How to Check If a Used Phone Is Stolen

An IMEI check is the first thing anyone suggests and it is worth doing. It is also considerably less conclusive than the confident advice around it implies. The databases are national, incompletely shared, and populated only when someone actually reports a theft.

What that means in practice: a clean IMEI result lowers your risk, it does not eliminate it. The checks that catch more problems are the ones done with the phone in your hands, in front of the seller, before any money moves.

The checks, in order

The last two matter more than the first three, and almost everyone does them in the wrong order.

Get the IMEI and verify it matches

The IMEI is a 15-digit number identifying the handset itself, distinct from the SIM and from your account.

Dial *#06# on the phone’s keypad. The number appears immediately, on any phone, without needing to unlock anything beyond the dialler. Dual-SIM phones show two IMEIs; either can be checked.

Then cross-check it in three places:

• On screen from the dialler code
• In Settings — Android: About phone → IMEI. iPhone: Settings → General → About
• On the box or the SIM tray, where it is usually printed

All three should match. A mismatch means either the phone has been rebuilt from parts or the identifiers have been altered, and neither is a transaction to continue with.

While you are in Settings, also check the serial number and the model number against the box, and confirm the storage capacity matches what is being advertised. Phones sold as 256GB that report 128GB are a routine listing “error”.

Run the IMEI through the checkers

Two different things to query, and they cover different ground.

The GSMA blocklist, which carriers populate with handsets reported lost or stolen. Several free services query it — the GSMA’s own Device Check service operates in some regions, and various carrier and third-party checkers front the same data. A blocklisted phone cannot register on mobile networks in participating countries; it will still work on Wi-Fi, which is how such phones get sold as “Wi-Fi only” or “unlocked, no SIM”.

Your national stolen property register. Many countries run a police or regulator-operated lookup, and some carriers publish their own. Search for the official one in your country rather than using whichever site ranks first, because this is a well-monetised corner of the web.

A legitimate check also tells you useful things beyond theft status: the manufacturer and model it was registered as, whether the device is carrier locked, and sometimes warranty status.

What these databases genuinely cover

Being honest about this is the point of the section.

• Only reported thefts appear. A phone taken from a bag and never reported to police or a carrier is in no database anywhere.
• Coverage is national and sharing is uneven. A phone stolen in one country and sold in another frequently returns a clean result, and this is a major route for stolen handsets.
• Reporting is not instant. A phone stolen last week may not be listed yet, which is exactly the window in which it is being sold.
• Carrier participation varies. Not every operator in every country feeds the shared blocklist.
• Paid “full IMEI reports” frequently repackage free data with a confident presentation. The free checks cover the same ground.

So treat a clean result as one piece of evidence rather than clearance.

The check that matters most: a reset in front of you

A phone’s account lock is a harder barrier than any blocklist, and it is the thing most likely to leave you with an unusable device.

Activation Lock on iPhone and Factory Reset Protection on Android tie the handset to the previous owner’s account. A phone that is reset without the owner signing out first demands their credentials on first boot and cannot be set up without them. These features exist specifically to make stolen phones worthless, and they work — but they strand honest buyers whenever a seller forgets the step.

Insist on this sequence, in person:

1. Watch the seller sign out of their account. iPhone: Settings → their name → Sign Out, and confirm Find My iPhone is off. Android: Settings → Passwords & accounts → remove the Google account.
2. Watch the factory reset complete. Android: Settings → System → Reset options → Erase all data. iPhone: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content and Settings.
3. Watch it boot to the setup screen and confirm it does not ask for the previous owner’s account.
4. Sign in with your own account and get to the home screen before paying.

A seller who hands over a phone already reset, with the box, saves you nothing here — you still need to reach the setup screen and past any lock prompt yourself before money changes hands. The seller who will not wait ten minutes for this is telling you something.

If you are on the other side of this transaction, what to do before selling a device covers the same sequence from the seller’s point of view, including the deauthorisation steps people miss.

The rest of the in-person inspection

While you have the phone, five minutes well spent.

• Carrier lock. Settings → About phone → check for a SIM lock or network lock entry, and better, put your own SIM in and confirm it registers. A phone locked to a carrier you do not use is a limited phone regardless of its history.
• Battery health. Settings → Battery → Battery health on Android 14 and later, or Settings → Battery → Battery Health on iPhone. Below about 80% you are buying a battery replacement too, and whether that is worth doing depends on the phone’s remaining support window.
• Security update date. Settings → About phone → Android security update. An old patch date on a model whose support has ended means the phone is nearing the end of its safe life.
• The physical check. Screen for cracks under a bright light, charging port for damage or lint, cameras for internal dust, speakers and microphone with a quick call, and every button.
• Water indicators. The small sticker in the SIM tray, which turns red or pink after contact with water.

Protect yourself around the transaction

The checks reduce risk; the arrangements reduce consequences.

Meet somewhere public and well-lit — many police stations offer a designated safe exchange area. Get a receipt with the seller’s name, contact details and the IMEI written on it, and photograph their ID if they will allow it. Prefer a payment method with some trace and some recourse over cash where you can.

And be suspicious of the obvious signals: a price substantially below the going rate for that model, no box or accessories, a seller who will not meet in person, several identical handsets for sale, and any reluctance about the *#06# check.

What a clean result actually means

A phone with matching IMEIs, no blocklist entry, a reset completed in front of you and your own account signed in is a reasonable purchase. You have covered the failure modes that are actually common.

What you have not done is prove its history, and nobody buying second-hand can. If the phone is later reported stolen and blocklisted, your network connection stops working, and your protection at that point is the receipt and the seller’s details rather than any check you ran beforehand.

The one unambiguous rule: if the phone asks for someone else’s account at setup, walk away. That lock is not removable by you, by a repair shop, or by any service advertising that it can be. Those services take payment and do not deliver.