Reverse IMEI Blacklist

[gerbus]

Hello. I've recently gone through some drama with my phone. It was stolen from the community center a week ago. I reported it stolen to public mobile moderators who blacklisted the IMEI. This took 48 hours to propagate through to the website i used to confirm the blacklist.

Then, a miracle. The phone was returned to the community center. However, here's where I'm stuck. I have a new SIM card installed into the recovered phone, but it won't achieve a signal. I'm assuming this is due to the blacklisting.The moderator I've been dealing with says he has reversed the blacklist on the public mobile side, but from what i can see, the IMEI is still on the national blacklist. (it's been more than 48 hours since public mobile moderators claim to have reversed the blacklisting)

Can the blacklist not be reversed? How does this work?

[darlicious]

@gerbus  Thank you. This will help future users find the answer to their own question if they type it in the search bar. Welcome "back" to public mobile!

[darlicious]

@gerbus  Iam very happy you finally got it sorted out. Generally you dont award the solution to yourself but to the member who best advised you to the resolution of your original question. You can unmark it by using the edit feature (3 dots top right of your post) and choose the member.

[gerbus]

So, Public Mobile was able to lift the blacklist. It took a couple of different support persons and some persistence from me, but we got it done. Did not involve the manufacturer at all. 

[gerbus]

I was equally astounded! Especially since i knew the phone could still be wiped. I did see that a browser tab was open to a page with instructions on how to move SMS messages between phones, so i imagine there was initially intent to use the phone before i remotely locked it. I wonder if my knocking on doors encouraged a parent to inquire with their teenager or something.

In any case, as long as we can reverse the blacklist, this is a rare happy ending.

[darlicious]

@gerbus  Wow...with some due diligence and determination and positive thinking you achieved a rare occurrence....you motivated the thief to return the ill gotten gains. That's impressive on it's own. The world we live in it's easy to lose faith in humanity....that might have changed someone's direction in life. Or they knew the phone was useless to them.....but I'd rather think on the positive side of things.

[gblackma]

@will13am  and @darlicious Thanks for the information. Will use it going forward. Looking at what I wrote here. I'm still in Quiddler mode. Lol.

[gerbus]

It was stolen while i went to the bathroom as i was charging it in a public place. I tracked the phone to a neighborhood nearby and knocked on doors. Then i remotely locked it and displayed the message "please return this phone to the community center". A week later they did. Please respect my wording.

[will13am]

Me thinks this is a good news story of a case of lost and found.  I would use the term stolen if an item was deliberately taken from a secured location.  

[will13am]

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@gblackma wrote:

Sorry to hear about your problem @gerbus . You can try contacting the manufacturer directly and ask them to take the imea off of the list. You may have to prove ownership. Did you perchance register the phone with the manufacturer when you procured it? 

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@gerbus wrote:

Hello. I've recently gone through some drama with my phone. It was stolen from the community center a week ago. I reported it stolen to public mobile moderators who blacklisted the IMEI. This took 48 hours to propagate through to the website i used to confirm the blacklist.

Then, a miracle. The phone was returned to the community center. However, here's where I'm stuck. I have a new SIM card installed into the recovered phone, but it won't achieve a signal. I'm assuming this is due to the blacklisting.T moderator I've been dealing with says he has reversed the blacklist on the public mobile side, but from what i can see, the IMEI is still on the national blacklist. (it's been more than 48 hours since public mobile moderators claim to have reversed the blacklisting)

Can the blacklist not be reversed? How does this work?

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Manufacturers have nothing to do with the blacklist.  They can't register phones on the blacklist nor move them off the blacklist.  

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@gerbus  The general rule of thumb is that it takes at least 72 hrs to have it removed from the blacklist. Be patient a little while longer it should happen soon.

[gerbus]

I bought the phone off Amazon and it was shipped from the USA originally in May 2017. It looks like i got a Motorola ID in 2018, but i contacted Motorola and they said only the service provider can reverse the blacklisting.

[gblackma]

Sorry to hear about your problem @gerbus . You can try contacting the manufacturer directly and ask them to take the imea off of the list. You may have to prove ownership. Did you perchance register the phone with the manufacturer when you procured it? 

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@gerbus wrote:

Hello. I've recently gone through some drama with my phone. It was stolen from the community center a week ago. I reported it stolen to public mobile moderators who blacklisted the IMEI. This took 48 hours to propagate through to the website i used to confirm the blacklist.

Then, a miracle. The phone was returned to the community center. However, here's where I'm stuck. I have a new SIM card installed into the recovered phone, but it won't achieve a signal. I'm assuming this is due to the blacklisting.T moderator I've been dealing with says he has reversed the blacklist on the public mobile side, but from what i can see, the IMEI is still on the national blacklist. (it's been more than 48 hours since public mobile moderators claim to have reversed the blacklisting)

Can the blacklist not be reversed? How does this work?

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