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IMEI number blocked as phone was missing. Now have phone back but cant use. Please help


Three years ago I asked for my phone to be blocked as police had it as part of investigation . They have now returned it to me as no further action was taken but I still cant use it due to ID blocking it. Can the phone be unblocked?

24 replies

Daz_S
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Hi there ​@Matty4love 

 

Reading the above I’m not sure they would want to get involved. Or possibly after 3 years they may not be able to do anything anyway. I'm not sure about the latter.

 

Because you wrote that the phone was missing in the title (and you probably did say this to iD at the time🤐), hence why iDM didn’t question this and thus they blocked it via the IMEI at your request, when in fact the police had taken it as evidence for an investigation, could bite iDM in the bum if they unblock it (if they tell you they will publicly on this topic).

 

Then likely due to the police/feds/rozzers not gaining access (more so on an iPhone, but then again nowadays their tech is way better so maybe your phone was 'clean’) they couldn’t progress with the investigation. If the police see your public post on here they may start asking iD awkward questions if they reply with yep we can unblock it….

 

But I do wish you good luck🤞. Having said all of that they may want to see the crime report to ensure they wouldn’t be putting themselves on the wrong side of the law.


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  • January 10, 2025

There were three phones at my property and they took them all. All text messages etc are visible on the phone even after blocking the device so if there was any incriminating evidence then they would have it anyway. I didn’t get in the way of the investigation as I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. I gave them the passwords for the phones so they could carry out their search. I just didn’t tell ID at the time as it was an embarrassing situation and to be fair nobody’s business but mine. 

But I don’t mind telling you the reason for arrest was due to me Importing a herb that was supposedly Illegal but turns out It isn’t after all. Our business was mainly a raw herb and herb extract business. 

The Investigation is now closed with NFA and they returned all of my phones, computer etc to me.

Dont really like advertising this kind of thing but I am not a criminal and therefore ID has nothing to worry about. I can upload the letter I received from the police explaining this if ID needs to see that. 

How does this actually work anyway? I mean getting ID to answer direct to me so we can sort the unblocking of the phone out?

Thank you.


Tyler
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Hey there ​@Matty4love, we’re very sorry to hear that.

 

I’d recommend raising this with our live-chat, to see if there’s anything they can do:

 

Thanks,

Tyler


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Matty4love wrote:

There were three phones at my property and they took them all. All text messages etc are visible on the phone even after blocking the device so if there was any incriminating evidence then they would have it anyway. I didn’t get in the way of the investigation as I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. I gave them the passwords for the phones so they could carry out their search. I just didn’t tell ID at the time as it was an embarrassing situation and to be fair nobody’s business but mine. 

But I don’t mind telling you the reason for arrest was due to me Importing a herb that was supposedly Illegal but turns out It isn’t after all. Our business was mainly a raw herb and herb extract business. 

The Investigation is now closed with NFA and they returned all of my phones, computer etc to me.

Dont really like advertising this kind of thing but I am not a criminal and therefore ID has nothing to worry about. I can upload the letter I received from the police explaining this if ID needs to see that. 

How does this actually work anyway? I mean getting ID to answer direct to me so we can sort the unblocking of the phone out?

Thank you.

T

Tyler wrote:

Hey there ​@Matty4love, we’re very sorry to hear that.

 

I’d recommend raising this with our live-chat, to see if there’s anything they can do:

 

Thanks,

Tyler

Thank you Tyler I shall try that.


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  • January 11, 2025
Daz_S wrote:

Hi there ​@Matty4love 

 

Reading the above I’m not sure they would want to get involved. Or possibly after 3 years they may not be able to do anything anyway. I'm not sure about the latter.

 

Because you wrote that the phone was missing in the title (and you probably did say this to iD at the time🤐), hence why iDM didn’t question this and thus they blocked it via the IMEI at your request, when in fact the police had taken it as evidence for an investigation, could bite iDM in the bum if they unblock it (if they tell you they will publicly on this topic).

 

Then likely due to the police/feds/rozzers not gaining access (more so on an iPhone, but then again nowadays their tech is way better so maybe your phone was 'clean’) they couldn’t progress with the investigation. If the police see your public post on here they may start asking iD awkward questions if they reply with yep we can unblock it….

 

But I do wish you good luck🤞. Having said all of that they may want to see the crime report to ensure they wouldn’t be putting themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Thanks Daz much appreciated chap. 

 


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Daz_S wrote:

Hi there ​@Matty4love 

 

Reading the above I’m not sure they would want to get involved. Or possibly after 3 years they may not be able to do anything anyway. I'm not sure about the latter.

 

Because you wrote that the phone was missing in the title (and you probably did say this to iD at the time🤐), hence why iDM didn’t question this and thus they blocked it via the IMEI at your request, when in fact the police had taken it as evidence for an investigation, could bite iDM in the bum if they unblock it (if they tell you they will publicly on this topic).

 

Then likely due to the police/feds/rozzers not gaining access (more so on an iPhone, but then again nowadays their tech is way better so maybe your phone was 'clean’) they couldn’t progress with the investigation. If the police see your public post on here they may start asking iD awkward questions if they reply with yep we can unblock it….

 

But I do wish you good luck🤞. Having said all of that they may want to see the crime report to ensure they wouldn’t be putting themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Thanks Daz much appreciated chap. 

 


Daz_S
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That makes more sense now

(and granted I should have worded that better)

 

What I was getting at was that you’d wrote missing (and now I know why) and then talking about the police - you made it sound like you were deliberately hiding something from them and now you want the phone (and content) back - hence why if they read it the same way as me then they might not have wanted to discuss this on a public viewable forum.

 

Anyway, hopefully live chat can sort this - but maybe say you lost the phone and then whilst having a clear out you found it after 3 years of searching😉


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Please do let us know how you get on ​@Matty4love 

 

Thanks, 

 

Nat 


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Natalie W wrote:

Please do let us know how you get on ​@Matty4love 

 

Thanks, 

 

Nat 

Hello Natalie, 

It was suggested that I ask for advice using the live chat. I have done this and was told the phone would be unblocked within an hour. This was around three days ago now and the phone is still displaying emergency calls only after I have put in my most recent ID sim card. I suppose all I can do is ask again. Do you have any other suggestions for me? 

Thank you

Matt


Daz_S
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Try restarting the phone with that iD SIM in.

(The SIM and phone have to shake hands and they in turn shakes hands with iDM servers)


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Daz_S wrote:

Try restarting the phone with that iD SIM in.

(The SIM and phone have to shake hands and they in turn shakes hands with iDM servers)

Have tried this with no luck am afraid. Does anyone know if the IMIE number is blacklisted then can it be un-blacklisted?

Thank you


Daz_S
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It was worth a try.

 

Yes I would say it can be reverted. I just don’t know if its a simple click on a keyboard or a stack of paperwork.

 

The other thing is what phone is it?

(some phones no longer work on iDM since the 3G switch off, some due to age, others due to the make and model)


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Daz_S wrote:

It was worth a try.

 

Yes I would say it can be reverted. I just don’t know if its a simple click on a keyboard or a stack of paperwork.

 

The other thing is what phone is it?

(some phones no longer work on iDM since the 3G switch off, some due to age, others due to the make and model)

Would be nice as cant afford another phone. The phone is a Huawei P30 pro.

Thanks


Daz_S
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I know that feeling too Mark

 

There is some good news, that phone is on their list

Huawei P30 Pro (SS) Yes Yes
Huawei P30 Pro (DS) Yes Yes

 

The 1st Yes means 4G (VoLTE) calling and the 2nd is WiFi calling.

 

Looking back

the phone is still displaying emergency calls only after I have put in my most recent ID sim card

 

This latest SIM, did you activate it (if it was a replacement) or is this a new account?

 


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Daz_S wrote:

I know that feeling too Mark

 

There is some good news, that phone is on their list

Huawei P30 Pro (SS) Yes Yes
Huawei P30 Pro (DS) Yes Yes

 

The 1st Yes means 4G (VoLTE) calling and the 2nd is WiFi calling.

 

Looking back

the phone is still displaying emergency calls only after I have put in my most recent ID sim card

 

This latest SIM, did you activate it (if it was a replacement) or is this a new account?

 

Okay thanks Daz. I thought it was unblocked at first when I tried it as I got though to someone. Then I realised I was calling them using wi-fi connection. Lets see if Natalie replies with any more useful info. 

Cheers


Daz_S
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The emergency calls only can happen when the SIM isn’t registered to the network. Have you tried a known to be working iD SIM from another phone in your phone?

Or tried your latest iD SIM in another phone?


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The ID sim is working fine Daz. It is from another phone that now has a broken screen. Thats why am trying to get this phone unblocked so I can use the sim in it. 

Thanks.


Daz_S
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Thanks for clarifying Matt. Okay so its the P30 stopping the SIM then.


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Daz_S wrote:

Thanks for clarifying Matt. Okay so its the P30 stopping the SIM then.

Well more the blocking of the IMEI number by ID really Daz. Hopefully an ID employee from off this community page will see this thread and help me out. I would really appreciate that. 

Thank you


Daz_S
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Yep that’s what I meant (the IMEI on the P30 is still being blocked which is preventing the SIM from working)😬 - note to self slow down and explain it better🙄

 

If you’re waiting on a staff member from these forums it might take a while as they would only be working on this when they’re on the forums (and even then they’d be juggling with other private messages).

 

The other thing (which should have done it first time) is to go back to live chat - after filling out the required fields typing talk to person should bypass their automated chat bot. Then ask them to check if the releasing from the block/blacklisting has commenced and if so when will it be sorted.


Kash
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Hi ​@Matty4love,

Please let us know how you get on with Live Chat.

If you require further assistance, please let us know.

 

Kash


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Kash wrote:

Hi ​@Matty4love,

Please let us know how you get on with Live Chat.

If you require further assistance, please let us know.

 

Kash

This is the second employee that has left the same message. The first person (Natalie) I responded to and they never got back to me. I have asked on live chat twice now and both of the customer reps said that they had un blacklisted the IMEI number and I would be able to use the phone within one hour. Both of these reps have lied to me it seems. Can someone please help me out here as it cant be that difficult to put right. Kash?


Kash
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Hi ​@Matty4love,

We’ll shortly send you a Private Message to your Community account so we can discuss your issue further.

To access your messages, click your profile picture in the top right hand corner and then click ‘Private Messages’.

Alternatively, if you are currently logged in, you can use the following link: https://community.idmobile.co.uk/inbox/overview

We’ll see you there.

 

Kash


Daz_S
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So 2x live chats have both confirmed the phone is out of jail, but it still isn’t working…..😯

 

Take the PM offer, but have you tried a SIM from another network?

(its the emergency calls only that’s making me think is it the iD SIM even though it works in your phone with the broken screen - the other thing is have the feds done something to it when they probably forced access to it)

 

I’m not familiar with that brand of phone but if you look within its settings is your number showing on the SIM status/settings page (or whatever its called on that phone)

 

edit to add. The only other thing is, if you don’t care about the content stored on the phone, would be to eject the SIM and factory reset it - clearly this would delete everything! - and then see if it takes a SIM (and in doing so if there’s any hidden snooping apps they should be deleted too).🤐