New and need advice

[phishinfurthur]

So today I just bought a HTC incredible off clist from a dude who seemed legit who even brought his kid to the transaction. He told me he got the phones off an auction. I go home to activate the phone and the verizon lady says it has already been activated to another phone. This is where I f*ed up. I dialed *228 and it reactivated the phone to the previous owner(whoever that is). Now verizon wont let me activate the phone until someone deactivates the phone. I tried to contact the guy who sold me the phone and I feel like he is avoiding my calls. So here is my question is there any way where I can do some sort of factory resetting that resets everything and deactivates the phone.

I read in other forums that people who cant pay the bills just sell the phone and the sucker who buys the phone is stuck with a phone that wont work until the whole bill is paid off, which I think that i what is going to happen to me.

Please help a fan out I want to explore the world of droid. BOYCOTT IPHONES!!

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[enlightened]

You're basically screwed. Either the phone was stolen and not reported or the person abandoned the phone. My money would be on the first possibility. Which means you could very well be in possession of stolen property. Something to think about.

You cannot just factory reset the phone and not worry about it. The ESN is tied to another account. Best bet is to try to get in touch with the CL guy again. If he avoids your calls, call Verizon and ask them to contact the owner of the phone to let them know you have it (they can always e-mail the person or try another contact line they have on file). Or report the phone (and seller) to the police as a first step. Then cut your losses, learn your lesson, and never buy a phone off CL where you don't have the advantage of Paypal or other fraud prevention tools.