Hi, my girl's Samsung S6 Edge got stolen today, snatched from her hand. Easy victim.
I'm trying to review the aftermath and what I did and maybe get some feedback on this.
Tracking/Remote lock
1. https://findmymobile.samsung.com/ failed - always set a password you remember; I didn't. After 7 failed login attempts account gets locked and you must reset your password, but it seems you can still lock your phone even if password is reset.
Anyway phone lock says will trigger once the device connects to the network. Is this still true if the phone is wiped?
2. https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager failed too
Maybe both failed because thief turned phone off? I did not try calling the number.
Security
3. All passwords were reset immediately, and gmail sessions were deleted.
4. Phone was locked with a PIN though a pattern would have been preferred. I do not remember if I encrypted it, but I know you cannot use pattern after you encrypt. Maybe that's why it had a PIN.
Assuming it was NOT encrypted, can a new ROM be flashed to unlock the phone and access content on storage drive (USB Debug was off)? I cannot remember if this is the case, I only rooted once and it was long time ago.
5. After 30 minutes I called the service provider and blocked the SIM card. She also offered to blacklist the IMEI number so I agreed. She even said that once you blacklist the IMEI, phone gets locked so thief cannot access it anymore - but this is bull****, it just won't be able to register to the network; it does not act as a remote lock lol. And IMEI can be easily overwritten once phone is rooted, so kind of an useless feature.
6. Reported to police but they don't care anyway, it's a petty crime. And chances of recovery are very little.
a) Would it be worthwile for the thief(s) to replace the front/back cover of the S6 Edge to a different color so they can easily sell it online locally afterwards? It seems to me the front cover is attached to the display, and to change that is quite expensive. Thoughts?
b) What happens with stolen phones anyway? Do they just root them and replace IMEI? I saw on a tv show that some will even replace the IMEI sticker on them.
thoughts:
- activate remote controls and TEST them
- install some app that takes snapshot of front camera when PIN is entered incorrectly
- encrypt phone, don't use dumb PIN
- set lock timeout to something short
- back up often
- engrave phone with custom message? (viable if you don't change often)
- have an action plan in case this happens
First two probably useless if thief switches phone off and reflashes it.
I probably need to restate my questions in a shorter format:
1. I had my phone registered with https://findmymobile.samsung.com. Will it still work if the phone is wiped?
2. Can content on the phone be accessed if phone was unencrypted and only had a PIN lock?
3. Is it easy to replace front/back case and bezel to give the phone a new 'look'?
Nobody answering... I'll try one last time.
1. Does flashing a new ROM give access to the stored files on the internal storage (like photos)?
2. Can a new ROM be flashed if the device is encrypted?
it can be flashed but the persob fill be stuck in bootloop and if the booted up ge will be stuck in frp lock by google he cant go past setup
w00tz said:
Nobody answering... I'll try one last time.
1. Does flashing a new ROM give access to the stored files on the internal storage (like photos)?
2. Can a new ROM be flashed if the device is encrypted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the guy who stole your phone flash another Rom and if not wipe the data then your photos etc will remain in your phone.. so if he wipe the data your file won't remain.. but the best option for him it's to wipe the data so this is good for you because he can't see your data.. make sure on your next phone to put pattern or a good code.. maybe you had put I didn't read all your posts.. that's all I know dude
Related
Well, first i don't know if this is the correct arrea but let's go.
everyday hundreds of people lost your phones, or get stolen sometimes you can get it back, sometimes not.
the first problem is that android is a VERY unsecure platform, and in 1 minute i can shutdown the phone, go to the recovery and make a hard reset, boom, you lost your phone, or just enable USB depuration and go fastboot and do whatever i want.
in iOS 8 it's impossible to a stolen iphone be usable again by a robber, you NEED icloud login, it's a real secure operating system
i am thinking ways that i can make my phone secure, and i have 2 ideias, one is just silly but can work.
the silly idea is put some kind of tape on the contacts of the micro usb input, so when they see my second idea, they will be unable to fastboot, just charge, EDIT: i don't know if there are ways to securely disable usb depuration...
the second idea it just put a PIN password protection in the CWM or TWRP recovery, if you fail 4 times, it gets blocked for xx or erase all data, or whatever.
that's it, and for the phone's security, just another PIN password, and cerberus running .
Hello guys!
I work at a smartphone repair shop fixing phones both hardware and software issues. A customer came in yesterday, they just bought a Galaxy Core Prime from T-Mobile (SM-G360T). The same day she was partying, setup a password to unlock the screen and couldn't remember it the next day.
I told her I could remove the password however she would lose pics & docs since we had to do a factory reset.
A few hours later she came back in and showed me this weird loop the phone is going thru. It asks to setup a Wi-Fi and enter her gmail account. Upon entering the gmail account it goes back to same screen to accept terms, enter Wi-Fi, etc.
I concluded this is the copy of Apple's iCloud lock, obviously, albeit it seems filled with bugs. If that is the case then what is the website I can go to remove the lock - same thing as going into iCloud.com and removing "Find my iPhone" - that would remove the lock for android? Does google even allow removing of this feature online?
I have checked email/pass the information is legit, all the email notifications are there.
My other alternative is download a different ROM (since I can't find the T-Mobile one, seems it just came out - SM-G360T) and try restoring via ODIN, however, I'm not sure it will work since I've done a factory reset, thus removing USB Debugging.
Help me out if possible guys, thanks in advance!
deathcorps said:
Hello guys!
I work at a smartphone repair shop fixing phones both hardware and software issues. A customer came in yesterday, they just bought a Galaxy Core Prime from T-Mobile (SM-G360T). The same day she was partying, setup a password to unlock the screen and couldn't remember it the next day.
I told her I could remove the password however she would lose pics & docs since we had to do a factory reset.
A few hours later she came back in and showed me this weird loop the phone is going thru. It asks to setup a Wi-Fi and enter her gmail account. Upon entering the gmail account it goes back to same screen to accept terms, enter Wi-Fi, etc.
I concluded this is the copy of Apple's iCloud lock, obviously, albeit it seems filled with bugs. If that is the case then what is the website I can go to remove the lock - same thing as going into iCloud.com and removing "Find my iPhone" - that would remove the lock for android? Does google even allow removing of this feature online?
I have checked email/pass the information is legit, all the email notifications are there.
My other alternative is download a different ROM (since I can't find the T-Mobile one, seems it just came out - SM-G360T) and try restoring via ODIN, however, I'm not sure it will work since I've done a factory reset, thus removing USB Debugging.
Help me out if possible guys, thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it was her Google password that was reset, you must wait 72 hours before factory resetting after changing the Google password. That's what this sounds like. Try entering the old password or wait 72 hours.
Evolution_Tech said:
If it was her Google password that was reset, you must wait 72 hours before factory resetting after changing the Google password. That's what this sounds like. Try entering the old password or wait 72 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The password was never reset though, she had the same password before even purchasing the phone. Does that 72 hr thing still apply? I'm just confused as to why there's no place to deactivate this like in iCloud's "Find my iPhone". I can access the account, have searched all settings, I even get the notification email when I login from the phone itself, but it just goes back to terms, wi-fi, enter email, repeat. LOL
I'm guessing the T-Mobile variant is brand-new as well (SM-G360T) since I can find many other ROMs but none for the G360T.
Oh well I'll wait til the 72hr period or ROM shows up, thanks for the help :good:
Hi I hv a similar problem I forgot my pin on my galazy core prime so I did a hard reset. Then on log in I couldn't remebber my google password so I changed it via laptop. But it wont let me log in still. I can access google account on laptop etc what is going on please help
I need help I have factory reset my Samsung galaxy core prime and I keep going to put my Google account in but nothing it keeps going back saying please enter a email that was recently linked which I keep doing and nothing it's just keeps going back can u please help
Galaxy Core Prime Looping Hell
The phones keep looping back to the login screen beacuse of a security feature put in place by samsung. We must contact them directly and submit proof of ownership ( proof of activation or copy of receipt) in order for them to disable this security feature. The number to call is 800-726-7864.
you can remove that device from this account.
deathcorps said:
Hello guys!
I work at a smartphone repair shop fixing phones both hardware and software issues. A customer came in yesterday, they just bought a Galaxy Core Prime from T-Mobile (SM-G360T). The same day she was partying, setup a password to unlock the screen and couldn't remember it the next day.
I told her I could remove the password however she would lose pics & docs since we had to do a factory reset.
A few hours later she came back in and showed me this weird loop the phone is going thru. It asks to setup a Wi-Fi and enter her gmail account. Upon entering the gmail account it goes back to same screen to accept terms, enter Wi-Fi, etc.
I concluded this is the copy of Apple's iCloud lock, obviously, albeit it seems filled with bugs. If that is the case then what is the website I can go to remove the lock - same thing as going into iCloud.com and removing "Find my iPhone" - that would remove the lock for android? Does google even allow removing of this feature online?
I have checked email/pass the information is legit, all the email notifications are there.
My other alternative is download a different ROM (since I can't find the T-Mobile one, seems it just came out - SM-G360T) and try restoring via ODIN, however, I'm not sure it will work since I've done a factory reset, thus removing USB Debugging.
Help me out if possible guys, thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to accounts.google.com
Dear people,
my huawei mate 10 pro got stolen yesterday. Unfortunately I forgot my password for my google account, so I had to reset the password on my computer. There I could see that the mobile was last online on that day, when I was out. But since I had to reset my password with my second sim card, I wonder if I'm still able to locate it with my google account, since the passwords don't match anymore?
I had my mobile locked with a not so easy pin. I had installed Android 9 on it. How high are the chances the thief will unlock it, to get into my data? I activated remote erase, but as I said, the phone was not online anymore.
I also wonder about google's FRP. So when I have a google account on that phone, the thief won't be able to erase the data? But also, when he unlocks the pin and wants to erase the data, he won't be able to and likely sell it with the data on it?
Lot of questions. Sorry. Would be nice to hear from you!
helen
anyone?
Hi
Your device data probably got erased by a factory reset. A thief would not waste time trying to unlock the phone if it's locked. However, if the phone had enabled usb debugging before you lost the phone, He could remove the password though a pc and have access to your data. It depends on how far you got with the phone. ( if you tampered with it or not).
If you bought a new phone and you are willing to modify it in order to ensure security, you could install a custom recovery such as TWRP and password lock it to prevent factory reset. (That's what i do at least).
I have a Galaxy Note 8 from Xfinity Mobile that I'm trying to flash T-mobile firmware onto. Here are the issues:
Once upon a time I was using this phone as a home remote with no sim in it on airplane mode and made a random gmail account to set it up. It has been sitting in a drawer dead for 6 months, so without even thinking, the first thing I did was a factory data wipe only to be greeted by the FRP. I have no idea what the email was that I used to set up this phone (i remember making one that was along the lines of '[email protected]' but can't remember it exactly) and apparently did not use my real email or phone number as a backup. So the first issue is, I can't even get into the phone to see the current boot loader, or firmware version on it. Nor can I get far enough to even use a carrier unlock code (which i assume I'll need, but won't be a problem getting from xfinity).
Is there any way possible that given the current situation I can switch this device to tmobile?
never mind, by some divine miracle (and after exhausting every other possible solution i could think of) i remembered the email used
Hello!
I'm facing a very weird issue with my HTC U11 Life.
I've been using it for years with the same pattern and fingerprint, and out of the blue, my pattern appears as wrong while I haven't changed it.
It happened for the first time after restarting my phone (I switch it off pretty often though).
The fingerprint is recognised, but the pattern isn't.
I have no other option on the screen than the emergency call (no "forgot pattern"/enter password/pin/connect to my Google account), and the "find my phone" doesn't show anything ("Can't reach device"), even if it's connected to my home regular wifi.
Not sure it's relevant, but I tried to deactivate the pattern a month ago, as I'm using that phone only at home. But it sounds like it didn't go through.
After browsing forums for hours, I tried a few steps, all unsuccessful.
Using the ADB tools, when I enter the bootloader, I run “./fastboot reboot bootloader”, after which I see the device show up in “./fastboot devices”. Then I try to run “./fastboot boot twrp.img” for the HTC U11 Life, at which point I see a “Device corrupt, cannot be trusted” message. So I seemingly can't progress without flashing my phone, which I don't want to do.
I should probably also mention that I have another phone (Google Pixel 6), and I tried to put my home as a "Trusted place" for my Google account, but it unfortunately didn't change anything.
I saw the hard reset option but I can't afford losing any data on that phone, and I believe there is a solution given the fact that I can provide the right fingerprint and any password, if they're requested.
I hope your fabulous community can be of any help.
Thank you very much!
Take it to a data recovery specialist if you really need the data. They might be able to recover it.
Either a hardware failure or possibly malware, or a Single Event Upset.
Always redundantly backup critical data. Avoid encryption if possible. Use an SD card as the data drive if you have that option.
Hey Blackhawk!
Thanks a lot for this super quick answer, I really appreciate it
I should admit I have a hard time believing a malware attack, given that I was barely using Internet on this phone. So that indeed must be a hardware failure or a Single Event Upset. Go figure!
That's a pity that there is no solution to that, especially that my fingerprint works, which is super frustrating. Anyway, too bad, I guess I'll factory reset as it's my only option.
Have a great weekend!
seems theres no way to fix this
ccaye said:
seems theres no way to fix this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is. A factory reset. The data partition was somehow corrupted. If it reoccures then either the firmware has been corrupted or there's a hardware failure.
Anytime you set a password for device access, you are the one most likely to get locked out. It may be through no fault of your own however had no lock had been set you have a higher probability of retaining access.
NEVER set passwords for backup drives. Always keep backup drives isolated from everything unless in use.