ZTE BLADE V2 ~ chronic catchas! TOS Violations ~ suspicious verifications

[ABarr]

ZTE BLADE V2 ~ 4 days old~ chronic captchas! TOS Violations ~ suspicious verifications ~ takes a ridiculous amount of attempts to verify new accounts ~ Even when I created this account, a suspicious looking box in gmail said ?"you've been verified"! I thot.. wheres the tab? or code? When I tapped phones menu to leave gmail open & get back to AC Forum.. that page flashed & the email behind that wasn't the same! I was already tapping to open AC Forum & your page said in a box at the bottom "Oops! sorry something went wrong"? Then another box the same size above that one said "I've been verified" ?? I immediately went back to my email to take a screenshot, but THAT TIME it was a real email with the verifications box!
*SIDE NOTE* I was informed 2 months ago, the man nextdoor was arrested for hacking & stalking & sat 12 years for additional crimes & is never "legally" supposed to own a computer again. I have been having excessively hacked Google Accounts & on my 7th phone since moving here 10mo ago.
I just did a reset 4 hours ago. PlayStore says I have a custom Version of Android & offers for me to "switch to United States"
I haven't had a working phone in 5 weeks & gave my 30 day notice to move May 15th. You could say I'm screwed without the driver.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

When you say the Blade v2, are you talking about the device that was released back in 1734?

 

[mustang7757]

ZTE BLADE V2 ~ 4 days old~ chronic captchas! TOS Violations ~ suspicious verifications ~ takes a ridiculous amount of attempts to verify new accounts ~ Even when I created this account, a suspicious looking box in gmail said ?"you've been verified"! I thot.. wheres the tab? or code? When I tapped phones menu to leave gmail open & get back to AC Forum.. that page flashed & the email behind that wasn't the same! I was already tapping to open AC Forum & your page said in a box at the bottom "Oops! sorry something went wrong"? Then another box the same size above that one said "I've been verified" ?? I immediately went back to my email to take a screenshot, but THAT TIME it was a real email with the verifications box!
*SIDE NOTE* I was informed 2 months ago, the man nextdoor was arrested for hacking & stalking & sat 12 years for additional crimes & is never "legally" supposed to own a computer again. I have been having excessively hacked Google Accounts & on my 7th phone since moving here 10mo ago.
I just did a reset 4 hours ago. PlayStore says I have a custom Version of Android & offers for me to "switch to United States"
I haven't had a working phone in 5 weeks & gave my 30 day notice to move May 15th. You could say I'm screwed without the driver.

Welcome to AC!

Change passwords/use 2nd authentication/ stay away from shady sites , if all been done probably need to take to Repair shop have them see what your seeing see if its normal or need further authority steps like police , FBI .

 

[ABarr]

When you say the Blade v2, are you talking about the device that was released back in 1734?

Idk if your trying to be FUNNY?? Bcuz everyone knows this is a 1982 model!!
Yes! this or a flip phone were the only choice out in the boonies. & I have just went thru 7 phone's b4 finding a creep nextdoor.

 

[ABarr]

Welcome to AC!

Change passwords/use 2nd authentication/ stay away from shady sites , if all been done probably need to take to Repair shop have them see what your seeing see if its normal or need further authority steps like police , FBI .

Thanks for your advice. So, yes, you've said correctly, all of those have been tried.. & in fact when I've used additional back-ups whether an email, 2-factor, phone etc... then those were also compromised and/or used to get into other accounts & devices connected thru them.

So, a couple of questions, regarding this that might help in the future.

If I use another phone's hotspot which has a VPN running, & THIS phone has these issues, can that phone be compromised thru its hotspot using this phone? & is there any way to protect that "hotspot" phone either on that phone directly and/or a way to PREVENT this phone from sending anything TO IT?

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Idk if your trying to be FUNNY?? Bcuz everyone knows this is a 1982 model!!
Yes! this or a flip phone were the only choice out in the boonies. & I have just went thru 7 phone's b4 finding a creep nextdoor.

I wasn't *trying*... But I did have a point beyond being genuinely hilarious.

A phone that old is insecure by nature. You can't lock it down or make it secure. The security patches just aren't available, even with a custom ROM.

As to your question about hotspots and VPNs, that would only do anything if you're acounts aren't already compromised. You will have to lock them down and probably factory reset the device. Any device that is on the same network as a compromised device is also potentially at risk, including a host device acting as a WiFi hotspot.

The problem is, with how old the phone is it's a bad actors wet dream. It shouldn't really be taken online at all, and certainly shouldn't be used for anything that should be secure or confidential.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks for your advice. So, yes, you've said correctly, all of those have been tried.. & in fact when I've used additional back-ups whether an email, 2-factor, phone etc... then those were also compromised and/or used to get into other accounts & devices connected thru them.

So, a couple of questions, regarding this that might help in the future.

If I use another phone's hotspot which has a VPN running, & THIS phone has these issues, can that phone be compromised thru its hotspot using this phone? & is there any way to protect that "hotspot" phone either on that phone directly and/or a way to PREVENT this phone from sending anything TO IT?

Anything can get compromised being that old of a device , i wouldn't use it for anything data im not sure if its possible on that flip device?

 

[joeldf]

Sounds like the OP meant that the options were this ZTE device OR a flip phone.

I looked up the specs of the Blade V2, and got some conflicting info, but it does have 4G LTE capability. Only the bands are limited to just 4 that were primarily used in the UK at the time.

Maybe there were a few variants, but one site said the CPU was MediaTek and another said it was a Snapdragon 410.

Some sites say it ran Android Kit-Kat 4.4, but others say it It also ran Lollipop 5.1. but I can't find if it was ever updated beyond that.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Sounds like the OP meant that the options were this ZTE device OR a flip phone.

I looked up the specs of the Blade V2, and got some conflicting info, but it does have 4G LTE capability. Only the bands are limited to just 4 that were primarily used in the UK at the time.

Maybe there were a few variants, but one site said the CPU was MediaTek and another said it was a Snapdragon 410.

Some sites say it ran Android Kit-Kat 4.4, but others say it It also ran Lollipop 5.1. but I can't find if it was ever updated beyond that.

I think it ran 3.2 out of the box. I member the device cause I had a blade and briefly considered the V2, but waited and got a nexus 4. That was 11 years ago haha.

But whether it ended it's life on 4.4 or 5.1 is academic. either are unsafe in 2023.

 

[joeldf]

But whether it ended it's life on 4.4 or 5.1 is academic. either are unsafe in 2023.

That's true.

 

[ABarr]

Sending these just for chits & giggles.
So my bright idea to block this creep from getting into anymore devices by using a VPN & HOTSPOT were shut down. How discouraging. & the fact I started out with an almost $500 phone & week after week kept being forced into a cheaper & cheaper device till 7 phone's later I'm using a $20 ZTE! SMH. Can you advise me THIS.. when I buy my next phone, I can probably afford $170. What would be the first thing you do with an ANDROID? to ensure it's as safe as it can be when you have someone targeting you? & would using a hotspot with both on a VPN be safer than not on a different phone?