Carrier iPhone's IMEI locked by Verizon, but they are giving me the go-around and telling me to contact Apple?

[Capeto]

Hi all,

My work phone (Verizon Android) was malfunctioning, so I popped out the SIM card and put it in my iPhone SE that I had in my drawer; I bought this iPhone unlocked directly from Apple and has been fully paid off for some time. Putting my work phone's SIM card on my iPhone seemed to trigger some sort of security measure, as the line associated with that SIM card was immediately disconnected and my iPhone's IMEI was reported as blocked. I solved the Android and SIM/phone line issues with my work's IT department, but my iPhone's IMEI remains blocked.

I called Verizon's customer service to try and get my IMEI unblocked:
1. I first called the personal line customer service. I gave them my IMEI and they asked if it was a business line; I told them that it was caused by putting my work SIM card in my phone, and they told me to reach out to their business support line.

2. I called their business support line, and they just did not seem to understand what my issue was. They asked about details from my work phone, told me the SIM card was registered to my work phone (as I explained that that wasn't my issue), and when I gave them my IMEI they said they couldn't find any details about it (even though the person on the first call knew it was a business line when they input my IMEI). They told me to contact Apple since my phone wasn't on "their system".

3. I reached out to Verizon Support on Twitter, explained the situation, and the guy there basically told me I need to reach out to Apple, since "When a device is purchased from another national retailer, we are not able to unlock. We can only unlock devices purchased from Verizon under the Account Owner's request."

My understanding is that carriers are the ones who can block and unblock IMEIs; as it is right now, my iPhone is unusable with any carrier. Can Apple really unblock it, even though it was blocked by Verizon?

 

[russell_314]

From my understanding it is Apple that locks and unlocks the phone at the request of the carrier. You might have put yourself in a weird predicament because I don't know if Apple will unlock a phone for an individual. I had a similar issue where after resetting an unlocked iPhone it locked to Spectrum even though I didn't even have that account anymore and it was paid off. It's whatever is on Apple's servers. I had to call Spectrum and have them put something in their system where they send an unlock request to Apple.

I would go to an Apple store in person and try to explain the situation. If this is not possible then call Apple. Verizon might be able to help you but they have no reason or interest in doing so.

 

[Capeto]

Got it, but the issue is not that my phone is locked to Verizon, but rather that my IMEI is blocked– I can't activate it with any carrier.

I'll only have time to go to either the Apple Store or a Verizon store after work, where do you think I'd have better luck?

 

[ian87w]

Wow, that's really bad. US carriers really suck.
From what I gather reading various online forums and here, seems that you have to work it out with Verizon. And yes, you understood it right, only carriers can block/unblock IMEI.

 

[now i see it]

Getting the runaround from cellular providers is common so don’t get discouraged. It’s typical.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Since you put the work phone SIM in your old personal phone, it is possible that the SIM was tied to MDS with the work phone and the results (if that is the case) is not surprising. You should have contacted your IT department to let them know you had a problem.

 

[Banglazed]

I believe you’ll need to sort this out with your IT department because they may have been one who had contacted Verizon to backlist it so you won’t be able to use it on their network due to line was authorized to be used in the intended device for work. You may need to review their policy regarding work issued phone.

Apple can unlocks and locks device to carrier network at carriers’ request but carriers can put IMEI on the blacklist database which all US carriers use to check if device is clean.

 

[clueless88]

@Capeto You definitely should have contacted your company's IT department when THEIR work phone started to become flaky. Their SIM card initiated a security lock down of sorts on your phone--probably to decrease unauthorized data/voice usage--they essentially put a denver boot on your SE phone. They should be able to undo the lock. More importantly they should be able to provide a replacement work phone probably within the same work day you bring them your malfunctioning work phone.

Another example of keeping a wall between your personal electronics and work provided electronics.

Let us know how this plays out.

 

[Nermal]

I believe you’ll need to sort this out with your IT department because they may have been one who had contacted Verizon to backlist it so you won’t be able to use it on their network due to line was authorized to be used in the intended device for work. You may need to review their policy regarding work issued phone.

That may very well be the case, but yikes. The IMSI, not the IMEI, should be blocked in that case: The IT department has no claim over the personal phone and shouldn't be allowed to have it blocked.

 

[Capeto]

I sent an email to my work’s IT and CC’ed our company’s Verizon Business rep, asking for assistance; the Verizon Business rep said it had to go through IT since I tried putting a work SIM on a non-work device and there is an MDM in place (still wild to me that an MDM can get an IMEI blacklisted); IT seemed to have no idea and asked if I had tried putting another SIM card on the iPhone.

I decided to try my luck at a physical Verizon store after work. The person working there was at least kind enough to show me that their system indeed indicates that my iPhone was reported as lost/stolen, and thus put on the IMEI blacklist. His proposed solution was to contact Apple.

I’ll give Apple Support a call tomorrow; I’ve got proof of purchase/ownership (my email receipt from when I bought this iPhone) so fingers crossed that they’ll be able to sort it out, but my gut tells me that since this is a carrier thing they’ll bounce me back to Verizon.

Don’t stick your work SIM cards where they don’t belong, folks.

 

[eyoungren]

I sent an email to my work’s IT and CC’ed our company’s Verizon Business rep, asking for assistance; the Verizon Business rep said it had to go through IT since I tried putting a work SIM on a non-work device and there is an MDM in place (still wild to me that an MDM can get an IMEI blacklisted); IT seemed to have no idea and asked if I had tried putting another SIM card on the iPhone.

I decided to try my luck at a physical Verizon store after work. The person working there was at least kind enough to show me that their system indeed indicates that my iPhone was reported as lost/stolen, and thus put on the IMEI blacklist. His proposed solution was to contact Apple.

I’ll give Apple Support a call tomorrow; I’ve got proof of purchase/ownership (my email receipt from when I bought this iPhone) so fingers crossed that they’ll be able to sort it out, but my gut tells me that since this is a carrier thing they’ll bounce me back to Verizon.

Don’t stick your work SIM cards where they don’t belong, folks.

Yeah, Apple has nothing to do with blacklists. That's entirely a carrier deal. The problem with blacklisting is that it's really hard to get undone. I would suspect that if it's your IT department (or its systems) that reported the IMEI as lost/stolen to Verizon, it's going to have to be your IT department that contacts them to get it off the blacklist.

 

[clueless88]

I sent an email to my work’s IT and CC’ed our company’s Verizon Business rep, asking for assistance; the Verizon Business rep said it had to go through IT since I tried putting a work SIM on a non-work device and there is an MDM in place (still wild to me that an MDM can get an IMEI blacklisted); IT seemed to have no idea and asked if I had tried putting another SIM card on the iPhone.

I decided to try my luck at a physical Verizon store after work. The person working there was at least kind enough to show me that their system indeed indicates that my iPhone was reported as lost/stolen, and thus put on the IMEI blacklist. His proposed solution was to contact Apple.

Don’t stick your work SIM cards where they don’t belong, folks.

I would think that the MDM would report the work phone as stolen if a non-work SIM card were placed in the work phone, not if one put the work SIM card in a non-work phone. I wonder if your IT department has it set up so that if either scenario occurred the phone would be reported as lost or stolen.

Definitely a great lesson learned. Hopefully IT departments will let users know of this. Looking back, my work IT department may have had that laid out years ago in the users agreement that few of us read.

@Capeto hopefully everything will get sorted out soon.

 

[Capeto]

As suspected, called Apple Tech Support and they told me to go to either Verizon or my IT department. Guess I’ll just have to ask my IT department to take the time to look into it.

Question: since it’s a phone with both a physical SIM slot and an eSIM (what I assume the IMEI 2 is), would the eSIM still work? Haven’t yet checked if that is blacklisted or not. EDIT: Also reported as blacklisted.

 

[clueless88]

Question: since it’s a phone with both a physical SIM slot and an eSIM (what I assume the IMEI 2 is), would the eSIM still work? Haven’t yet checked if that is blacklisted or not. EDIT: Also reported as blacklisted.

Thanks for posting the update. I also wondered if the separate IMEIs would be treated independently for tracking purposes. It makes sense that they are reported as the same physical device.

Hope your IT department can replace your work phone very soon as well as remedy the blacklist status of your SE. Is your SE a 2020 or 2022 version?

 

[Jackbequickly]

You need to talk with the carrier who blocked your IMEI.

 

[Capeto]

Yeah, IT is telling me to try with Verizon or Apple. I know Apple is not going to be very helpful because they're not the ones blocking IMEIs, it's a carrier issue. What a friggin' headache.

 

[clueless88]

Ask the head of the IT department what triggered the IMEI to be blacklisted. If it came from lines of code that were vetted by the IT department, the IT department needs to man up and take responsibility to rectify the problem on your SE or to reimburse you for a replacement SE. Things like that should not be irreversible.

 

[Nermal]

I would also try Verizon again. Tell them that it's your phone; that you bought it new, directly from Apple, that it's always been yours, and that you have never reported it as stolen. Ask how it has become flagged as stolen without its legitimate owner having reported it as such, and ask how, as its legitimate owner, you get this flag removed. Do not take no for an answer.