Please Help, I bought a phone with bad IMEI #, not sure what I can do now???

[MikeFL0308]

Hi, I really hope someone can help me cause I have no idea where to start with this...

I just bought an LG Intuition smartphone from Craigslist, the guy was a student like me and nothing seemed unusual about it. I get home and realize he left his sim card in the phone, hmmm.. but anyway my problems start with the phone having a different size sim card slot than the sim card i current have with Verizon. So i went to Verizon and first they were like yea sure we can swap you to the smaller size card no problem, so I was like awesome. Then she starts running into all these problems and says that the ID (EMEI) number is not found in their database. I didn't know what shes was talking about but she was basically saying the phone was probably rooted to use on another carrier and that changed the ID number... FRUSTRATED I went home and called Verizon technical support, their answer was pretty much the same, the tech said I would have to "flash" the phone back to Verizon firmware settings to be able to register a sim card with the phone. I am not sure what to do, I downloaded an app called root checker, it says this device does not have proper root access. I guess that means its not currently rooted?
The phone currently reads IMEI number: 990002574975296

Id be so grateful if someone knew how to solve this, I am so stuck
THANKS!

 

[djspy]

Can't Verizon flash it back?

 

[dezymond]

Don't think this is something Verizon would help customers flash back to original firmware since the original user was the one who tampered with it. I've sold rooted phones before that were using ROMs and never had a mention of a bad IMEI or serial number.

Only thing I can think of is if you flash stock firmware and everything yourself or you contact the seller and try to get your money back. This is why when I always sell or buy a phone I have it done at a Verizon store where I can verify that the phone has a good serial number to avoid issues such as this.

 

[MikeFL0308]

Can anyone refer me to some information about flashing a device? The verizon tech said there are programs I could use but he wouldnt tell me which ones.
Im also very lost about the difference between unlocking, flashing, and rooting a smartphone???

 

[dezymond]

I highly suggest you read this along with many of the other "tutorials" he has up. Please read thoroughly and understand what you are planning to do with your phone before actually proceeding with any steps.

Android Power User: What are Unlocking and Rooting? | Pocketnow

If you have any questions regarding any other technical terms about Android you can do a search on this board or Google and you'll find your answer. Another option is to click the second link in my sig and there's some basics in there as well.