A: No, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) does not hide your IMEI. A VPN only encrypts your internet traffic.
These laws are actively enforced. In recent cases, police in India and Colombia have arrested individuals running illegal workshops where they were caught using laptops and IMEI-writing tools to alter the numbers of stolen phones. One user on a legal forum stated unequivocally: "changing the IMEI or S/N of ANY device is very illegal both in the US and the UK". The purpose of these laws is to combat phone theft and fraud. A blacklisted IMEI is the primary tool to stop a stolen phone from being used; changing it nullifies that protection. change imei iphone jailbreak