iPhone IMEI blacklisted

[Godfreeze001]

My daughter just had her birthday and as all she would talk about was finally getting her own phone I rather stupidly bought a cosmetically damaged iPhone 13 pro max from someone on Facebook marketplace thinking it doesn't make any sense to pay full price for a phone that she will probably lose or break before too long.

Obviously I wasn't thinking straight as it seems that the phone has been blacklisted & of course the person I bought it from on Facebook is nowhere to be found so I have no hope of a refund or anything else.

Looking back it really wasn't my best idea & not a very clever thing to do.....

Here's what troubleshooting I have done so far

The new SIM card I got for the blacklisted iPhone works fine when I test it in my iPhone 13

The SIM from my iPhone 13 does not work when I test it in the blacklisted iPhone

Network provider lock shows No SIM restriction

Settings - General - About - Physical SIM - Network, it shows Not Available - phone not allowed.

I checked on IMEI24.com and after entering the IMEI number it comes back as blacklisted.

I have spoken to CS many times & they always want to send me a new SIM to solve the issue.

I have been into O2 shops and been told there is nothing they can do and that I need to call CS.

Is there anything else I can do or anyone that may be able to help remove the iPhone from the blacklist?

Or am I just left with an expensive paper weight and an upset daughter?

I have been reading a few similar threads about the issue here on the O2 community so I am hoping all is not lost

Thanks a lot

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@Godfreeze001 

It's a paperweight unfortunately.

The phone probably belongs to an insurance company as they have likely paid out on it.

It is also illegal to knowingly own such a device.

You should hand it in to the police and give them as much detail about the seller you can.