Find stolen phone by IMEI number - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello all,
Sadly, my SGS 2 was stolen at a railway station recently. I had removed the sim from the phone since the battery was low to put it in another phone. So it's lost now without the sim in it.
Is there any way at to track the phone purely by it's IMEI number (which is all I have)??
I'm totally wrecked that it's gone... I didn't have any tracking software loaded on the phone like AndroidLost /Cerebrus or anything of that sort. I did have Avast I think but I'm not sure if that has a tracking feature.I doubt if I can also use that remote installation technique (which one actually really works?) considering there is no sim on it with no net connection on it.
Help from the local police station in filing a lost phone case so that the IMEI can be reported to the network provider has been useless as they both seem to have better things to do and just keep me running in circles.
Is there anything at all left that I can do on my own now? I've seen a lot of sites where they say you can report your IMEI lost phone number and they say they will alert you if it ever comes up. But there seems to be a lot of them out there. Which one would be the most reliable to do this?
Has anyone else done this before with any success. Looking for the best possible information and hopefully some solution to get back my phone. It had so much of my stuff on it and I spent months customizing it. Really regretting now that I didn't take the time to load a tracking software on it.
Thanks for any help or insight anyone can provide.

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Firstly, my sympathies. I can imagine how bad it must feel to lose your phone. Have you tried 'Plan B' by Lookout? It'll work if at all the phone is ever connected to a data plan/ wireless network.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

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if cerberus or any other aplication of tracking is dificult...
But good.luck friend.
Enviado desde mi GT-I9100 usando Tapatalk 2

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Thanks Haxtreme, I've installed Plan B via Google Play online and I picked my SGS2 device and it said that Plan B will be remotely installed to my phone.
But is this relying on the sim to deploy the software to the phone? I don't remember punching in my IMEI number for my device on the Google Play store at any point. Does it already have the IMEI number? If not, how do I update that on the Play Store so it knows where to remotely install the software to?
Thanks again for your prompt reply!
HAXTREME said:
Firstly, my sympathies. I can imagine how bad it must feel to lose your phone. Have you tried 'Plan B' by Lookout? It'll work if at all the phone is ever connected to a data plan/ wireless network.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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No it uses your Google account not the sim. as long as its got a connection to the internet and is linked to your account, it'll get installed irrespective of whether the sim has been changed or removed. The IMEI and google account are linked the very first time you boot up a phone and it asks you to enter your mail id or create a new one.
The fact that it shows up in your list of devices when you log on to Google play via your desktop itself shows that its still linked and your account hasn't been deleted from the phone.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

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what if the thief wiped the phone and/or flash another rom?
would plan b still work?
I am interested because ive got my phone stolen too

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hhwong said:
what if the thief wiped the phone and/or flash another rom?
would plan b still work?
I am interested because ive got my phone stolen too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I think prevention is better than cure...
Can anyone guide me to app or tracking system? So that in case my mobile is stolen I can get back
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

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xDa_nightfury said:
Now I think prevention is better than cure...
Can anyone guide me to app or tracking system? So that in case my mobile is stolen I can get back
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) u can use 'Avast' antivirus which has 'Anti theft' functionality.
2) u can try some third party apps like 'Cerebrus' from stores and see

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Well I am sorry for the loss of your phone but listen buddy... All these software stuff is not really gonna help because i don't believe they can give you any pin point location of the thief. What i did successfully, when my Galaxy Note was lost previous month. I had the original IMEI number and i had contacts in Law Enforcing Agencies of my country. I requested one of my friend there and he asked my IMEI number.Few days later, he informed me that my number is being used by someone and his calls are being tracked. Yet another few days later, he asked me to come by and collect my phone. When i visited his office, i found the thief locked and my cell recovered. The guy told me that while listening to his calls, the thief eventually revealed his location, while giving someone his address for collection of something. So Police caught him at the address. I dont know about your country, but if you have someone in these kinds offices, they can surely help. Thanx

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One thing I dont understand is how a cheap GPS system gives mostly an exact global position,but these phones with all them tracking software dont.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

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theres not alot you can do unless you have a connection in mobile providers so they can track your imei number, if they found a s2 with no sim they would leave it off and use odin or cwm so tracking would be harder

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theunderling said:
One thing I dont understand is how a cheap GPS system gives mostly an exact global position,but these phones with all them tracking software dont.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think the issue is that the GPS part of the mobile can't locate the position better or worse than a cheap gps system. For tracking a lost phone a well working gps is not enough. You also need a working internet connection and a clear view of the sky in order to get a fix. Like any gps system. It is the combination of this factors that determines the quality of a good tracking configuration.

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my thympthies .... i hope u find it

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Cenobite_ said:
I don't think the issue is that the GPS part of the mobile can't locate the position better or worse than a cheap gps system. For tracking a lost phone a well working gps is not enough. You also need a working internet connection and a clear view of the sky in order to get a fix. Like any gps system. It is the combination of this factors that determines the quality of a good tracking configuration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Via apps like Cerberus and others you can set your phone to automatically send thief's mobile number via email or sms after they insert new sim. You can remotely get your phone to take pictures and videos (front and back cams), sound recordings. You also create pop up messages on screen (and take pic when they open it), remotely wipe or lock device, install the app as system app and also hide it from app tray.
So a GPS location is just a bonus really.

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alvinasnow said:
Well I am sorry for the loss of your phone but listen buddy... All these software stuff is not really gonna help because i don't believe they can give you any pin point location of the thief. What i did successfully, when my Galaxy Note was lost previous month. I had the original IMEI number and i had contacts in Law Enforcing Agencies of my country. I requested one of my friend there and he asked my IMEI number.Few days later, he informed me that my number is being used by someone and his calls are being tracked. Yet another few days later, he asked me to come by and collect my phone. When i visited his office, i found the thief locked and my cell recovered. The guy told me that while listening to his calls, the thief eventually revealed his location, while giving someone his address for collection of something. So Police caught him at the address. I dont know about your country, but if you have someone in these kinds offices, they can surely help. Thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thats it, from now on the first thing I do after unboxing my new phone is to write that god damn IMEI number down right away.....
I guess my phone is just gone now
Oh well......maybe its time to buy galaxy note 2!

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hhwong said:
Well thats it, from now on the first thing I do after unboxing my new phone is to write that god damn IMEI number down right away.....
I guess my phone is just gone now
Oh well......maybe its time to buy galaxy note 2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude its samsung so you have been ****ed one can easily change imei
also u can get imei by calling airtel or your operator and ask them which imei the phone was having :fingers-crossed:

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AndroidFreud said:
Hello all,
Sadly, my SGS 2 was stolen at a railway station recently. I had removed the sim from the phone since the battery was low to put it in another phone. So it's lost now without the sim in it.
Is there any way at to track the phone purely by it's IMEI number (which is all I have)??
I'm totally wrecked that it's gone... I didn't have any tracking software loaded on the phone like AndroidLost /Cerebrus or anything of that sort. I did have Avast I think but I'm not sure if that has a tracking feature.I doubt if I can also use that remote installation technique (which one actually really works?) considering there is no sim on it with no net connection on it.
Help from the local police station in filing a lost phone case so that the IMEI can be reported to the network provider has been useless as they both seem to have better things to do and just keep me running in circles.
Is there anything at all left that I can do on my own now? I've seen a lot of sites where they say you can report your IMEI lost phone number and they say they will alert you if it ever comes up. But there seems to be a lot of them out there. Which one would be the most reliable to do this?
Has anyone else done this before with any success. Looking for the best possible information and hopefully some solution to get back my phone. It had so much of my stuff on it and I spent months customizing it. Really regretting now that I didn't take the time to load a tracking software on it.
Thanks for any help or insight anyone can provide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all I would like to tell you Avast has a very good anti theft feature (which is completely free by the way) if you had root it does allow nand write(for settings I guess) and integration into your rom(factory reset can't remove it then) only a flash operation can remove it, in settings if you had set friend numbers and safe numbers, the moment an unknown sim is inserted, messages are sent to your friends numbers informing sim change (you will get the the thief's number) also if you had enabled it in settings it will force both data connection and gps on too, you can track the phone with gps precision by sending a message (either via sms or their online portal) with the pin code(details are in their site), you can lock the phone, perform a wipe, sound an alarm many other functions. Avast also has amazing stealth technology and starts at boot, so if you want you can jump the thief because he will be able to see only his balance reducing while you remotely control your phone. The key thing you must do is set friend numbers.
Edit : The only way to bypass this security is flashing a new rom. Also it can't be un installed as it will be set as device administrator which requires password unlock.
Using GT - I9100
Just hit the damn help button if I helped you.
---------- Post added at 01:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
I really do hope you had set friend numbers, Avast anti theft was very useful to me as sometimes my little brother "steals" my phone because he adores my s2, and sometimes I get really pissed so i remotely lock it rendering it completely useless, even if the phone is switched off and on it will lock again, unless I type in my pin or remotely grant access the phone will remain locked.
Using GT - I9100
Just hit the damn help button if I helped you.

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I lost my galaxy s the previous year and they couldn't find it by IMEI
Sent from my GT-I9100G using Tapatalk 2

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Plan B
HAXTREME said:
Firstly, my sympathies. I can imagine how bad it must feel to lose your phone. Have you tried 'Plan B' by Lookout? It'll work if at all the phone is ever connected to a data plan/ wireless network.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please guide me ....how to aplly "plan B' ....plz tell me the steps

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tarunsharma123 said:
Can you please guide me ....how to aplly "plan B' ....plz tell me the steps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to the play store via your computer. Log in with your gmail id, 'purchase' the plan b app. (Its free) and select the particular device from the list of your devices, if there is one. If your phone is ever connected to the Internet and still linked with your Google account, it'll get downloaded
Good luck.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app