"Cleaning a bad ESN"

[Lazegotit]

I've had this idea for a while and I'm curious if it will work. There are various reasons why a phone will get a 'bad ESN', but once the ESN is bad, it can't be put into service again. These phones will be sold on Craigslist or something like that for real cheap (say a Galaxy S3 for $120) . I'm thinking of buying such a phone and having it unlocked or swapped with a new serial number for like $50-$100. Should that work?

[AnonymousUser]

I've had this idea for a while and I'm curious if it will work. There are various reasons why a phone will get a 'bad ESN', but once the ESN is bad, it can't be put into service again. These phones will be sold on Craigslist or something like that for real cheap (say a Galaxy S3 for $120) . I'm thinking of buying such a phone and having it unlocked or swapped with a new serial number for like $50-$100. Should that work?

There are ways to change the ESN yourself, but it's illegal to have 2 phones with same ESN. I believe it's called cloning.

[Lazegotit]

There are ways to change the ESN yourself, but it's illegal to have 2 phones with same ESN. I believe it's called cloning.

No way of getting caught as long as the other phone is not being used though...

[real-brisker]

I have no idea how ESN work. But if it would be possible to take a esn from a broken dumbphone that will work on a granfathered plan, and put it into a Galaxy, that would be cool.

[Lazegotit]

I have no idea how ESN work. But if it would be possible to take a esn from a broken dumbphone that will work on a granfathered plan, and put it into a Galaxy, that would be cool.

It's possible... and it's about who you know...

[real-brisker]

What is an esn "attached to" that it can be transferred?

[AnonymousUser]

What is an esn "attached to" that it can be transferred?

AFAIK it's just a number stored in the phone's memory and can be changed with the right software.

[real-brisker]

Interesting. I always thought it was a hardware thingy.

[Chaikel]

There are ways to change the ESN yourself, but it's illegal to have 2 phones with same ESN. I believe it's called cloning.

I doubt there is such a law. Not that it would surprise me, but it sounds like a selling miles kinda thing

[AnonymousUser]

I doubt there is such a law. Not that it would surprise me, but it sounds like a selling miles kinda thing

It's definitely illegal to clone a phone with intention to defraud, just Google it. The grey area is if you're doing it for personal use.

[Chaikel]

It's definitely illegal to clone a phone with intention to defraud, just Google it. The grey area is if you're doing it for personal use.

And it's illegal to write a check with intention to defraud. That doesn't make writing a check illegal

[AnonymousUser]

And it's illegal to write a check with intention to defraud. That doesn't make writing a check illegal

True. However, as you would see if you Googled it, the language of the FCC regulation is not clear whether it's also illegal even without intention to defraud.
Hence:

It's definitely illegal to clone a phone with intention to defraud, just Google it. The grey area is if you're doing it for personal use.

[Lazegotit]

Check this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1794544

[Lazegotit]

Seems like there's a program called CDMA Workshop (which can be downloaded for free on lots of websites...) that can swap the ESN. You can use cmda workshop to change the ESN to a valid one than activated. Plain and simply. If your not a phone geek like me there's a guy that told me he'd do it for $60. There's prob plenty of people that could do this...

[netzih]

Seems like there's a program called CDMA Workshop (which can be downloaded for free on lots of websites...) that can swap the ESN. You can use cmda workshop to change the ESN to a valid one than activated. Plain and simply. If your not a phone geek like me there's a guy that told me he'd do it for $60. There's prob plenty of people that could do this...

I've had a guy do it for me a while ago. Costed about $65 and he did it remotely.

[AnonymousUser]

Check this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1794544

Yup, that's one of the threads I was referring to.

Seems like there's a program called CDMA Workshop (which can be downloaded for free on lots of websites...) that can swap the ESN. You can use cmda workshop to change the ESN to a valid one than activated. Plain and simply. If your not a phone geek like me there's a guy that told me he'd do it for $60. There's prob plenty of people that could do this...

Look here. However, I also saw this, but I'm not sure if it is correct.

[Lazegotit]

Yup, that's one of the threads I was referring to.Look here. However, I also saw this, but I'm not sure if it is correct.

A little to vague for me...

[Chaikel]

True. However, as you would see if you Googled it, the language of the FCC regulation is not clear whether it's also illegal even without intention to defraud.
Hence:

Google is not a legal expert, however my legal advisor will be responding shortly. Spoiler alert: you're wrong