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Used iPhone Check: What to Run Before You Pay
A used iPhone check is a short list: IMEI, Find My, blacklist, SIM lock, MDM, and a serial warranty check.
A used iPhone check is not one magic report. Buyers get stuck because they pay for a single line, see a comforting word, and skip the rest. Run the checks that match how the phone can fail, while the seller is still there.
On the phone, before any website
Open Settings, General, About. Copy the IMEI and the serial number from that screen. Dial *#06# and compare. Look at the SIM tray. If the box is present, compare that IMEI too. Any mismatch is a reason to stop, before you care what a report says.
The reports, in a practical order
- Free iPhone IMEI check, so you know the number is valid.
- Find My iPhone check. ON or Lost Mode means do not pay.
- GSMA blacklist check. Blocked means the network may refuse it.
- SIM lock check, if you need a carrier other than the one that sold it.
- MDM check. A company or school can still manage the phone after you sign in.
- Warranty check by serial number, so the coverage story matches the seller.
Then erase nothing until you have watched the setup flow far enough to see that it is not asking for the previous Apple Account. A clean blacklist does not mean Find My is off. In-warranty does not mean the phone is unlocked. Read each result as its own fact.