In article , ultred
ragnusen wrote:


Fraud is deliberate deception to secure unfair or unlawful
gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right.

The readers will note that nospam has been told many times that fraud
contains /multiple/ elements, /all/ of which must be present for it to be
considered fraud.

altering an imei meets all of them.

(1) A material representation was made;

the altered imei.

(2) the representation was false;

the imei is not the original, therefore false.

(3) the speaker knew it was false;

it was knowingly altered.

(4) the speaker intended the other party should act upon it;

the other party being the cellular carrier.

(5) the party acted in reliance on the representation;

and they did, thinking you had a different phone than the one you
actually had.

(6) the party thereby suffered injury.

providing service to which you are not entitled.

fraud.