It’s really easy to check if you’re buying a stolen phone
If you’re buying a used phone, there’s always been one critical thing to look out for: whether the device is stolen. And finding that out is getting a bit easier today. The US wireless industry, through its trade group the CTIA, has launched a tool called the Stolen Phone Checker, which lets you look up whether a phone has been reported lost or stolen.
The site works by looking up a device’s IMEI, MEID, or ESN — unique codes that get assigned to every phone. These are sometimes printed on the back of phones, like the iPhone, but in other cases they can be found somewhere deep in the settings menu.
Checking this out before buying a used phone is important for a handful of reasons. But perhaps the…
