Hi, so my phone got stolen about year and a half ago and now I got a letter from the police saying that they are canceling the case because they can't tell who is the owner of the phone now. They told us that a sim card was activated on the phone, but they cannot say who is the owner of the sim. Also they found the person who stole my phone and he just told them that he found it and then sold it to another guy who the police found too, but he sold it to an unidentified person. I have tried to track my phone using find my android, but looks like the phone was restarted to factory settings immediately, because the last day it was connected to a network with my google account in it was the day it was stolen. I tried calling the phone when I saw that it is not where I put it, but it was turned off. We searched the whole school, but it was nowhere to be found, because it was stolen. That is the whole story. I am sure that there is a way to track it, but the police just don't want to waist their time. They aren't really doing any work, but there is nothing that I can do to convince them to find my phone. So I am turning to you guys. I have the box of my phone and the IMEI number. Is there a way to track it using the IMEI or something else?
ILoveZed said:
Hi, so my phone got stolen about year and a half ago and now I got a letter from the police saying that they are canceling the case because they can't tell who is the owner of the phone now. They told us that a sim card was activated on the phone, but they cannot say who is the owner of the sim. Also they found the person who stole my phone and he just told them that he found it and then sold it to another guy who the police found too, but he sold it to an unidentified person. I have tried to track my phone using find my android, but looks like the phone was restarted to factory settings immediately, because the last day it was connected to a network with my google account in it was the day it was stolen. I tried calling the phone when I saw that it is not where I put it, but it was turned off. We searched the whole school, but it was nowhere to be found, because it was stolen. That is the whole story. I am sure that there is a way to track it, but the police just don't want to waist their time. They aren't really doing any work, but there is nothing that I can do to convince them to find my phone. So I am turning to you guys. I have the box of my phone and the IMEI number. Is there a way to track it using the IMEI or something else?
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Click to collapse
Yes, there is an IMEI tracking app in the playstore that has been known to work.
If they have changed the IMEI, this won't help you.
I'd say, cut your losses and move on, take it as a lesson learned and be more careful with your next device.
I keep my device with me at all times, I've never had a device stolen from me and I've never lost my devices. I've owned dozens.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
Yes, there is an IMEI tracking app in the playstore that has been known to work.
If they have changed the IMEI, this won't help you.
I'd say, cut your losses and move on, take it as a lesson learned and be more careful with your next device.
I keep my device with me at all times, I've never had a device stolen from me and I've never lost my devices. I've owned dozens.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the name of the app?
ILoveZed said:
What is the name of the app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEI tracker
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Related
The IMEI number on my Thunderbolt does not match the one Verizon has in there system. They cannot figure out how to correct this. I even call HTC to trace the erroneous IMEi number and it doesn't come up as anything in their system. I bought phone day 1 it came out and am not rooted. What could cause this and does anyone know how to fix it. Verizon has no clue.
You have been using it since day 1? Why all of a sudden is there an issue then?
The sim works but with the wrong IMEI I won't get any updates to phone. I recently noticed that on the My Verizon section on the the verizon website, picture of my phone is blank. That's what led me to call verizon.
ajmillinger said:
The sim works but with the wrong IMEI I won't get any updates to phone. I recently noticed that on the My Verizon section on the the verizon website, picture of my phone is blank. That's what led me to call verizon.
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Click to collapse
If you purchased it from VzW you should demand a new phone. Otherwise you don't get updates? Screw that man! They should rectify this issue.
Does the number on the box match the device? Have them scan the box.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
the number on box and phone are same. Only verizon has a different one
Then Verizon screwed up. Go get a new one.
You will still recieve ota updates... Id only raise a fuss if you had insurance on tour tbolt
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
I was told I wouldn't get updates because it is sent out by IMEI number which Verizon has wrong for me
ajmillinger said:
I was told I wouldn't get updates because it is sent out by IMEI number which Verizon has wrong for me
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Click to collapse
If the phone and box have same IMEI # you need to tell VzW you demand they change it in their system to match yours or give you a totally new phone. You paid them for it and your service!
I am in the process of having a new phone sent to me. I wish they could figure out how to simply change the number in system but they can't seem to do it. It's been a week now. You would think it is simple to do but no one there can figure it out.
Make sure it's new and not a 'like new' replacement. Not that theres anything wrong with a refurb but it would be principle to me to obtain a new replacement for their brain fart.
Something must be really messed up as I just activated a ebay bought thunderbolt last night with a 4g sim card I had shipped to my house (both arrived same day). I called in and spoke to a woman who just took my sim card number, and told me the meid and all other info comes over automatically to verizon...and sure enough about ten minutes later when I logged in online to see it was all there...so somehow your phone is not reporting the right imei number or something has been manually over-ridden.
Verizon made good and sent be new phone. Works like a charm
Dear forum,
let me just go straight to the point:
My Galaxy Nexus was stolen at work last friday. I tried to use some tracking software like Plan B but without succes, the SIM card had been changed allready.
Now here comes the part that gave me some hope.
When I went to My (Gmail) Account at the Android Market today (using my desktop), I noticed 2 things:
- First thing is that the record from the column "Carrier" has been changed from "Vodafone" to "KPN', so I think I can assume here that someone put another SIM card in it.
- Also at the column "Last Used" I see "February 13, 2012", which is yesterday (monday).
I was really wondering if there is a workaround or something to get more information (like the phone number of that SIM card?) than just the carrier of that SIM card and when it was last used?
Thanks in advance~
Anthony Elbers
During the night push a remote lock app to the device, if they haven't changed the google user login by then. Then just lock the device. If the app shows it set a screen message offering reward for return. Better still make it scream while at work tomorrow.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
ForgetfulGuru said:
During the night push a remote lock app to the device, if they haven't changed the google user login by then. Then just lock the device. If the app shows it set a screen message offering reward for return. Better still make it scream while at work tomorrow.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
The thing is, I only work at fridays and saturdays. I also think that the person is smart enought to not bring the phone to work when I'm around.
I thought maybe if I could get some more information with a workaround, I could catch the thief myself instead of waiting for him/ her to give it back (which probably isn't going to happen).
I hope you informed your managers.
You could have a look through the available apps in the market see if there is anything you can use to lock the phone remotely and or push some really nasty messages to it. If you ain't using why should they get the use of it think there may be some way of remotely wiping the phone aswell. Then at least it would be of no use to the thief anyway. Sorry I can't be of more help. I allways make sure I activate any built in phone finder and instal lookout, so never really had to deal with the issue
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
Prey worked for me before.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Android_Monsters said:
Prey worked for me before.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Note that the phone is stolen and SIM card has been changed allready. As far as I know you need to configure Prey on the phone itself, so not really remote like Plan B.
I'm still curious if there is a workaround to get more information about the SIM card than just the "Carrier" and "Last Used"?
Like.. are those the only two things that get stored or is there more information about the SIM card that I could get without having the phone itself?
If you have the IMEI you can contact your network and ask they put a block on the phone, a lot of the time it also blocks it off other networks as well.
i think the info about the sim like its number is by far more important than map location because if you got the thief's number then you can report that number to the police and mobile network .
MrLadoodle said:
If you have the IMEI you can contact your network and ask they put a block on the phone, a lot of the time it also blocks it off other networks as well.
the_metal said:
i think the info about the sim like its number is by far more important than map location because if you got the thief's number then you can report that number to the police and mobile network .
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This is pretty much what I'm aiming for since I allready have contacted the police and gave them the IMEI of the phone. They said like something like "We'll see what we can do", but I thought there would be some workaround (yeah I'm using this word alot) to get more information of that SIM card.
I think I can assume that the column "Carrier" which is shown on the screen, is read of the SIM card?
Question is, if anything else is shown somewhere in my Gmail (since it's linked to my Galaxy Nexus) or at the Android Market or something that might be of help?
do you know that mobile carriers can identify everything to a handset with just an IMEI
i don't know what is the procedures in your country but i think you should call that carrier and ask for directions especially if you have a proof of purchase or something similar
i wish you could luck friend
the_metal said:
do you know that mobile carriers can identify everything to a handset with just an IMEI
i don't know what is the procedures in your country but i think you should call that carrier and ask for directions especially if you have a proof of purchase or something similar
i wish you could luck friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question is, did you inform your carrier? Here, when that happened to my friend who wasn't too tech saavy, I called his carrier, had the phone blocked right away, and told them what network it was on via the same information that you received via email. The actually contact the manufacturer and the police and were able to track it down on their network, find the phone and press charges. That IMEI number is huge as it tells the carrier what exact tower the phone is connected to. In densely populated areas, that's 1-2km max. Cross reference the people at work that live in that area and boom. Done like dinner.
Did you try Samsung Dive website??
www.samsungdive.com
the_metal said:
do you know that mobile carriers can identify everything to a handset with just an IMEI
i don't know what is the procedures in your country but i think you should call that carrier and ask for directions especially if you have a proof of purchase or something similar
i wish you could luck friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
onlymojo said:
My question is, did you inform your carrier? Here, when that happened to my friend who wasn't too tech saavy, I called his carrier, had the phone blocked right away, and told them what network it was on via the same information that you received via email. The actually contact the manufacturer and the police and were able to track it down on their network, find the phone and press charges. That IMEI number is huge as it tells the carrier what exact tower the phone is connected to. In densely populated areas, that's 1-2km max. Cross reference the people at work that live in that area and boom. Done like dinner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know that, but I called both the police and my carrier and gave them my IMEI and asked if they could do such thing.. and both said that they can't do such a thing, ONLY if the phone has the original SIM card... I think they just don't want to help me at all.
amritpal2489 said:
Did you try Samsung Dive website??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that one. But I need to set it up on my phone first. Keep in mind that the phone is allready stolen and the SIM card has been changed.
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Need some advice. My VZ note 3 was stolen. I was fortunate enough that they thief turned it on I guess to show the shady phone shop that it works. My eset software was able to get pictures GPS location etc. I have some friends on the local PD and they were able to make an arrest and get my phone back but this took about a week. Just got my phone back to day and was told that they ZAPPED it and probably would no longer work with VZ. So before I monkey around with VZ I did see the phones IMEI is not what matches the stickers and paperwork.
So my question is 2 parts. Since the phone was obviously reflashed with a different IMEI if this would work on VZ is there any issue with spyware etc.
2. I called VZ and Samsung and they are dumb as a box of rocks and said changing the IMEI was impossible and their was no way to change it back. Can it be flashed back. Thanks
Is it against the rule to discuss changing imei in xda? Sad to ear and really hope you find a way.
Bought a phone that the imei was changed, when I tried to install cerberus, cerberus told me the phone was lock to another account. So that might be an issue, Google the imei, you might not like what result it gets you.
Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Hi guys,
I'm new to XDA and wanted to thank everyone for all the great posts.
I have purchased a Mate 9 MHA-AL00 recently. It has been a great phone to play around with and figure out all the great features it has.
I have been facing some trouble with regards to connecting it to my carrier. I have tried inserting my sim card and I only get the "emergency call only" prompt.
I have visited my carrier story to ensure that network settings are correct and they have verified that this is not the issue. I have visited a cell phone repair shop and they were not able to assist either.
The weird part of this is that the phone picks up my phone number and carrier information but does not connect. I have tried 3 other carrier sims and haven't had any luck either.
I did however get a little break the other day. I placed two different carrier sims in my phone at the same time. Both carriers worked! No data, just phone calls were working. After about 5 minutes, one carrier dropped. I removed the sim for the dropped carrier and the second carrier dropped as well. Could not get them to reconnect.
On a couple of occasions, a 3G sim card has worked as the only sim. It works for 5 minutes and then drops.
I've tried to research and look around to see if anyone has any similar issues and have not had any luck. I'm quite new to android phones and by no means a cell phone expert.
The phone was purchased in Malaysia and I do not have the option of returning or exchanging.
Thanks guys. I look forward to your expertise.
Abs
That's definitely not normal. Try reflashing.
Was this a brand new unit? If not you might have gotten yourself a stolen unit with a barred IMEI.
Sent from my MHA-L29 using XDA Labs
Governa said:
That's definitely not normal. Try reflashing.
Was this a brand new unit? If not you might have gotten yourself a stolen unit with a barred IMEI.
Sent from my MHA-L29 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was not in the box. Anyway around a barred imei?
Thanks
Yes try re flashing ur phone.
Download this file it is Al00 firmware,exctract the rar and copy the exctracted folder to an sd card,turn off ur phone and press 3 buttons,power volume up and down till the phone start updating.
This will wipe everything so make sure to backup first.
It is an old firmware but you can update to latest firmware in system update.
Good luck
https://mega.nz/#!88RmjJjA!gGmuc0gL-_sPHOQ0VAXZgTJ3lXmlRRmBqXIYNEyw9XY
Abs86 said:
Was not in the box. Anyway around a barred imei?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow gm007's instructions and try reflashing it. If that doesn't sort it I'm afraid you're stuck. Get in touch with the seller if that's an option, you might need to ship it back to the country of origin to have it looked at by Huawei. Then again if you're in possession of stolen goods (you implied that's a possibility) you can forget that.
Bypassing IMEI locks is illegal and discussing it is against XDA's TOS.
Governa said:
Follow gm007's instructions and try reflashing it. If that doesn't sort it I'm afraid you're stuck. Get in touch with the seller if that's an option, you might need to ship it back to the country of origin to have it looked at by Huawei. Then again if you're in possession of stolen goods (you implied that's a possibility) you can forget that.
Bypassing IMEI locks is illegal and discussing it is against XDA's TOS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey guys,
I tried the reflash but im getting update fail/file does not exist. Is there another way to reflash, other file?
Im not too sure about the barred imei, i will try to contact the seller. Im just trying to use this phone!
Thanks for the assistance.