Check by IMEI whether a phone appears on an international blacklist — reported lost, stolen or barred — so you do not buy a device that can be cut off from the network at any moment.
The IMEI blacklist is a global barring list maintained by network operators and the GSMA. When a handset is reported lost or stolen, its IMEI is added and the device loses access to mobile networks, in many cases across borders.
A used device carrying a blacklist entry is close to worthless: calls and mobile data simply stop working. That makes the blacklist check one of the essential checks before any second-hand purchase.
All you need is the device IMEI. Ask the seller for it, or read it yourself with *#06# before any money changes hands.
Whitelisted means the device operates normally. Blacklisted means it has been reported and is barred from networks. A greylist sits between the two: the device is flagged and under observation, often because a report is pending or disputed.
Entries can also be added after a sale — an unpaid contract or an insurance claim filed later will put a previously clean device on the list. A check therefore reports the status at the moment of the query, not a permanent guarantee.
If a check comes back blacklisted, do not complete the purchase. Buying in good faith does not give you good title to stolen property, and the device can be seized.
If you already own the device, contact the seller and your payment provider first. Keep the listing, the messages and the payment record — they are what a claim rests on.
Enter the IMEI here. The check queries international blacklist records and reports whether the device has been registered as lost, stolen or barred.
Not on mobile networks. It may still work over Wi-Fi, but calls and mobile data are barred — usually in every country that honours the shared list.
It reflects the entries held by the queried databases at the time of the request. A device can be reported later, so a clean result describes the present, not the future.
TR Vertriebs GmbH — the company behind IMEI Safe — has supplied graded used iPhones to the B2B wholesale market since 2011. Every unit is checked against blacklist and activation lock before dispatch, and every shipment ships with a per-device IMEI list. Honestly graded stock instead of grey-market risk.
A service of TR Vertriebs GmbH – your partner for professional IMEI verification.