Mobile Virgin

When purchasing a used phone you need to be very careful. Virgin Mobile Phones, Boost Mobile Phones, and Sprint Phones all use a permanent ESN number as opposed to a SIM card like T-Mobile uses.

The phone can become permanently locked and un-usable when the phone is reported lost or stolen, suspected of fraud, or the phone wasn't returned as part of a warrant exchange, and for many other reasons.

If you purchase a phone that is locked because of any of the reasons mentioned above, the phone will be 100% useless to you and you will never be able to activate it onto an account.

The phone you purchase could also already be linked to an account and unless you got the MDN (cell phone number) and the vKey, then you will not be able to create a new account for the phone or do ANYTHING on the account your phone is linked with. The only thing you really can do is wait 90-180 days for the account to expire, and then you will be able to activate the phone. But honestly, who would want to wait that long?

So, if you must purchase a phone online, try using eBay and purchase only from highly rated members, or using craigslist and then meeting the seller face to face.

Before you purchase the phone, you need to request the ESN and call Virgin Mobile At Your Service (AYS) at 1-888-322-1122 and ensure that it has a clean ESN.