Sold Phone on eBay, buyer wants my SS#

[dhughes710]

I sold my wife's used Iphone 5 on eBay because she wanted to get the GS3. The iPhone sold in Feb of 2012, the buyer paid on time, I shipped it out on time, and everything was good. Now two months later the buyer emails me and says the following:

"Hello from Russia! I finally got my hands on the Iphone 5 (thanks to mail forwading services) to find out I cannot use it here without your help, my fault, i know. I want to request a device unlock at AT&T website, could you please give me your first name, last name, e-mail adress and last 4 of your SSN? Your help will be much, much appreciated!
Thank you!"

I am not sure what to do. When I sold the phone the address for the buyer was in PA, but they are really in Russia??? I am not giving them the information they are asking for.  I did see there is a website on AT&T's page that you can request an unlock for phones.  Could I use that to help this person?  The iphone is no longer on my account though so I am not sure why it even matters.

[jamileh · Accepted solution]

Definitely do not give this information to the buyer. 

The phone is locked to AT&T's service but as long as it meets a few requirements, you can request an unlock. 

You can request the unlock using the form located here: https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

[sandblaster]

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@dhughes710 wrote:

I sold my wife's used Iphone 5 on eBay because she wanted to get the GS3. The iPhone sold in Feb of 2012, the buyer paid on time, I shipped it out on time, and everything was good. Now two months later the buyer emails me and says the following:

"Hello from Russia! I finally got my hands on the Iphone 5 (thanks to mail forwading services) to find out I cannot use it here without your help, my fault, i know. I want to request a device unlock at AT&T website, could you please give me your first name, last name, e-mail adress and last 4 of your SSN? Your help will be much, much appreciated!
Thank you!"

I am not sure what to do. When I sold the phone the address for the buyer was in PA, but they are really in Russia??? I am not giving them the information they are asking for.  I did see there is a website on AT&T's page that you can request an unlock for phones.  Could I use that to help this person?  The iphone is no longer on my account though so I am not sure why it even matters.

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How did you manage to sell a used iphone 5 in Feb of 2012 when the iphone wasn't introduced until Sept of 2012?

I presume you meant Feb of 2013. In any event, you should request the unlock but if you got a new 2 year contract when you got that iphone 5 and if that contract is still in force, the unlock request may be denied. Even though you are no longer using that iphone, it may not qualify to be unlocked until the original contract is fulfilled.

[cousintim]

Tell your buyer that you cannot supply your personal information

You could also suggest that he use Google to search for what he looking for.  If he adds "Factory" to his search terms, he will find such services for as little as $9.

[harryspar]

No no no! Don't tell them your info! They know they can get it unlocked for a few bucks. What they're trying to unlock is your bank account and credit cards.

[iPhone Warrior]

Unless you listed the phone as unlocked I wouldn't unlock it. You shipped it to PA. Somehow it was re-routed/re-sold to Russia. You delivered as described. You shouldn't need to do anything else.

[robwmr]

Positively, absolutely do not give anyone your SS#.  It states on the SS card that your number is not to be used for identification and should not be given to anyone except authorized government entities.  How AT&T is able to demand our SS numbers is mind-boggling.  I would not respond at all to the person asking for your SS#; 99% chance of being a scam to get into your financial accounts.

[wingrider01]

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@robwmr wrote:

Positively, absolutely do not give anyone your SS#.  It states on the SS card that your number is not to be used for identification and should not be given to anyone except authorized government entities.  How AT&T is able to demand our SS numbers is mind-boggling.  I would not respond at all to the person asking for your SS#; 99% chance of being a scam to get into your financial accounts.

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err all companies that offer a service that is based on credit utilize your SSN / TID number to verifiy credit availabilty and the credit score. It also verifies your identity. you gave them your ssn when you opened the contract, they utilized it to run a credit check on you to verifiy that you are solvent enough, have a decent credit score and have a good record pf paying bills. It is being used to prove that the person requesting something is truely the person they say they are and not some street bum that it trying to get something for nothing. Not mind boggling at all, standard verification proceedures utilized by many financial and commercial organizations, nothing illegal or underhanded at all.

[sandblaster]

By the way, the unlock requirements are a current or former customer who can provide the phone number or account number. No where does it even say ssn. 

[wingrider01]

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@sandblaster wrote:

By the way, the unlock requirements are a current or former customer who can provide the phone number or account number. No where does it even say ssn. 

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Actually it does request the last 4 of the ssn, on the first page of the form for current customer and it is a madatory field