So my phone is now magically now PTA approved....HELP

[moman]

Hey guys,

A few months back I got myself a Samsung S9 Plus (used with box) from one of the local shops. The first thing I checked was if it was PTA approved, which it was, as shown by the seller on that PTA app thingy.

Now just few weeks back I am constantly getting text messages that I need to register my phone. Upon entering the IMEI in the app, it says that the IMEI is valid but not PTA approved. What gives???

Did the seller scam me? How was it PTA approved when I got it? Is the PTA system maybe showing an error.

Help needed please as I have less than 30 days left till they block my phone.

Thanks.

 

[assasin42o]

Perhaps it was approved using someone's else passport and now they have reported it that it wasn't done with their consent. Shop keepers know this already.

Sent from my Phone

 

[moman]

[MENTION=42544]murtaza12[/MENTION]

You seem to know more about this subject. Can you help me out as to why this is happening?

Thanks a lot.

 

[murtaza12]

[MENTION=42544]murtaza12[/MENTION]

You seem to know more about this subject. Can you help me out as to why this is happening?

Thanks a lot.

Assassin's response sums it up perfectly.

Lots of people bought phones that were PTA approved at the time of purchase but they later became 'Unapproved' because the person whose passport was used to approve the device realized it was used without their permission.

I know 2 people who bought phones on PG and this happened to them.

Quite unfortunate but not much you can do about it. There's no way of telling how a device was approved so you wouldn't know if it was paid for or approved through stolen passport details.

 

[moman]

Thanks [MENTION=14725]assasin42o[/MENTION] and [MENTION=42544]murtaza12[/MENTION] for the help.

So basically I'm screwed now? I'll have to pay the PTA charges? There's no way around this?

I wondered how many more are getting scammed by this.

Any idea on how much it'll cost me to approve the S9 plus?

 

[murtaza12]

Thanks [MENTION=14725]assasin42o[/MENTION] and [MENTION=42544]murtaza12[/MENTION] for the help.

So basically I'm screwed now? I'll have to pay the PTA charges? There's no way around this?

I wondered how many more are getting scammed by this.

Any idea on how much it'll cost me to approve the S9 plus?

The phone is valued above 500 USD, so the duty applied on it would be 200 USD, so around 31k.

 

[moman]

Thanks [MENTION=42544]murtaza12[/MENTION]

I heard some people are changing IMEI numbers to avoid PTA blockage. Does this method have a guarantee?

 

[murtaza12]

Thanks [MENTION=42544]murtaza12[/MENTION]

I heard some people are changing IMEI numbers to avoid PTA blockage. Does this method have a guarantee?

No guarantees. Can cause lots of issues.

Where did the IMEI come from?
Messes up software updates on your phone.
Can cause provisioning issues with your carrier.

Would definitely not recommend doing it on a Samsung phone.

 

[djkido316]

Thanks @murtaza12

I heard some people are changing IMEI numbers to avoid PTA blockage. Does this method have a guarantee?

Your Cert was already changed and most likely was working on 2 phones at the same time that's why your phone got unapproved all of a sudden. [Happened to me aswell]

Cheaper solution would be to buy a S9+ PTA Approved Motherboard and replace your current motherboard with it.

CERT[IMEI] write is very difficulty if not impossible on S8 and above.

 

[khan ayaz]

it's not worth it. They root your phone and generate random imei (if you use banking apps or any other secure apps forget used it blocked) when i was looking to change mine i asked a shopkeeper he told me that he did that to change it.
But it seems there are some phones that are bootloaders locked (mine is one) which imei couldn't be changed simply by rooting i've to DIY but it is impossible.idk about how they those how do they change the locked ones, but most of the shopkeepers i went and specifically said it was "AT%T" model (U.S wala in paki words) and they rejected to root it. the most easy way to change imei is the rooting method. You kinda made a mistake there by putting the imei again i have small dual sim phone which i carry just for calls which i've rooted ( didn't changed any imei or so) and tis both sims was approved when they launched this registration system then few months ago i got the msg that my 2nd sim isn't registering at that time i didn't bothered cuz man they just (stupid) but then i didn't send to PTA nor put in any app to check but it's seems to be working for some reason after giving me 60 days till now. as murtaza12 said

Would definitely not recommend doing it on a Samsung phone.​

​

they can mess your phone up.

 

[djkido316]

it's not worth it. They root your phone and generate random imei (if you use banking apps or any other secure apps forget used it blocked) when i was looking to change mine i asked a shopkeeper he told me that he did that to change it.
But it seems there are some phones that are bootloaders locked (mine is one) which imei couldn't be changed simply by rooting i've to DIY but it is impossible.idk about how they those how do they change the locked ones, but most of the shopkeepers i went and specifically said it was "AT%T" model (U.S wala in paki words) and they rejected to root it. the most easy way to change imei is the rooting method. You kinda made a mistake there by putting the imei again i have small dual sim phone which i carry just for calls which i've rooted ( didn't changed any imei or so) and tis both sims was approved when they launched this registration system then few months ago i got the msg that my 2nd sim isn't registering at that time i didn't bothered cuz man they just (stupid) but then i didn't send to PTA nor put in any app to check but it's seems to be working for some reason after giving me 60 days till now. as murtaza12 said

Would definitely not recommend doing it on a Samsung phone.​

​

they can mess your phone up.

Changing IMEI or CERT [In case of samsung] Doesn't require one to ROOT the phone at all. Your shopkeeper probably was using Jugaar methods lol.

 

[moman]

The shopkeeper claims it is an issue with the PTA database and is affecting a lot of phones.

He told me to bring the phone in otherwise.

Is he BSing or do you think he is telling the truth?

 

[murtaza12]

The shopkeeper claims it is an issue with the PTA database and is affecting a lot of phones.

He told me to bring the phone in otherwise.

Is he BSing or do you think he is telling the truth?

Call PTA and ask them.