- Jun 7, 2003
- 4,815
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- 91
I sold my old mobile phone on Ebay last week. It's a Sanyo PM-8200 usable on the Sprint network. It seems customary to post the electronic serial number (ESN) of the phone to be sold so others can confirm it's activatable, not stolen, etc.
I got a good price, the buyer paid, and I sent her the phone. She then sends me an email to let me know the phone is still activated and I need to call Sprint. I do, and they say I'm paid up and that the phone is released for someone else to activate. I let her know, but she says they still tell her it needs to be released. I try again, and she tries again, and we make no progress.
We then spend about 45 minutes together (3-way call) on the phone together with Sprint and find out someone else has activated the phone on their account. Sprint won't give us any info on who activated it or when it was activated. Whoever activated it also has a $275 balance! It seems silly that someone activated a phone that they don't have, but that seems to be what happened.
The Sprint person on the phone tells the lady to take the phone to a Sprint store to see what they can do. She calls me on Saturday to tell me they can't help her because she has no history with the phone. I offer to take the phone back because I'm the original owner and there's history of me owning the phone. I figure I might be able to take the phone into a Sprint store and tell them someone has stolen my ESN.
The lady wants me to Paypal the money before she sends me the phone. I have a street address for her and her phone number... but she lives on the other side of the country.
Am I being scammed?
Cliffs:
1) Sold phone on Ebay.
2) Lady receives phone and tries to activate it, but finds it's already activated.
3) We try to resolve problem with Sprint over the phone and then the lady takes the phone to the Sprint Store.
4) They can't do anything for her.
5) I say I'll take the phone back, but the lady wants me to send the money first.
6) Am I being scammed??
I got a good price, the buyer paid, and I sent her the phone. She then sends me an email to let me know the phone is still activated and I need to call Sprint. I do, and they say I'm paid up and that the phone is released for someone else to activate. I let her know, but she says they still tell her it needs to be released. I try again, and she tries again, and we make no progress.
We then spend about 45 minutes together (3-way call) on the phone together with Sprint and find out someone else has activated the phone on their account. Sprint won't give us any info on who activated it or when it was activated. Whoever activated it also has a $275 balance! It seems silly that someone activated a phone that they don't have, but that seems to be what happened.
The Sprint person on the phone tells the lady to take the phone to a Sprint store to see what they can do. She calls me on Saturday to tell me they can't help her because she has no history with the phone. I offer to take the phone back because I'm the original owner and there's history of me owning the phone. I figure I might be able to take the phone into a Sprint store and tell them someone has stolen my ESN.
The lady wants me to Paypal the money before she sends me the phone. I have a street address for her and her phone number... but she lives on the other side of the country.
Am I being scammed?
Cliffs:
1) Sold phone on Ebay.
2) Lady receives phone and tries to activate it, but finds it's already activated.
3) We try to resolve problem with Sprint over the phone and then the lady takes the phone to the Sprint Store.
4) They can't do anything for her.
5) I say I'll take the phone back, but the lady wants me to send the money first.
6) Am I being scammed??
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