GPS Issue resembled Phone Hack but AT&T says "NOPE"???

[jimd1050]

So, my wife and I were sitting in our local coffee shop parking lot this afternoon (like we do most every afternoon) having our Iced Coffee and Raspberry Stick. I had read something on one of the truck camping pages that I wanted to try that involved an item I needed at Home Depot, so I brought up my Edge Browser on my phone to search for it. I found the item but it kept telling me (by the GPS location) that my Store was Bergren, NJ. No matter what I did, it would come back to that city. I tried 3 different Browsers, I tried Lowe's and another non-home improvement store and I was still in NJ!!! I went to my Map programs, all three showed me sitting at the coffee shop here in MA. I opened two different Gasoline Price Apps that I use and they both worked fine and located based on where I was actually sitting!!! All I could think of was that I had been hacked, duplicated and the duped phone was in NJ and somehow showing up on the internet. I called AT&T and could not log in, my passcode had been changed... my Secret Question had been changed - HACK! I asked for Identity Fraud and then it began, I was on hold for 112 minutes when a lady finally picked and said Good evening (Yes, it was afternoon when I called) can I help you. I gave her my cell phone number and told her my problem and she promptly told me she was from the Landline Division and couldn't help me but would transfer me to one of her colleagues from the wireless division! Before I could scream "Noooooo" there was a click and I was back on hold! I got another recording, only this time it said "Your wait time is approximately two minutes" which was followed about 15 seconds later by a click and a "Hello this is Jerome, how can I help you. From there on out, we figured out that "I" had forgotten my original passcode so that wasn't a problem but I still swear that the Secret Question was one I NEVER would have selected, so the jury is still out on that. He put me on hold and ran some IP address testing and said there were no suspect activities under my account so I should not worry. He had me change both my passcode and secret question to be safe - still NO IDEA what the bogus GPS/Browser thing is/was??? Any ideas?

Sorry for the long winded read!!!

 

[B. Diddy]

You're certain this was on mobile data alone, and you weren't connected to wi-fi? If you were connected to wi-fi, then the public network you were connected to may have been based on a server in NJ. I recall similar things happening when I connected to the wi-fi at a local Noodle Company, which would change my system clock to Central Time and tell me I was in Kansas (I'm in California).

 

[Laura Knotek]

Do you use a VPN when you connect to public WiFi? I've purposely used a VPN when I use public WiFi and even set mine to use a server in a different country.

 

[Mooncatt]

You're certain this was on mobile data alone, and you weren't connected to wi-fi? If you were connected to wi-fi, then the public network you were connected to may have been based on a server in NJ. I recall similar things happening when I connected to the wi-fi at a local Noodle Company, which would change my system clock to Central Time and tell me I was in Kansas (I'm in California).

It could still be AT&T assigning the odd IP address on mobile data. Cellular providers don't seem to assign their IP addresses the same as local ISP's. I'm on Verizon and live in northeast Wisconsin, but often times these IP based location detections on websites put me in Chicago. I don't run any VPN's or anything that would spoof my address. Think of it like how area codes use to be exclusively location based, but the advent of mobile phones now allow you to keep any area code regardless of where you live (my area code is based in Maine). IP addresses are sort of like that to an extent.

 

[jimd1050]

You're certain this was on mobile data alone, and you weren't connected to wi-fi? If you were connected to wi-fi, then the public network you were connected to may have been based on a server in NJ. I recall similar things happening when I connected to the wi-fi at a local Noodle Company, which would change my system clock to Central Time and tell me I was in Kansas (I'm in California).

I'll look tomorrow Diddy - I don't think I was on WiFi - I have mine set to Auto Connect to the Coffee shops WiFi but we were so far out front, I doubt I would have grabbed them and I'm pretty sure it was off anyway. I'll try it again tomorrow when we're there and make sure I'm on mobile data!

 

[jimd1050]

You're certain this was on mobile data alone, and you weren't connected to wi-fi? If you were connected to wi-fi, then the public network you were connected to may have been based on a server in NJ. I recall similar things happening when I connected to the wi-fi at a local Noodle Company, which would change my system clock to Central Time and tell me I was in Kansas (I'm in California).

Wow... now I'm at home, with my 2nd fresh cup of hot coffee - I've "Cleared Cache" on the phone in Recovery first, "Cleared Cache" on all three Browser Apps individually, made sure I was not on WiFi and tried again at home. Lowe's, Home Depot, Bass Pro Shop, Walmart all show out of State (NY/NJ)... yet other National Chains like Best Buy, Duluth Trading, Grainger Industrial Supply, Harbor Freight Tools and Target (as well as ALL my Food web sites) all came up here in southeastern MA near my house like they should - same Browser??? What the hail?

 

[Mooncatt]

Wow... now I'm at home, with my 2nd fresh cup of hot coffee - I've "Cleared Cache" on the phone in Recovery first, "Cleared Cache" on all three Browser Apps individually, made sure I was not on WiFi and tried again at home. Lowe's, Home Depot, Bass Pro Shop, Walmart all show out of State (NY/NJ)... yet other National Chains like Best Buy, Duluth Trading, Grainger Industrial Supply, Harbor Freight Tools and Target (as well as ALL my Food web sites) all came up here in southeastern MA near my house like they should - same Browser??? What the hail?

Just ignore it. IP addresses are assigned automatically and not much you can do about it.

 

[jimd1050]

Just ignore it. IP addresses are assigned automatically and not much you can do about it.

Just a PITA when it was never there and my local stores used to come up automatically and now I have to plug in my damned zip code to get it when my damned phone has a GPS that should be doing that!!!

 

[Mooncatt]

Just a PITA when it was never there and my local stores used to come up automatically and now I have to plug in my damned zip code to get it when my damned phone has a GPS that should be doing that!!!
View attachment 322821

I'm not sure if websites can even access your GPS data. I personally don't like being tracked as much as possible, so I always blocked that any time a site asks me.

 

[B. Diddy]

You cleared the cache for the browsers, but did you also try clearing all browser data (cookies, history, site data, etc.) from within the browser settings "From the beginning of time"?

 

[jimd1050]

You cleared the cache for the browsers, but did you also try clearing all browser data (cookies, history, site data, etc.) from within the browser settings "From the beginning of time"?

Yes, I did that as well Diddy!!!

 

[B. Diddy]

I agree, this is puzzling and frustrating. What happens if you visit these sites in Incognito Mode?

 

[jimd1050]

I agree, this is puzzling and frustrating. What happens if you visit these sites in Incognito Mode?

Well, that's a new one on me - I have never seen or heard of Incognito Mode Diddy? Been at this quite a while too so not sure where I missed it...

 

[B. Diddy]

Well, that's a new one on me - I have never seen or heard of Incognito Mode Diddy? Been at this quite a while too so not sure where I missed it...

In Chrome -- https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464?co=GENIE.Platform=Android&hl=en

 

[jimd1050]

In Chrome -- https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464?co=GENIE.Platform=Android&hl=en

Easy answer... probably because I never use Chrome! Edge and Firefox user... I'll try it tomorrow... thanks!

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok, with Edge it's called InPrivate: https://www.howtogeek.com/656964/how-to-install-and-use-microsoft-edge-on-android/

With Firefox, it's Private Browsing: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-firefox-android

 

[jimd1050]

Re: GPS Issue resembled Phone Hack but AT&T says "NOPE"???

I just looked and had Chrome on my Note all along so I tried it. Worked like a charm... all three sites brought me back home?

EDIT: Just tried both Edge and Firefox Private Modes and they worked as well Diddy... now I guess the question is "Why?"

Ok, with Edge it's called InPrivate: https://www.howtogeek.com/656964/how-to-install-and-use-microsoft-edge-on-android/

With Firefox, it's Private Browsing: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-firefox-android

 

[B. Diddy]

I wonder if there are still some cookies lurking around that haven't been cleared. When you cleared the browsing history and cookies, did you do it on your desktop browsers as well? Maybe they're syncing back.

 

[jimd1050]

I wonder if there are still some cookies lurking around that haven't been cleared. When you cleared the browsing history and cookies, did you do it on your desktop browsers as well? Maybe they're syncing back.

Nope, I'll try that right now... I'm on it now!