An ESN is the Electronic Serial Number assigned to your iPhone 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.
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.
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.
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