Is it safe to share your ESN # with a potential Ebay buyer?

[alomar]

I was selling an old phone on ebay, and a potential buyer asked for the esn. is there any danger in giving him the esn?

I have no idea, so i thought i would put to my fellow phone geeks.

[8notime]

I think the primary reason people ask for this, is to verify whether the ESN is clear or not. I've had people ask me the same question, but I always tell them I'm not comfortable doing this. Who knows what they can do with that number, like maybe burn it into another phone or something.

[2000 Man]

Don't give them the ESN until they pay for it. Paypal will protect their purchase if the ESN is stolen.

[Bad Ash]

5 years ago id say no. today, you can give it out. you wont have any issues. I've sold many phones and researched this already. the buyer just wants to make sure its not stolen or flagged for you not paying the bill. just make sure not to give it out while its activated.

[ycats]

I never do it...........unless it's a local deal, then I'll meet with the person and show it to them.

[Bad Ash]

trust me its safe. besides if i was bidding on a phone and the seller would not give it to me, i wouldn't even bother. no harm will come if you give it out. but like i said the phone must be deactivated and the person you're giving it to should be the winning bidder.

[Edwood]

You need the MSL as well as the ESN to clone a phone. So there is little risk to sharing just the ESN. And for extra paranoia, as already stated here, if it's not activated, it's all gravy.

[2000 Man]

You need the MSL as well as the ESN to clone a phone. So there is little risk to sharing just the ESN. And for extra paranoia, as already stated here, if it's not activated, it's all gravy.

The MSL can be gotten with just the ESN. That's very easy to do.

[Edwood]

The MSL can be gotten with just the ESN. That's very easy to do.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about those programs.

Yeah. Don't give out your ESN's.

[Bad Ash]

you guys are way too paranoid. its safe as long as its not active! do some research you will see.

[8notime]

haha I believe you Bad Ash, but yes I'm paranoid. I just hear about to many eBay scams in general, so I'm always skeptical when I'm asked for something like that. But you gotta do what you gotta do to sell the phone I guess.

[Bad Ash]

8 i hear ya.

[2000 Man]

you guys are way too paranoid. its safe as long as its not active! do some research you will see.

There are a lot of ways to screw up an account with an ESN number. I can easily tie a phone to my account by only knowing its ESN. That phone won't be able to be activated on any other account until I release it.

[Bad Ash]

There are a lot of ways to screw up an account with an ESN number. I can easily tie a phone to my account by only knowing its ESN. That phone won't be able to be activated on any other account until I release it.

I said make sure it is deactivated and not on YOUR ACCOUNT!

Just state in the auction it has a clean esn and that the esn will be given to the winning bidder once the auction has ended. If they don't like it, they won't bid. That's what I do. And like it's mentioned above, just make sure the phone is not active on your account and your set. No worries.

[2000 Man]

I said make sure it is deactivated and not on YOUR ACCOUNT!

I said that I can (as the buyer) cause a lot of problems by being given the ESN number, EVEN IF IT'S NOT ACTIVE ON THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT.

[Bad Ash]

I said that I can (as the buyer) cause a lot of problems by being given the ESN number, EVEN IF IT'S NOT ACTIVE ON THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT.

Once you won the auction do whatever you want with the ESN... As long as I have my money... you won't be creating problems for me.

[2000 Man]

Once you won the auction do whatever you want with the ESN... As long as I have my money... you won't be creating problems for me.

Which is exactly what I suggested at the beginning of the thread. Congrats.

[Donte]

I am selling my XV6700 on ebay and a buyer asked for the ESN# to see if the phone was clear. Could any harm come from me giving him this number? Also what is an ESN# Thanks for you help.

[HELLO]

I called Verizon to ask about this issue, and I was told that there would be no possible way for anyone to activate the phone using only the ESN number, or to steal the ESN number for any reason. Are they mistaken?

[Solace87]

I called Verizon to ask about this issue, and I was told that there would be no possible way for anyone to activate the phone using only the ESN number, or to steal the ESN number for any reason. Are they mistaken?

HELL YES!
Verizon customer service people know nothing compared to some of these people online.
I run several cell phone unlocking companies.
I had a long term client who got robbed at knifepoint of his cell phone.

I had the IMEI of the stolen phone on file and lets just say we got this guy back for ALOT more than the cost of the phone.

In a perfect world give him the ESN, but this isnt a perfect world. So dont.

I tried to sell some phones on ebay and got scammed hard. I didnt get a cent for the phones but still owed ebay almost a hundred bucks.