Second-hand smartphone now blocked by Free? Warning!

Since the beginning of the month, the operator Free has blocked no fewer than 300,000 phones. If you've bought a second-hand smartphone recently and this problem is happening to you, you're the victim of a fraudster.

Free doesn't do things by halves.

While some people thought it was a technical problem with the handset, it turns out that in reality the operator has launched a huge IMEI blocking campaign with the GSM Association. The reason? The phones were actually leased and not returned to Free at the end of the contract.

In fact, these rented phones remain the property of the operator, which has every right to block them without warning. The problem is, however, that a very large number of these rented phones have been put back on the market via classified ads, and have therefore been resold to people who know nothing about the problem or the history of the handset.

As a result, thousands of people are complaining that their phones are blocked, and unfortunately they won't be unblocked any time soon. It's also worth noting that it's mainly iPhones that are affected by this massive blocking campaign.

If you have recently bought a phone from another individual, be on your guard. It should also be noted that this late blocking may affect phones that were purchased some time ago.

For your next purchases, use Obvy !

Obvy makes it possible to secure the entire transaction, whether hand-delivered or delivered, and also to ask the seller to verify their identity and contact them in the event of a (very) nasty surprise.