iPhones comes the responsibility to check and vet the devices to make sure they are legitimate and aren't "blacklisted". You can do this with a series of tools online or via the carriers from whom the devices were purchased.
Devices are blacklisted because of three reasons: they were lost, stolen, or obtained fraudulently through carriers not paid for.
The part that makes this area a little gray and confusing is the fact that anybody can misplace their device, report it to their carrier to blacklist it, then find it later and resell the device. Using a tool like checkmend.com that communicates directly with government databases on stolen property they are able to offer an expansive report on the device that would uncover any police reports attached to it.
If we were to purchase blacklisted devices that after running through checkmend.com say there are no police reports attached and only show that it was blacklisted through the carrier, could we be opening ourselves up to any civil or criminal liabilities? If using checkmend and identifying that there are no police reports attached would this help in being our "due diligence"?
Some big box names like Gamestop via their wholesale.gamestop.com website have in their fineprint that all the devices are ran through this checkmend tool:
"CheckMEND has been run on all units to ensure product has not been reported stolen. The IMEI/ESN's are not tested for network activation eligibility. Units may or may not be eligible to be activated or unlocked from a particular network. Product is sold "as is" and returns for IMEI/ESN reasons will not be accepted."
Thank you all for your help regarding this, it's been quite a confusing and gray area of this industry.