Difference between revisions of "Bad Verizon ESN Number"

Latest revision as of 11:08, 17 July 2014

An ESN is the Electronic Serial Number assigned to your mobile phone and is used with CDMA phones. The ESN has been tied directly to the phones with CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint. With the introduction of 4G service, a sim card has now been introduced, however, there remains an ESN tied directly to the phone itself in addition to a number on the sim card.

• ESN is an Electronic Serial Number that is unique to each CDMA phone.
• The ESN number cannot be legally, nor easily changed.
• A phone's ESN is like a fingerprint.

Verizon phones are identified by the ESN number when connecting to the service network. The ESN is matched to a massive inclusive database. If the ESN number does not exist in the database, or is marked as bad, the mobile phone will not be allowed to activate with any account, without regards to the status of the account.

• An ESN is either CLEAR or BAD
• Only a clear ESN can be activated on Verizon.

Bad ESN Number

A phone ESN number is purposely flagged as bad in the ESN database maintained by Verizon when there is a problem or issue reported with the phone. This can be due to the fact that the original owner was dissatisfied with their current carrier and switched carriers, or had a billing dispute with their carrier and canceled service without paying the early termination fee, or they got behind on their bill. The ESN can also be bad due to the cell phone being reported lost or stolen.

An ESN commonly flagged Bad may be due to:

• The phone was stolen
• The account holder owes Verizon money
• The phone was involved in conducting criminal activity

If you are a Verizon customer and your Verizon phone is stolen, the moment you report the theft to Verizon the phone will be flagged so that the ESN becomes bad. The thief will not be able to use your phone on the Verizon network nor cause regular charges against your account once the phone is reported stolen. If the thief sells the phone, any potential buyer will not be able to activate the phone on the Verizon network.

When considering the purchase of a used Verizon phone, ask the seller if the phone has a "clean ESN." When a seller advertises a phone as having a clean ESN, and it is bad, the seller is committing an unlawful act of fraud.

Checking an ESN number

Call the provider directly and ask. The company should be able to tell if a certain phone’s ESN has gone bad, and even why it was blacklisted. Once a phone is verified to have a bad ESN, there is usually no way to get it activated on the same network unless the carrier removes it from the blacklist.

If you purchased a Verizon phone you can find out of the ESN is clear by trying to activate it via the Verizon Wireless web site. If you are already a Verizon subscriber, simply use the tool that allows you to move your phone number from one phone to another. This is free for you to do and you can do it yourself on the web site. If the process returns an error after entering the ESN number, assuming that you entered the number correctly, it is likely a bad ESN. However it is worth noting that as of the time of this being written, the error message does not state that the reason for the error is due to the ESN being bad. The error is a general Java error. Hopefully Verizon will make the error reporting on ESN activation more informative in the future.

Comments by Verizon Wireless Support

When a Verizon customer has an unpaid balance, but the outstanding balance has not existed long enough for the account to go into collection status, the ESN number will not be, as of yet, flagged as "BAD." The ESN will be in a status where it is still not usable by anyone other than the original owner. If you purchase a used Verizon phone that comes from an account holder with an unpaid balance that is relevantly recent you will still not be able to activate the phone on your account even though the ESN is not yet officially bad.

In one example where Verizon customer support was contacted about a Casio phone purchased from eBay, an account representative with Verizon explained that the phone did not yet have a bad ESN, but the previous owner had a balance due over $1000. The account had not yet went into collections. Once the account was turned over to collections, the phone ESN would be flagged as bad. However, the distinction is an academic one since either way the new owner of the phone will be unable to activate the phone unless he or she is willing to pay the outstanding balance owed by the previous owner. The phone in the example was verified as not having been stolen because a stolen phone would immediately have the ESN flagged bad and there would have been notes indicating to the Verizon representative that it was a stolen phone.

By calling Verizon support you can have the ESN checked to see if it is CLEAR, tied to another customers account, or flagged BAD.

• CLEAR - no longer tied to another account, no unpaid balance and ready to activate by the new owner
• NOT BAD, TIED TO ACCOUNT - still actively tied to another customer's account because there is an unpaid balance due, yet the account is not in collection status.
• BAD - The phone has been reported stolen or the previous owner had an unpaid balance that has been overdue for long enough the account as been turned over to collections.

Saving a Bad ESN

According to Verizon, an ESN can only be cleared by the original owner of the phone. The original owner would have to contact Verizon and settle any outstanding balances. In the case of a stolen phone, Verizon may not reactivate a phone even when the original owner contacts them and states that it has been recovered from a theft. This has insurance related implications.

There have been reports of buyers contacting Verizon and pleading with them to have the phone cleared. "I bought this phone used and the seller told me it was clean but it isn't and now I can't get a refund because the seller skipped town." Conclusion, this is unlikely to work, but worth a few minutes of your time if you are on the receiving end of this bad deal.

flashing

Some people purchase phones knowing the ESN is bad because they intend on making a modification to the phone so that it can be used with one of the cut rate providers or prepaid providers such as Cricket. A buyer can "flash" the phone and have it activated on the Cricket wireless network or on Straight Talk.

• Flashing a Verizon phone with a bad ESN will NOT make it usable on the Verizon Wireless Network
• A flashed phone with bad ESN can be used on Cricket or similar cut rate services.

bad ESN IMEI cleaning service for USA Verizon Network

There are companies (typically overseas) and hackers that offer the service of "ESN Cleaning," which is the practice of taking a phone with a bad ESN and making it good again. These people typically charge around $100 for the service.

Let us analyze deeper this claim. First of all, once Verizon has flagged an ESN as bad, it is recorded in their wireless network master database. Any efforts you can make to have Verizon clear that flag are no different than those that can be made by another individual. The only exception is if you know someone employed by Verizon that is willing to risk losing their job by using the Verizon customer service software to clear the bad ESN flag in the database, assuming the individual has the necessary level of access. This does go on, and there are enterprising Verizon representatives doing this as a side business. If caught, there are a number of consequences that they face, however, you will likely not be in any trouble for asking that individual to clear the bad ESN on your phone.

The ESN is written into ROM or EPROM memory on the board of the phone. It is possible to change this ESN to another number, theoretically, by connecting a memory flashing device directly to the board. This is a tricky process requiring someone skilled with a soldering iron and very small electronic component skills. However, what will the ESN be changed to? One cannot simply pluck a random ESN number out of the air and assign it to the phone. The Verizon master ESN datbase is a list of ESN numbers that will not accept any new numbers not matching one currently on the list. Also, using an ESN that is already in use by another Verizon customer will create an immediate conflict on the network and likely result in that ESN number being flagged. Furthermore, in the United States it is a criminal offense to alter the built in ESN number on the board. It is not illegal to swap boards, but it is illegal to reprogram the ESN on an existing board by changing the ESN number.

In conclusion, it is true that this service does exist and there are individuals that can make your Verizon phone with a bad ESN usable again on the Verizon network. However, there are even more scammers out there that will take your money and not clear the ESN on your phone. Most of these scammers operate using a web site, ask you to provide the phone ESN, and your payment information. You will get charged and they will discard the ESN and run with the money.

Conclusion, possible but risky and potentially illegal depending on the method employed.

logic board

It’s also possible to obtain a new ESN by changing the logic board, but more often than not, a new logic board can cost as much as a brand new phone.

One example where changing the logic board can be economical is the case where your phone with a good ESN has a damaged screen and is no longer useful. You purchase an identical model that is not damaged, but had a bad ESN. You can use the logic board from your phone with the broken display in the phone with a good display. Since phones with a bad ESN sell used significantly cheaper, it might be a good way to get your favorite phone back with less expense.

logic board swap expanded

This is the most useful way for a technical person to get a phone with a bad ESN going on the Verizon Network once again. It involves using a broken parts phone to salvage a functional board with a clean ESN and installing it in the phone with a bad ESN, thus producing an amalgamation of the two phones, working, and with a clean ESN. This is both legal, and ethical, as long as the parts being used are not from stolen phones.

Remove the logic board from a damaged or otherwise non functional Verizon phone and place it in a fully functional phone of the same model, series, and manufacture revision which formerly had a bad ESN. Discard the logic board associated with the bad ESN. Good candidates for salvaging a logic board from are phones with broken displays but are otherwise functional. Bad candidates are phones with water damage, keep this in mind when shopping for a parts phone. Remember, the parts phone must have a clean ESN. You can still check the ESN status without necessarily having a functional parts phone.

Alternative Uses for Phones with a Bad ESN

Since an unlocked phone with a bad ESN cannot be used on the Verizon network, the general public believe these phones are of no value. However, many people sell these phones at a large discount with full disclosure of the bad ESN. These phones are not completely useless and some innovative buyers can recycle them for other uses, test software or applications, and reuse working components as spare parts.

Smartphones such as Androids (see [Category:Android]) have other capabilities aside from making calls and sending messages. Even without the phone capabilities, these phones can be repurposed for other uses. Some phones can have large date storage capacity or be expanded with a miniSD or microSD card. These phones can be reused as a dedicated music player or movie player. A good Android phone with a bad ESN still makes for a very cost effective MP3 player that can do more than the over hyped iPod.

Some Android phones and smart phones have extraordinary cameras and make excellent video recorders. Phones with image sensors and high megapixel counts can be used solely as portable cameras. Most phones today have Wi-Fi capability and can be used for a variety of things. There are free online services that allow people to send text messages and make calls over the Internet.

Using services such as Skype and Google Voice can make the phone still capable of placing and receiving phone calls via a WiFi connection. Summary of selected examples:

• Portable WiFi Skype phone
• Photo and Video Camera
• Solid state portable storage
• web browser, games, and apps

emulate a working phone

Skype – call people who already have Skype. This is the world’s most popular walkie talkie. The GrooveIP/Google Voice trick will only work if your phone’s actual number will receive a call or text (it won’t). Instead use the Yuilop trick below: SendHub – Gives you a working phone number to send and receive texts over WiFi. The phone function works, but I can’t figure out how to receive a call. Yuilop - Install this and use another phone or your SendHub number to confirm via SMS. You can make and receive both texts and calls over WiFi, even to phones without the app, and even to landlines. You have 10-20 credits, but they never go down.

source: How to Optimize your “Bad ESN” phone – List of the Best Android Apps

use with Microsoft networking

On your home Microsoft Windows based WiFi network, you can use the Android with a bad ESN to connect to LAN shares for the purpose of transferring data files, stored documents, mp3 and audio files, video files, watching video, and more. If you root the device and install Samba, you can share the device as a drive on your Microsoft Windows network.

Not everyone wishes to root an Android phone, and not all models have a root option available. Another alternative for using the Android device on your home LAN is to install ES File Explorer. This is an app you can get from Google Play that will allow you to connect to other LAN shares, such as a desktop share, server, or NAS device. You cannot share the Android as a LAN drive with ES File Explorer, you can only do that if you root the phone and install Samba.

Ensure the ESN is Clear when you Sell Your Own Verizon Phone

If you wish to sell your Verizon phone there are a few steps you can take to ensure that the phone is eligible to be activated by another Verizon user.

• Activate another phone on your account tied to your phone number so that the phone you want to sell is no longer actively tied to a number.
• Make sure your account is current, that you do not owe any money past your billing due date.
• Do not report your phone lost or stolen if you wish to sell it.

For your own protection you should also factory reset the phone, clear all personal data, and remove any data storage cards. If your phone is a 4G phone you should not sell the SIM card with the phone. Keep your SIM card. The new owner can get a free SIM card from Verizon.

Keywords: VZW Verizon Wireless ESN bad clear clean good IMEI Serial Number Flash MEID