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Greetings,
I recently had my phone stolen when someone smashed my car window and grabbed my phone and GPS unit. I was thinking about ways to either deter theives or perhaps even catch them after the fact.
My first thought was some sort of program on the phone that would send information about the phone back to a user specified email address. For example, let's say the person installs a new SIM card and powers up the phone. The program could auto-run and send you the new phone number now assigned to the phone. I am not sure how this would work for non-SIM phones as I don't understand how those phones get their "phone number". In addition to the phone number it could send any informaiton like Owner Info that also might help identify the person now in possession of the phone.
My second thought was why not tap into the GPS device that so many phones are now equipped with and send GPS coordinates as well. This might be difficult if the phone company locks access to the GPS functionality.
Last but not least I was wondering if there might not be a way to determine that a new SIM card was installed, even if a master reset was done on the phone. The big problem here is that you would need to have the code included as part of the firmware as a master reset might possible wipe out any internal memory on the phone. It might be interesting to flash a warning on the main screen of the phone indicating that "This Phone is Stolen" if someone tried to put their own SIM or reprogram the phone with their phone number.
Naturally I know you can "lock" the phone which will render it useless but that won't necessarily help you get it back. I figure most of these "smartphones" have enough intelligence to at least send out a text message or something.
Has anyone seen anything like this or have any ideas on what might be possible?
Thanks
TC
There are several different software packages that already do this. One is called W.I.M.P. - Where Is My Phone:
http://www.wimp-software.co.uk/
Doh! I should have used Google.
Thanks for the tip.
Anyone using WIMP? I have the demo version and am having issues getting the GPS to work. Windows Live and Google Maps work fine. Not sure why WIMP is having issues.
What???
cowboyshootist said:
I recently had my phone stolen when someone smashed my car window and grabbed my phone and GPS unit.
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Click to collapse
Why would you leave this laying around in you car? My Tilt (or any phone for that matter), electronic device, and wife () always leave the car with me....
mchapman007 said:
Why would you leave this laying around in you car? My Tilt (or any phone for that matter), electronic device, and wife () always leave the car with me....
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Click to collapse
Well, I was heading into the LA Fitness gym in Mill Creek WA. There are generally lots of people coming and going in and out of the gym and Mill Creek is not what you would call a high crime area. The phone was not in plain sight but in the cup holder between the front seats and you would have to look real hard to even know it was there.
It was actually the GPS unit that attracted the thief. Normally I put that in the glove box and take my phone with me but as I mentioned above I didn't think I was in an area where I had to worry about car break-ins.
Even so, phones get stolen all the time. My daughter had hers stolen right out of her purse at her High School. It can happen even when you don't think it can. Applications like WIMP or PhoneBak are the only defense you have against something like this. Given the technology that exists in smartphones there's no reason they can't report themselves stolen and if they have gps (like the Moto Q9) even give you their location.
The funny thing is the thief was stupid enough to put his contacts onto the phone without having done a hard reset. The next day all his contacts were synch'd to my new phone and I now know who stole the phone.
Sprite Terminator is another one that does all of the things you want, remote lock / wipe / gps , etc
Thanks Dave.
KMS
Dave G said:
Sprite Terminator is another one that does all of the things you want, remote lock / wipe / gps , etc
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Click to collapse
There's also Kaspersky Mobile Security for XDAs - you can block sms acces, wipe PIM data and it has a nice little feature that will send out SMSs to two numbers of your choice if the SIM is swapped, then block the unit until you enter a code - thus giving you the new mobile number to take to the police! only takes them about 20 mins to find the name and address of the thief!
http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/kaspersky_mobile_security
And it's got a firewall and antivirus thrown in, too!
Bird
Bird_FAT said:
There's also Kaspersky Mobile Security for XDAs - you can block sms acces, wipe PIM data and it has a nice little feature that will send out SMSs to two numbers of your choice if the SIM is swapped, then block the unit until you enter a code - thus giving you the new mobile number to take to the police! only takes them about 20 mins to find the name and address of the thief!
http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/kaspersky_mobile_security
And it's got a firewall and antivirus thrown in, too!
Bird
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I was aware of this product. I am not too keen on annual subscriptions but it certainly seems to have all the features you might want for cellular phone security.
Mobile justice, it's freeware.
Bye
Hi if you installed kaspersky mobile security latest version, and you forgot the code? how can you reset code or change code to newone?
Thanks
Had an idea but I have yet to try it. Would it be possibly to remotedly activate your Kaiser and run a GPS program to give the unit location so that you could find where you left it?
Can say Pocket Controller Pro do this when the phone is in standby mode? Then if you ever lose it all you have to do is get somewhere with internet connectivity.
if it is then i'd suspect that thiefs would remove the sim card anyway as it would be blocked when the phone was reported stolen and if they wanted to sell it or even use it themselvs they would most likely hardreset it first removing the tell tale program
yeah ultimate theft alert and where is my phone (WIMP) both do this
u send a specially formatted sms with your pin number to the device
something like <lost> 1387 and it sends you back the gps co-ordinates
but you need gps signal and for the phone to be on
good thing is (definitely with UTA) hat if they change the sim it texts you, so you can just send the special sms to the new number
and no, the sms do not show up in the inbox
Rudegar:
are theives intelligent enough to know what a hard reset is, and would they even bother, most think removing the sim makes it untraceable
Rory
Another vote for WIMP, but i think someone on this forum has developed something else to do the same thing.
This isn't about theft
This is about me leaving my kaiser somewhere safe, say at work and not being able to remember where I left it.
That's why I ask. I know about ultimate theft alert but if the thing is not found and the SIM isn't changed then that won't work. The WIMP program sounds like what I want.
Anyone use Seek Droid?
http://www.appbrain.com/app/seek-droid/org.gtmedia.seekdroid
How's it compare to lookout or prey?
Seems like it's pretty feature rich for $.99 and reviews are good, but it's always good to hear from real, live users directly.
Lifehacker liked it
http://lifehacker.com/5745207/seek-droid-is-the-simplest-way-to-find-your-lost-android-phone
I think its the best, but I'm one of the developers. PM me if you have any questions.
I'm sure you do, but I was going to get some real user reviews here.
Give it a shot, write a review. If you dont like it, email support and we'll make it right.
I'm not sure if we have many people that are on xda using the app (yet). We are a really small company, and unlike our competition, we dont a marketing department to get our name out. Just a few developers trying to put out a good lightweight product. We love to see reviews and suggestions, so let us know what you think.
I can gave you a brief snapshot [after finishing my write up I realized it wasn't so brief]. Note: I haven't lost my phone yet so I've only been able to test it. Also, I have not tested other Droid locator apps so I have no point of reference. I've tested this on a Droid X.
Setup is a breeze. The user is asked to enter a username and secret code. The app goes through a registration process. The main screen of the app (on the phone) is organized as follows: View Website; Your SeekDroid.com Login; View Help; Current Status [Registered]; Your Secret Code; Options for Enabling remote formmating of the phone and SD card; Option for retrieving call history settings; Terms of Service; and Contact Us.
At the Seek Droid website, you're asked to enter your username and secret code. A top line menu appears, as follows: Locate; Alarm; Calls; Hide; Lock; Wipe; Help; and Log Out. Locate does just what it suggests: the webpage sends out a search command and a Google map displays the location. The Alarm options prompts you to type a message to be sent to the phone. Once the message arrives, the message pops up on the phone's screen and it beeps and will continue to beep until the screen is touched. When the screen is touched, you're taken to the slide-to-unlock screen. If your phone is secured with a password, you'll be directed to the unlock screen (pattern or keypad). Calls displays a recent call list. Hide triggers your device to hide the Seek Droid app from you list of apps (in your app drawer). Reboot is required. With Lock, you're prompted to assign a new digit lock code (digits only, not a new pattern lock). Whether your device already has a lock code or pattern lock, the new code is applied. I, for example, have a pattern lock. I changed the lock code remotely with Seek Droid and it changed it to the new code I sent. With Wipe you are given a prompt to ensure that's what you want to do. I did not test this feature. I might backup my SD card and try the wipe feature for that...I'll report the results later if I do.
I've tested the app indoors and outside, with GPS on and off. It finds it every time, usually within 3 minutes. I keep Use Wireless Networks and Enable Assisted GPS activated in the Settings screen on my device. Also, I have an app protector app that locks apps on my phone (along the lines of App Protector). I have Settings locked (requires a password to access). Seek Droid is able to change the unlock code remotely with Settings protected and unprotected.
Naturally, Seek Droid does not find my phone when it's turned off or in flight mode. Seek Droid does not provide advanced user controls like deleting individual apps, turning off/on GPS, remotely turning on your phone, etc.
Locating my phone worked with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. Javascript must be enabled.
One final comment: I encountered an issue with one of my computers locating my phone. I contacted Seek Droid support and received a response within 1 hour. Very helpful and responsive...kudos to them. After some troubleshooting, I discovered the problem rested with my computer. Seek Droid worked well from every other computers I have access to (rather than troubleshoot the problem with the one computer, I simply won't use that one to log in to Seek Droid in an emergency). So, my advice is to test the app from various computers so you know which one to use if and when you actually lose your phone.
I recommend the app based on my limited testing. I also recommend that you use this in conjunction with a device password or pattern lock (or an app protector app to prevent removal of Seek Droid). You simply want to set up controls so another person can't easily uninstall the app or deregister the device.
Price has now gone up to $1.99 and a bit peeved as I left it until today to get it, losing out 62p in the process
Anyway, after taking an aggggggge (months on and off) trying to configure Tasker to do this unsuccessfully I've now binned that idea and got this instead; setting it up alongside Tasker to receive a specific SMS to switch all the location finding stuff on (I have mobile and wifi switched off by default).
Just liked to echo the above comment in that it is really easy to use and the location is nailed down much better than all my previous attempts with Tasker.
Well worth it.
Wow, didn't notice that. I still hadn't purchased yet either and was going to. I really don't need it, I just wanted to play around with it. I'll just pass @ $1.99 and use the free version of lookout without wipe functionality and spend the $1.99 on a game I wanted or something.
Oh well.
is there a secret code default because i donwloaded the app to my phone online but never set it up
Kicknik: After installing the app and opening for the first time, you will be prompted to enter a username and a secret code of your choosing. Then, it will go through a process of registering your device (I guess it syncs up with Seek Droid). The username and secret code are then used to login to the Seek Droid website in order to locate and lock your device remotely.
My impressions:
Bought and installed a couple days ago on my Lg Optimus One. I am very satisfied.
The program installs very easily, once installed it asks you to choose a login name and a password and to set a few options: there's a few boxes to check, like the possibility to enable or disable the remote wipe of your smartphone.
Once you are done setting up you can access the seek droid website from your phone or from any device with internet access and once you are logged in you can monitor your device position (you can remotely enable gps if gps is disabled), check the last calls that were made from your device, lock your phone or wipe it to factory settings formatting internal memory and sd (of course it asks you for confirmation on the website if you click on the wipe button).
Another useful feature that can be accessed from seek droid website is the "hide" button. Once you press it the seek droid app on your phone becomes invisible (requires reboot) thus becoming even harder to uninstall (anyway even wehn visible the program requires your password to uninstall).
I tried every feature except for the wipe one and i can say it does what it says. Position through gps is accurate and is shown on a mini google map on the seek droid site. I monitored battery consumption and it seems almost unexistent.
In conclusion i think every smart needs a security program like this, and seek droid does better than other similar apps that i had tried before.
First I was using Lookout, but I rly didn't liked that story with the chinese developer that got misunderstood with his wallpaper app because of what Lookout said. Every website was telling ppl to uninstall his app. Lookout got a lot of attention, everyone installed their app and uninstalled the poor chinese app. That wasn't nice :T
Then I went to WaveSecure, from McAfee. I think it's $20 per year.
Never worked on my phone. Tryed the support, even installed a "debug version", but couldn't make it work properly on my HTC Desire. Gave up.
I was looking for another app to replace it and then I met Seek Droid. Was very cheap, no monthly fees and such, decided to give it a try.
Dude, I'm VERY satisfied. It's easy to install, got it WORKING on 5 minutes. McAfee WaveSecure didn't worked for me, but I had no issue with Seek Droid. If I had met it before, could save the $20 I paid to get WaveSecure (I should have tested it first, but saw "McAfee" on it, guessed it works.)
Didn't noticed any abnormal battery drain, I could retrieve the latest phone calls made and received, I could lock and unlock from the website, located very fast (I was using wifi when I tested).
I think that it could report the number of the SIM card and keep the alarm message on the screen, I mean, If I just lose it, I would like to keep on screen instructions to contact me :S
Currently If you "click" on the message, it will go away.
Anyway, I'm another happy customer.
It's very cheap, everyone should give it a try!
seijimaddog said:
Anyway, I'm another happy customer.
It's very cheap, everyone should give it a try!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear you like it. Dont forget to review us in the Android Market.
I bought it for me (EVO) and my wife (LG Optimus S). Very reasonable price. Easy install and configuration and website control.
We also were using the new Sprint/Assurian TEP app. That has additional features--which I don't want or need (i.e., contacts backup). And, even though my wife's phone also has TEP, their app now says that the subscription has expired--which it hasn't.
I was about to cancel the TEP for her phone anyhow, and this is a nice reminder of why it's a waste for her cheap phone anyhow.
We're happy with Seekdroid and the $.99 price.
sycko,
I have Seek Droid on my Droid and my wife's Droid 2. Love the application. I was wondering if there was a way to get to get Seek Droid to work on my rooted Nook Color? There can be a general location using the WiFi instead of GPS I believe.
Thank you for your time.
How does one set this up? I bought it a while back and never got around to setting it up until today. I launch it on my EVO and it pops up a screen asking for a name and password, and anything I put in it says it's username or secret code is incorrect (obviously, since I've never set up a seekdroid account). I go to the website and it does the same thing. HOW DO I SET UP AN ACCOUNT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Thanks.
Nevermind. Got it. (Uninstalled and reinstalled and the create account screen popped up.)
Does this work with Google Voice? I don't have text messaging, so thats the issue I have with location/alarm apps
I want to know, what if my phone got stolen and the guy instantly decides to wipe my device clean of any trackers .. will this device still be able to track after such an activity ?
Also, what if the robber doesn't wipe the device clean, but modifies/disables the internet connection on the device ? Or switches to another SIM which does NOT have internet on it ? Will this program still be helpful in any sense ?
Free today on Amazon. Don't know if this is current version, but thought I would pass that along. Clean interface, but I haven't put it through its paces yet.
Great app
I love the app. Very easy to use. I've used it to locate my phone twice.
I just installed mohan's latest ROM for the skyrocket and I am getting a message that seekdroid is not working. Any tips on how to debug. Is there a log of the failure?
I like the ROM, but consider this a must have app.
need a bit of help
sycko said:
I think its the best, but I'm one of the developers. PM me if you have any questions.
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If seekdroid or something like that was installed on my phone. By my psycho gf. How would I totally remove it????
Hi guys.
Try to decide which to get between these two. It looks quite similar in what they do? Which one would you prefer? Don't matter the cost..they're just worth paying for. Which is better for non rooted phone?
anyone at all?
Never heard of the 2nd one but I am looking for a replacement for wavesecure
The only difference i can see between cerberus and TA is that cerberus can take photo. Apart from that, anything else guys?
Theft Aware saved my phone, Cerberus... hmmphh
[UPDATE] Tested "in the field"
Yesterday night I came to a friend's party and couldn't find my phone, so first thing I tried to dial it and see where I forgot it- went to check the car, but the phone wasn't there. The strange thing was that I was directed immediately to the voicemail, as if my phone was powered off..
Then I noticed my wife's phone has got an sms from Theft Aware, that the sim was replaced with a new number (including the new number). I called the new number, and got no answer but was able (via sms command) to get the phone's location, then I sent an sms to the new owner that I'd like to have the phone back and a number where I can be reached, then locked the phone.
At the same time I tried to operate similar thing with cerberus via their android client which is easy to operate. Nothing happened.
I tried again to call the new owner- he answered- told him I've got his phone number, location and photo (this was a bluff because cerberus did not work). The new owner was so surprised that he immediately offered to bring it back, which he did. I got my phone back after barely 30 minutes.
When the phone was back I checked my mailbox, and noticed that I got a mail from cerberus:
IP address: 109.64.199.59
An unauthorized SIM card has been inserted into your device.
Number: null
Network
Operator: 42502 ()
Subscriber ID: null
SIM card
Operator: ()
Serial: null
This is an automated message, please do not reply.
Nothing really useful...
Cerberus app did take a photograph, though, but it showed my own face back at home- the photo was taken only AFTER I have entered my unlock pattern, so it was no real use.
So, when really needed Theft Aware vs. cerberus: 1-0.
Nowadays Theft Aware is free, bundled with Avast! antivirus and some other bla bla (which can be manually uninstalled), so I just can't see no reason whatsoever why not install this useful program. Within minutes, all Android phone owners in the party started looking for Avast's TA and iphoners started looking for something similar for their own kind
You can probably disregard all the BS I wrote before (below), but whatever...
[OLD][BS]
TA is only sms-based. Perhaps they are working on some web-interface but not sure where it stands (beta stage?).
With Cerberus it is possible to send commands from their website and from a small applet/client (e.g. you can install it in a friend's phone) that is very useful if you don't have a computer nearby. Cerberus can also trigger the cameras, record audio, splash a message+speech in full screen ("Hey, thief! Bring it back") etc. Cool, perhaps also useful.
TA can be installed as system app, and with a name of your choosing to add further "security".
Cerberus installs as user app, but it is possible to download from their website a zip file that can be flashed as system app (or installed via ROM Manager) but not sure how many users are aware of this option. Anyway, it will still show as "cerberus" in lots of places, so it cannot be considered as stealthy as TA.
Both have many disadvantages- if the thief has access to the phone (some people don't use any pin/pattern lock, eh???) then he can deactivate TA or Cerberus from the list of device administrators and in a few seconds rendering both of them useless.
Both won't survive the flashing of a new rom, but I doubt that most "casual thieves" will go away to flash a rom in a stolen phone.
Some other sms applications using notification may override TA. That's what happens with GO SMS, for example- GO SMS will display the sms with code and everything, and TA won't work at all. There are workarounds, but it is an annoyance.
Major disadvantage of TA is the same code used to enter the application is also the one used in SMS commands! The dev is well aware of this issue but thinks it is too much for a user to remember two different codes (one for entering app, second to confirm sms commands). Thus, a thief can just get the sim out of your stolen and put it in any other phone. Then, when you start sending sms with commands to your stolen phone, you'll be actually providing the thief with your unlocking code... Next he turns on the stolen phone (with whatever sim- original or one of his choice), unlock it with the code you've just sent him by sms.. It's THAT easy. I am not sure how cerberus will act, in a similar case.
Hi developpers. I
My droid phone verson 4.1.2 was stolen last friday. But I was able to track the phone, confront with the thief and recover my phone two days later.
And that's why I am writing in this forum, because I want to share my experience and see if things can be done.....
The thief, stupid guy, removed all my sim cards (dual sim) and removed the memory card, but failed to do the necessary resets and did not remove my google account.
I don't want any lock screen system on my phone. And I strongly recommend everybody not to put a lock screen protection on your phone, because if there is one, the phone might just end straight into the trash bin, and you'll be left with no chance to find back your beloved Droid.
Let the thief in his beliefs it's his lucky day.... he has a nice unprotected full useable phone....
Also have Remotely locate this device enabled in the google settings, or get one of these hidden tracking apps on your phon.. Also enable allow remote lock and factory resets. The thief was so stupid he forgot to disable this feature of the phone.
Now here is my point. The Google Settings should be password protected. And it should be a shared password with the phone settings/Personal/ BACKUP AND RESET option.
At least, password protecting these two sections of the phone will avoid the thief to:
1. Disable the geo location of your phone
2. Doing a factory reset or remove any of the accounts on your phone.
Unless the thief is also a hacker, you will always be able to track your phone and get it back.
In my case, I tracked down the thief, up to 4m accuracy. I also have a Bluetooth speaker. I went to the Geo location and my Bluetooth speaker confirmed big time the phone was at this location.
Another thing to consider is to build INTO the OS itself is the option to track your phone. There are many programs on Google Play, but they can all be removed easily with a simple factory reset. This kind of software should be build in INTO the phone's OS itself.
Good luck to all of you who get your phone stolen!
oz457 said:
Hi developpers. I
My droid phone verson 4.1.2 was stolen last friday. But I was able to track the phone, confront with the thief and recover my phone two days later.
And that's why I am writing in this forum, because I want to share my experience and see if things can be done.....
The thief, stupid guy, removed all my sim cards (dual sim) and removed the memory card, but failed to do the necessary resets and did not remove my google account.
I don't want any lock screen system on my phone. And I strongly recommend everybody not to put a lock screen protection on your phone, because if there is one, the phone might just end straight into the trash bin, and you'll be left with no chance to find back your beloved Droid.
Let the thief in his beliefs it's his lucky day.... he has a nice unprotected full useable phone....
Also have Remotely locate this device enabled in the google settings, or get one of these hidden tracking apps on your phon.. Also enable allow remote lock and factory resets. The thief was so stupid he forgot to disable this feature of the phone.
Now here is my point. The Google Settings should be password protected. And it should be a shared password with the phone settings/Personal/ BACKUP AND RESET option.
At least, password protecting these two sections of the phone will avoid the thief to:
1. Disable the geo location of your phone
2. Doing a factory reset or remove any of the accounts on your phone.
Unless the thief is also a hacker, you will always be able to track your phone and get it back.
In my case, I tracked down the thief, up to 4m accuracy. I also have a Bluetooth speaker. I went to the Geo location and my Bluetooth speaker confirmed big time the phone was at this location.
Another thing to consider is to build INTO the OS itself is the option to track your phone. There are many programs on Google Play, but they can all be removed easily with a simple factory reset. This kind of software should be build in INTO the phone's OS itself.
Good luck to all of you who get your phone stolen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why you should use Software to prevent this. There are lots of tracking/AntiThief Software available. Noone will put it to trash when its locked,
mynote said:
This is why you should use Software to prevent this. There are lots of tracking/AntiThief Software available. Noone will put it to trash when its locked,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The question is if software will really help....
You're lucky.
The thief, stupid guy. If He smart than, he can google and reboot your phone in to recovery, and he can Wipe all of your data.
And your phone will gone forever
andy-q said:
The question is if software will really help....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. It is. 9 of 10 of my customers are happy and got ist device back after stolen/lost.
Just for the statistics..
The only shortcoming with the tracking/remote lock/wipe abilities is that they can still be defeated through CWM or whatever recovery is being used. That said, in most situations involving theft the thief doesn't have this level of knowledge to consider this step.
What's interesting to me is that so many people still steal phones for personal use, but I guess the stolen ESN database isn't far reaching enough yet to make it a stolen phone worthless for use yet. There is still some cash to be made selling them off for the hardware, but grabbing someone's phone doesn't seem worth a felony IMO.
As to the OP, a lock screen isn't worthless, especially if you have a non-removable battery. Most phones with them--an active lock screen I mean--either won't allow or can be set to disallow the phone being turned off without the code/pattern/password being entered, meaning if your phone is tossed in the trash it can still be recovered. That is one feature that will always make an integrated battery a plus. Even without one, there's the chance that the thief isn't going to take the time to pull the battery once he see's there's active security anyway.
MissionImprobable said:
The only shortcoming with the tracking/remote lock/wipe abilities is that they can still be defeated through CWM or whatever recovery is being used. That said, in most situations involving theft the thief doesn't have this level of knowledge to consider this step.
What's interesting to me is that so many people still steal phones for personal use, but I guess the stolen ESN database isn't far reaching enough yet to make it a stolen phone worthless for use yet. There is still some cash to be made selling them off for the hardware, but grabbing someone's phone doesn't seem worth a felony IMO.
As to the OP, a lock screen isn't worthless, especially if you have a non-removable battery. Most phones with them--an active lock screen I mean--either won't allow or can be set to disallow the phone being turned off without the code/pattern/password being entered, meaning if your phone is tossed in the trash it can still be recovered. That is one feature that will always make an integrated battery a plus. Even without one, there's the chance that the thief isn't going to take the time to pull the battery once he see's there's active security anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, true. Anyway. Even if you are just loosing your phone instead of getting stolen..
I consider that the thief will trash the phone when there is a lockscreen. Mostly the thief will try to look for "Reset-Possibilities". If you have a good AntiThief Software you may also disable the lockscreen when you feel that its the only way to get it back.
Anyway, there is Google Android Device Manager now which can get your device back easily..
When stolen/lost phone comes back I would check it for spyware
2 stolen phones never came back to me. :'(
Grievances. RIP .
alaminok said:
2 stolen phones never came back to me. :'(
Grievances. RIP .
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Click to collapse
I never got my stolen items back either but grats to the OP
This is the perfect thread for a question I've had ever since I came to the Android family from my iPhone.
On my Jailbroken iPhone I was able to download an app that took a picture with the front camera and sent it to the email of my choice every time the wrong password was entered, the photo came along with the GPS location of the phone and time.
Is there anything like this available for us
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk now Free
yoboyheartless said:
This is the perfect thread for a question I've had ever since I came to the Android family from my iPhone.
On my Jailbroken iPhone I was able to download an app that took a picture with the front camera and sent it to the email of my choice every time the wrong password was entered, the photo came along with the GPS location of the phone and time.
Is there anything like this available for us
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk now Free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here Try Ceberus, its a paid app but worth it and you can have up to 5 devices at once, it even disguies itself as a system app you can view calls, text messages and even make the phone call any other phone track it via GPS..... a bunch of features
(Heres some features It has three ways to protect your device:
- Remote control through the website www.cerberusapp.com
- Remote control via text messages
- SIM Checker (for devices that have a SIM card): you will automatically receive alerts if someone uses your phone with an unauthorized SIM card
Remote control allows you to perform many operations on your device, like:
- Locate and track it
- Start a loud alarm, even if the device is set to silent mode
- Wipe the internal memory and the SD card
- Hide Cerberus from the app drawer
- Lock the device with a code
- Record audio from the microphone
- Get a list of last calls sent and received
- Get information about network and operator the device is connected to
- And much more!)
Link---> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lsdroid.cerberus
if thieves are smart, they would have been reading xda
but thanks
If thieves were smart, they would be educated enough to get a job and buy their own sh*t!
I use Cerberus as well on both my droids. Very neat app, and even more advanced than FindMyiPhone or whatever it's called again. Recommended with root for all features though.
Glad you got lucky and a non-tech savvy thief stole your phone.
cerberus
Cerberus celebrates 3rd birthday with free licenses for the next 30 hours
http://phandroid.com/2014/04/24/cerberus-3rd-birthday-free-license/
I had a phone lost/stolen. It is such a personal item it is like having your wallet stolen. Fortunately I never use the remember password feature for any apps, and have an encrypted password file I keep up to date and backed up.When I lost my phone I went to all the sites and changed my passwords. What a pia, but it is some peace of mind. Took many hours.
With t-mo, they have this feature available that takes a picture after 5 mis-trys and emails it along with the location, T-mo will also erase the phone and reset the lock screen pattern, It works pretty good because I have sent numerous pics of myself from fatfingerin the unlock.and checked the map to verify.
I prefer Cerberus...
oz457 said:
Hi developpers. I
My droid phone verson 4.1.2 was stolen last friday. But I was able to track the phone, confront with the thief and recover my phone two days later.
And that's why I am writing in this forum, because I want to share my experience and see if things can be done.....
The thief, stupid guy, removed all my sim cards (dual sim) and removed the memory card, but failed to do the necessary resets and did not remove my google account.
I don't want any lock screen system on my phone. And I strongly recommend everybody not to put a lock screen protection on your phone, because if there is one, the phone might just end straight into the trash bin, and you'll be left with no chance to find back your beloved Droid.
Let the thief in his beliefs it's his lucky day.... he has a nice unprotected full useable phone....
Also have Remotely locate this device enabled in the google settings, or get one of these hidden tracking apps on your phon.. Also enable allow remote lock and factory resets. The thief was so stupid he forgot to disable this feature of the phone.
Now here is my point. The Google Settings should be password protected. And it should be a shared password with the phone settings/Personal/ BACKUP AND RESET option.
At least, password protecting these two sections of the phone will avoid the thief to:
1. Disable the geo location of your phone
2. Doing a factory reset or remove any of the accounts on your phone.
Unless the thief is also a hacker, you will always be able to track your phone and get it back.
In my case, I tracked down the thief, up to 4m accuracy. I also have a Bluetooth speaker. I went to the Geo location and my Bluetooth speaker confirmed big time the phone was at this location.
Another thing to consider is to build INTO the OS itself is the option to track your phone. There are many programs on Google Play, but they can all be removed easily with a simple factory reset. This kind of software should be build in INTO the phone's OS itself.
Good luck to all of you who get your phone stolen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for all the info. My biggest concern would be confronting the thief. What did you do? Wait for them to leave their house/apartment and confront them? Or did you confront them in some other way? I guess I would struggle between wanting my beloved phone back and being worried about the thief being a crazy person who might shoot me or something.
This Was Very Helpful
This is Very Helpful, We Wish We Had Known this when we had our phone stolen, I spent endless hours trying to locate my phone to no avail, thank goodness the Police were able to recuperate the phone, but only because the thief had stolen a number of other devices in the area, if I had known this information I would have saved myself hours of frustration !! BTW, Thank You For Sharing This !