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I lost my damn G2X the other day while drunk and had just installed a new ROM and no tracking app yet. The guy at Tmobile today told that anyone could put their own SIM card in my phone if found and use it without a problem.
Can TMobile really not associate the IMEI off that phone (that I reported lost) with one that cannot be activated? I don't want to believe that and don't believe the fat slob at the store anyways due to how he bad he messed up my account today and failed to share important information with me
aburn95 said:
I lost my damn G2X the other day while drunk and had just installed a new ROM and no tracking app yet. The guy at Tmobile today told that anyone could put their own SIM card in my phone if found and use it without a problem.
Can TMobile really not associate the IMEI off that phone (that I reported lost) with one that cannot be activated? I don't want to believe that and don't believe the fat slob at the store anyways due to how he bad he messed up my account today and failed to share important information with me
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Any T-Mobile sim card can work with any T-Mobile or Unlocked phone without the need of setting up a IMEI to that sim card. So yes they can just throw in there card and it will work. If you report your phone stolen then T-Mobile might be able to block the use of said IMEI from it's network. That is if you know what that number is and you ask about it over the phone. The first thing you should of done in this situation is called in your phone as stolen. Still it's possible they wont do that. I know I've seen comment for cell phone dealers on ebay who stated that the company sold them a stolen phone that is now deactivated. So best of luck. Also make sure you go to an actual corporate store. Not all T-Mobile stores are owned by T-Mobile. It's very hard to tell the difference between them.
Thanks I have the box it came in I think that has IMEI
its a gsm phone so they can't do anything, if it was a cdma then it won't work!
well crap. someones a lucky ************
If you are fast enough you log onto the Android Market on the internet and install Plan B. If they have not yanked out your sim yet plan b will install, automatically run, send an sms to you with the phone's location and allow you to track it online. You can also lock it and have it put a message on the phone to return it to the owner.
Jboxer is right, most probably the thief doesn't know as much to know that he can throw another sim card in there.
Best of luck though
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
And it is not true that T-Mobile cannot block the IMEI. If you call T-Mobile and report it lost they will definitely block the IMEI from use on their network. Whoever found it or stole it won't be able to use it on T-Mobile but they would still be able to sim unlock it and use it on AT&T or another network.
Thanks everyone. I think it's all too late. I tried installing Wheres my Droid from net the next morning but it either needs to be set up on phone first (can't remember) or the phone had already died. Wish I knew about "Plan B." This succcccks. I really hope something goes wrong with it for the new owner, And sure hope they like a basic ass setup of MIUI!!!
My wife's phone was stolen yesterday. We didn't have insurance or that silly lookout security on it. I bought it on Craiglist last december for her Christmas gift. It was already unlocked and rooted. So the person who stole it can just through any sim in there and use it (we disabled the sim on it through tmobile immediately.) Tmobile is happy, they got a new phone sale and a 2 year contract extension out of it.
But they refuse to block/blacklist the IMEI!
I've called customer support *multiple* times and get the same answer every time - company policy is to not block IMEIs on lost or stolen phones. WTF? The only time they block IMEIs is if you buy a phone and don't pay for it, or if you have insurance (and even that part is not clear, it sounds like they just use the Lookout security program to lock it, which any savvy user can disable in minutes).
I've filed a police report, and when I finally told them that by not blocking the IMEI they are aiding and abbetting a felony theft. They said to write to the legal department.
The police report they gave my wife doesn't even say phone or the IMEI. I asked her to go back and get the full report or get the officer to write the phone model and make on the little slip as well as the IMEI, and I'm going to take it in person to every carrier and see if they'll block the IMEI from their system, just in case this person has another carrier (since it's unlocked).
Does anyone have advice on what to do? I know I won't be tracking or recovering the phone I just want to make sure it's unusable.
Well until you blocked the sim you could have used lookout's plan b to attempt to find the phone. You are pretty much screwed unless the phone shows up in a pawn shop. Did t-mo give a reason for not blacklisting the imei?
You can install androidlost remotely from a computer or another handset. Go to wwwDOTplayDOTgoogle.com sign into the account email that is on the phone that was taken and search for (androidlost) and click install. It will install the on the device when it connected to a data network via wifi or GSM. Then go to wwwDOTandroidlostDOTcom and follow the instructions on their site. I hope this helps. "Since this is my first post I am unable to put web links so Dot is used in place of (.)
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
The phone's sim has been disabled. My wife already has a new sim and new phone. I don't think I can remotely install apps anymore. And before blocking the sim, lookout hadn't been installed. I suppose I could've tried to push lookout, but it still has to be run and activated before it can be used. And I doubt the thief would've done that.
The reason they gave was A) they don't disable IMEIs on stolen and lost phones and B) they have no way to do it (which I called BS on and said connect me to someone who can, they wouldn't)
Ok I was able to install androidlost apparently. At least it said it could send it to the phone. However I go to the website and it says the program needs to be run on the phone first. Like I said, doubt the person will do that. And I can't send an SMS to it to start it, since the sim has been disabled. Now if I knew the phone number of the SIM they plugged into it then maybe I could do something. I also put lookout plan b on. Again I can't send it a text and I don't know if it will really even install. If they've thrown a new SIM, MAYBE plan B will work and send an email to my wife's gmail and MAYBE it'll have the phone number in it, from which I can text to start androidlost.
Edit: God I wish I'd known about plan B before we disabled it
Edit2: Anyone know if the person plugs another sim card in, will Google Play still be able to download to it?
If they dont change the google account then yes it will install. Otherwise mate your screwed. But as a aside you now know about things that can be done to help find the device. I suggest looking into cerabus for your current phones. You can set it up to remain through a factory reset/data wipe on rooted phones. Im sorry this happened and we cant offer much more help.
That's sucks man! There is a way to track a phone via imei and what tower they are connected to but i think that software is only available to certain agencies (the feds...lol). No matter what SIM is in the phone, or if there is even a sin in it, when you send an app to it via play store, it installs as long as your Google account hasn't been removed from the device.
Sent from my SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Well I installed both Plan B and Lookout but no emails from plan B At least I know if they do put a SIM card in, even for another carrier, I can still install stuff to it as long as the google account isn't changed. Of course I have no way of knowing if the google account is changed. Actually...if the google account is changed, will it disappear from the list of devices I can install to on the Google Play store? Does the fact it's still listed as one of my devices I can install things to mean the google account hasn't been changed?
Cerberus looks awesome. Actually, what if I just go ahead and buy and install Cerberus to it remotely? Does it need to be configured/enabled on the device itself before it starts being able to be tracked by the cerabus web site and give me the new phone number of a changed SIM?
Edit: Aw nuts. Cerberus DOES have to be configured on the phone itself and granted permissions. DAMN I wish I'd thought about this issue before. Also wish she'd at least put the PIN or pattern lock on her phone. I put it on mine but she didn't put it on hers. That would've prevented someone from getting into the phone unless they wiped the ROM, right?
Edit2: I went ahead and put Cerberus on my own phone and bought a license I was so impressed.. This is way better than Lookout. I hid if from my app drawer, but how do you make it so a person can't uninstall it? It still shows up on the list of installed programs.
I think you need to be rooted for that. I would ask the support for cerebus Im not real sure I just know people on reddit speak very highly of it.
All they have to do is factory reset it.....all gone.....and if its got a security lock when you wake the device all they have to do is the 3 button combo into recovery and do factory reset.....either way....your phone is gone and tmobile dont care cuz most likely it will be of use to someone else hoping with thier service....plus hey they just made a few more bucks from you
With celebrus it will persist through a factory reset/data wipe. The only way it will be removed is if they wipe system.
I guess they will do that too.
I always neglected these anti theft apps, since they appeared too heavy and RAM consuming..
I decided to take the chance, but I agree - it's a real bummer, our entire lives are in these devices.
sent from me
I'm pretty impressed with Cerberus. It consumes <1mb RAM, it has a disguised version, if your phone is rooted it will survive a factory reset, if the person change SIMs it will send you a message with the new # (which you can then send secret cerberus commands to), if the person changes the gmail account on the phone it will still work -- it's a SLICK program. It has an SMS command method and a web dashboard and you can do all sorts of stuff - track location, lock, display a message, sound an alarm, wipe SD, record video or audio, all sorts of stuff. It has a disguised version too (need root though) and the person can't uninstall it.
God I wish I'd installed this on my wife's phone. It's only $3 too, one time fee and you can install it on 5 devices with that license. No monthly fee. Just for comparison, Lookout has a 21MB RAM footprint.
I've not tried the Avast anti theft program but it sounds nice too. I'm not trying to shill for Cerberus here, I'm just really impressed. And damn I wish I'd put it on there before it got stolen...
Unfortunately no carrier will be willing to block a stolen phones imei
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
New info only way to block imei is if your on a payment plan for the device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
New info. Look at the dates before pulling up dead threads.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app
disabling sim is one of the worst things you can do to it, cause you block communication to it unless the other person puts a sim card with a data plan in it.
airfluip1 said:
disabling sim is one of the worst things you can do to it, cause you block communication to it unless the other person puts a sim card with a data plan in it.
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Indeed very true. I learned that the hard way.
To elaborate - you can remotely install tracking software from the play store to give you a chance to recover it, wipe it and other useful tools.
Hey, my brother lost his galaxy s3... literally the day I told him about Cerebrus (and he put off installing it..... the noob).
anyways, tried Plan B, that didnt work because I think the phone is dead. I just wanted to know if the SIM is removed from the phone, will it still have any sort of service from verizon? Will the google account associated wtih the account stay active on wifi assuming phone isn't wiped ??
I'm trying to reactivate the phone every few days and maybe I'll get lucky. He's also a noob because he wanted iphone anyway but got GS3 before unlimited data ended so we didnt lose it (plus have talk n text 20 dollar discount per data line... yes a bill under 200 for unlimted texting and LTE four smartphones is a heck of a deal we didnt want to lose).
Was he drunk when he lost it?
That phone is long gone.
bb4arson said:
Was he drunk when he lost it?
That phone is long gone.
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Has nothing to do with what the Op is asking.
Well the person wont be able to activate it through verizon, but I'm not sure about the whole google accounts thing. You should take your sim card out and test it on wifi and see if you can access your google acount without the sim card through wi-fi.
Edit: I just tested on mine and as soon as I turned my phone on my Avast started kicking in locking my phone and sounding the alarm saying the phone has been lost or stolen. I turned that off and tried going into my gmail and unfortunately I was able to still access it. I didn't check to see if I could still buy apps.
Google account will stay active.
Just log into google and change your password that will stop the phone from syncing.
Hey guys I was just reviewing my outgoing text messages and saw an out going message to this following
TO: 1505
Message:
DCB_ASSOCIATION: <appears to be an md5 checksum>
I am on TMOBILE USA
I did a google search and it looks like another n5 user, on tmobile, posted this the other day as well.
I had my buddy, who is on his n4 look and he did not see this.
I am ASSUMING this is calling back to TMOBILE for possibly a phone description? I am not sure though.
Anyone else?
phin586 said:
Hey guys I was just reviewing my outgoing text messages and saw an out going message to this following
TO: 1505
Message:
DCB_ASSOCIATION: <appears to be an md5 checksum>
I am on TMOBILE USA
I did a google search and it looks like another n5 user, on tmobile, posted this the other day as well.
I had my buddy, who is on his n4 look and he did not see this.
I am ASSUMING this is calling back to TMOBILE for possibly a phone description? I am not sure though.
Anyone else?
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I get that too. It happened numerous times. I'm not sure what it is our why it auto texts. I'm on T-Mobile also.
Sent from my Nexus 5
jayb222 said:
I get that too. It happened numerous times. I'm not sure what it is our why it auto texts. I'm on T-Mobile also.
Sent from my Nexus 5
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I got this today right after I sweet up carrier billing in the play store. Also on T-Mobile and Nexus 5.
This just happened on my Nexus 4 with 4.4 from the Google factory image. I'm on T-Mobile and used carrier billing to buy a app too.
Carrier billing verification - on Sprint. It's not just a T-mobile thing.
Confirmed Google Play Store Verification
phin586 said:
Hey guys I was just reviewing my outgoing text messages and saw an out going message to this following
TO: 1505
Message:
DCB_ASSOCIATION: <appears to be an md5 checksum>
I am on TMOBILE USA
I did a google search and it looks like another n5 user, on tmobile, posted this the other day as well.
I had my buddy, who is on his n4 look and he did not see this.
I am ASSUMING this is calling back to TMOBILE for possibly a phone description? I am not sure though.
Anyone else?
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Click to collapse
So I was able to confirm that this is a text message sent via your Carrier to confirm that you would like to charge an App (or Play Service) to your Phone Bill.
boulderjams said:
So I was able to confirm that this is a text message sent via your Carrier to confirm that you would like to charge an App (or Play Service) to your Phone Bill.
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Same SMS from my Nex5... On TELUS (Canada) network
dcb association -tmobile google play
If your getting a text saying dcb association its because you linked your google account to charge your in app purchess to your tmobile bill you will get a text each time you make a purchase with your tmobile account
DCB_ASSOCIATION:W0NqC07hsOIi9fU2de02IvAM
crs77 said:
Carrier billing verification - on Sprint. It's not just a T-mobile thing.
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I AM NOT COMPUTER SAVVY.... ACTUALLY...IM BARELY LITERATE ON COMPUTER ...ANYTHING.... I SIMPLY KNOW THAT BY THE TIME I FIND SOMETHING I REALLY LIKE, ONLINE... IS TIME FOR ME TO GET OFF MY WEB BROWSER, SO... COPY PASTE, CLIPBOARD, TEXT MESSAGE AND A MINIMUM OF TWO EMAILS AND A SOLID PROMISE TO REVISIT, ASAP!.!.!.!. Is hire I have to treat myself. It's the only way I can get ME away FROM MY PHONE sometimes....
In ANY EVENT.... I COPIED....
DCB_ASSOCIATION:W0NqC07hsOIi9fU2de02IvAM
CAREFUL!!!l...perhaps someone might consider publicizing this information. To protect others?.
I pasted the url in my browser ... I found myself on Verizon. The responses were the same. Is it some sorry of security breach? Does anyone know?
I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Especially because I left this afternoon. It's now late night and everybody is still talking about the same thing.
I got it on a t mobile phone after downloading and installing modded play store after trying a purchase using t mobile billing. The sale failed, but I still got the message. I know lp isn't a great subject to bring up here, but the purpose of this isn't to steal software, it's to identify a problem.
Yes, I also have T-Mobile and saw that on my phone. Seems the msg was sent while I was asleep.
Yes
I recived message like this: DCB_ASSOCIATION:Wu7ef0Cnmkf8dTFzHfxKxAFU. And i wqnt to know what it mean . BTW my operator is O2-SK
DCB_ASSOCIATION:W7VTkwF0349vWFH9pXcrJiCo
I got this out going text on my galaxy s3 note.
Does any one know wat it means or why my phone is auto texting by itself?
Did you set up a payment method on Google Play with your mobile operator?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I just looked this up as I had the same outgoing text. It is a SMS sent to your carrier when you set up and possibly every time you make a carrier billing purchase. Nothing to be scared of.
Posted with the official XDA Developers app for Android.
My phone sent an sms to 9210 that read: DCB_ASSOCIATION: followed by 24 random upper and lower case letters. This was right after I authorized google play to bill my carrier for purchases. It was an automated text to Sprint confirming carrier billing authorization.
Confirming that I got this from Google play store, going to AT&T, but for a 0$ item. Really don't understand why i have to provide it for a 0$ eBook. But...meh... It's not malicious afaik.
I just got this tex an i think its a phone tap or phone tracking ive sent simaler things to people in the parst
It's a message from T-Mobile when they get a request from Google play to add T-Mobile as a billing option. The first part "DCB_ASSOCIATION:" tells you that it was to make an association with your phone account.
Its because you have T-Mobile and you used your T-Mobile account as a payment option. They text your phone to verify...Its just a dcm from T-Mobile...the code received possibly means if it were excepted(regular account).. Or didn't (prepaid..pay as you go)
Worries me a bit that it's not listed here. One person here 2 months ago said the Shield's IMEI was causing it to be recognized as a phone and consequently blocked from getting access to TMO's network.
Has anyone been able to make progress on this front??
They wouldn't set mine up when I got it about a month and a half ago. They supposedly filled out a request form to have it added to the list of supported devices, but I've heard nothing since. I've not had the time to call them back and figure out what's happened with it, maybe this weekend.
chris9000 said:
Worries me a bit that it's not listed here. One person here 2 months ago said the Shield's IMEI was causing it to be recognized as a phone and consequently blocked from getting access to TMO's network.
Has anyone been able to make progress on this front??
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I had mine setup on the free data plan about a week ago. I brought the tablet into a T-Mobile retail location and they set it up no problem, just had to pay the $10 for the SIM card.
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Fasmas said:
I had mine setup on the free data plan about a week ago. I brought the tablet into a T-Mobile retail location and they set it up no problem, just had to pay the $10 for the SIM card.
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Holy smokes! So you got it to work. I have a TMO store along the way home from work, probably gonna hit it up if I do decide to go with the Shield!
something to note on this... I received a $20 bill statement yesterday so I contacted support and they instructed me to Use ConnectMe on the tablet to select the 200mb plan and a $20 bill credit will be applied to the account. So far I have been unable to do this because the ConnectMe page does not render properly, i'm not positive but it may be a lollipop related issue as it has the same render problem on my phone (I dont have a non-lollipop device to try on). I'll be contacting tech support later to see if they can resolve this.
Fasmas said:
something to note on this... I received a $20 bill statement yesterday so I contacted support and they instructed me to Use ConnectMe on the tablet to select the 200mb plan and a $20 bill credit will be applied to the account. So far I have been unable to do this because the ConnectMe page does not render properly, i'm not positive but it may be a lollipop related issue as it has the same render problem on my phone (I dont have a non-lollipop device to try on). I'll be contacting tech support later to see if they can resolve this.
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Please let us know what you find with the ConnectMe issue. I have full bars but can't access the network for the same problem. It keeps wanting me to sign in but the second page doesn't render.
FYI, when plugging the sim card into my phone, it works fine. I'm posting while on that same sim card.
Thanks!
I was able to confirm that the issue with ConnectMe also occurs on KitKat, I called this in to T-Mobile Technical Support and they opened a ticket with the team responsible for ConnectMe. The representative told me most tickets are resolved within 72 hours, I would be surprised if that's the case for this situation though. I'll update when / if i hear back from them.
Fasmas said:
I was able to confirm that the issue with ConnectMe also occurs on KitKat, I called this in to T-Mobile Technical Support and they opened a ticket with the team responsible for ConnectMe. The representative told me most tickets are resolved within 72 hours, I would be surprised if that's the case for this situation though. I'll update when / if i hear back from them.
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I got my ConnectMe issue fixed... the sim card I was using was voice only. They swapped for a data-only sim card and it worked fine... though with not-so-great reception.
Okay so I finally thought to view the source on the askew ConnectMe page and saw this message:
SIM Card Already Active
The SIM Card inserted in this device is already active on a subscription that can not be managed on this device. Please call customer care if you have any questions.
It turns out this is because the retail location had setup a postpaid data plan, and it should be a prepaid data plan. They converted the account to prepaid and I was able to login to ConnectMe, the 200mb plan had already been selected for me. I didn't have to change the SIM card for this.
Hope this helps if anyone is encountering the same issue.