Stolen phone

[ukmashy]

Hi all. could anyone advise me as to the avilability of a password that would prevent someone from using the phone if sadly it is lost or worse, stolen? For example.I put in a sim unlock password + an phone unlock password and did a hard reset and bingo....I had access to the the phone. Not very good in my opinion when you think of the cost of the phone? Anything else possible?. All suggestions/info would greatly appreciated. Thank you. Regards to all. Chow.

 

[keyzlife]

Re: stolen phone

Android device manager you can lock, locate and put a message on the phones screen. You can also input a callback number that the person with the phone will have access to. I also use lookout mobile security and it sends me the gps location and takes a picture if the wrong password is entered or the phone is turned off.

 

[TheMacs]

Re: stolen phone

Cerberus and Android Lost are also great apps for this. Any mentioned are good, just make sure get at least one.

 

[mrsmumbles]

Re: stolen phone

Also any good antivirus app will take a picture of the thief and so on.

 

[IAmSixNine]

Re: stolen phone

All android devics are like that. They can be hard reset.
The problem we face is that there are no current server based limitations like how Apple has set their new locking system up. Until the Kill Switch is worked out and enabled or they start to implement server based SN / IMEI checks criminals can easily wipe a phone.
Hopefully in the future these will be addressed.

 

[mavrrick]

Re: stolen phone

If it is stolen call the phone company and report it stolen. I believe they can blacklist the imei so the phone is basically a brick. That is your best option to limit it's use if stolen.

I believe google can disable nexus devices like you want but there is no standard yet for all the android OEMs

Posted via Android Central App

 

[ukmashy]

Re: stolen phone

I have found a solution with which I am happy with. How? Use the reactivation program on the phone... Do a hard reset and you have to input your email address and password for it to reactivate. Not sure if that can be by-passed by a geek with the knowledge.
Thank you for the very quick responses.

 

[ukmashy]

Re: stolen phone

You have to know the imei number for the phone company to lock it....Not many people know how to access it tho. For Samsung and Nokia it is *#06#

 

[dpham00]

Re: stolen phone

You have to know the imei number for the phone company to lock it....Not many people know how to access it tho. For Samsung and Nokia it is *#06#

If it is active on the line then the carrier can block it without you providing the imei

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[trucksmoveamerica#AC]

Re: stolen phone

If it is active on the line then the carrier can block it without you providing the imei

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

But they can only block it for their company, so the phone could be activated on another company, if I understand it right. The carriers need to start a joint list so if one carrier puts it on lost/stolen then all carriers will block that phone.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[jpr]

Re: stolen phone

But they can only block it for their company, so the phone could be activated on another company, if I understand it right. The carriers need to start a joint list so if one carrier puts it on lost/stolen then all carriers will block that phone.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

They already share the blocked list.

 

[dpham00]

Re: stolen phone

They already share the blocked list.

Correct, it started in 2012.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[IAmSixNine]

Re: stolen phone

To add to that, If its a CDMA device, example Sprint, You cant go to Verizon and activate it, neither Sprint or Verizon will accept the others CDMA device on their network. They were doing that even before a shared block list.
The shared blacklisted list really helps the GSM carriers, TMO and AT&T. As we go into the future with more LTE and less GSM / CDMA it will be more uniform. But im sure in a year or two we might have server side blacklist as well like what Apple uses.

 

[boudicca00]

Re: stolen phone

Consider using Prey: https://preyproject.com/