You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Locked iPhone

Hello,


I bought an iPhone from a third party seller on Amazon. The phone was locked to AT&T. I contacted AT&T to get my phone unlocked and they were getting 15-20 messages some saying that the phone was stolen and can’t be unlocked.

The third party seller says that the phone cannot be unlock and was not stolen. Is there a way to unlock this phone?

iPhone 7, iOS 12

Posted on Nov 1, 2019 2:07 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 1, 2019 2:13 PM

No, there is no way to unlock a phone that has been blacklisted by the carrier.


But it isn't clear if the issue is whether it is carrier locked (SIM locked) or Activation Locked. If it is activation locked there is no way to ever use it without the cooperation of the person who enabled Find my iPhone and thus Activation Lock. What is the message you are seeing when you try to set it up?


In any case, if the phone can't be used contact Amazon's fraud department.


See this User Tip-->The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying … - Apple Community

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 1, 2019 2:13 PM in response to Wstone1021

No, there is no way to unlock a phone that has been blacklisted by the carrier.


But it isn't clear if the issue is whether it is carrier locked (SIM locked) or Activation Locked. If it is activation locked there is no way to ever use it without the cooperation of the person who enabled Find my iPhone and thus Activation Lock. What is the message you are seeing when you try to set it up?


In any case, if the phone can't be used contact Amazon's fraud department.


See this User Tip-->The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying … - Apple Community

Nov 1, 2019 2:33 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

The message when I insert a different SIM card is . . .


The SIM card that you currently have installed in this phone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone is unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

Locked iPhone

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.