Is it safe to give out IMEIs to blacklist checking websites?

[Android Central Question]

if I give out my IMEI to a blacklist checker websites like imei24 or imeipro or imei.info is it safe or will they do something bad with the imei?

 

[mustang7757]

if I give out my IMEI to a blacklist checker websites like imei24 or imeipro or imei.info is it safe or will they do something bad with the imei?

I would only give it out to a reputable place that someone used or recommend.

 

[Rukbat]

I wouldn't buy a used phone except locally (I've heard of too many people getting a box of broken parts), and if you make the exchange (your money for their phone) at the carrier, they can check the IMEI - and change the owner of record to you. (I've also heard of people selling fairly new phones, then reporting them stolen, therefore they get blacklisted, and they get a new phone for about a $200 co-pay - and you get a useless phone.)

But Straight Talk, for all their problems, isn't going to sell IMEI numbers, so they're safe.