Check an IMEI's Luhn digit before you list a phone — and find out whether what you have is actually an IMEISV, which no checksum will ever validate.

IMEI, IMEISV, and the validator that always says "invalid"

An IMEI is 15 digits: 14 that identify the device plus a Luhn check digit. An IMEISV is 16 digits: the same 14, followed by a two-digit software version — and no check digit at all.

This is why so many IMEI validators reject perfectly good 16-digit numbers: they run Luhn over a value that was never meant to have a checksum. This tool recognises the difference and says so, instead of reporting a failure that is really a category error.

Where the number comes from

Dial *#06# on the phone. That is the authoritative reading — an IMEI copied from a box or a listing photo is exactly where transcription errors come from, and a wrong check digit usually means one digit was mis-read rather than that the phone is fake.

What the TAC can and cannot tell you

The first eight digits are the Type Allocation Code, which identifies the model. Turning a TAC into "iPhone 15 Pro, 256 GB" requires the GSMA's TAC database, which is licensed and not something we can embed in a browser tool. So this checker reports the code and stops there rather than guessing at a model name.

And what a valid IMEI does not prove

A correct check digit means the digits are consistent. It does not tell you whether the device is blacklisted, reported stolen, or carrier-locked — those live in databases held by carriers and the GSMA, not in the number itself.

Every check this tool runs (6 rules)

IMEI-F01Not 15 or 16 digits

An IMEI is 15 digits (14 identifying digits plus a Luhn check digit). An IMEISV is 16 digits, where the last two are the software version instead of a check digit.

Fix: Dial *#06# on the phone, or check Settings → About. A 14-digit value is an IMEI missing its check digit — this tool can compute it.