Yesterday I was in the car, on my way to symphonic band rehearsal. My phone buzzed with a text message. Not all that unusual of an occurrence. But a very unusual message:
From: 578277
Message: "We added Stacia's Pizza to your FiveStars account! You're 10 pts from a $15 off next purchase. Register at FiveStars for 5 free points! (txt OFF to unsubscribe)"
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There are two creepy aspects to this. One, I've never heard of FiveStars, and thus have no account. Two, the message arrived just as we drove past -- indeed -- a Stacia's Pizza.
Some Googling doesn't reveal much. Yes, they exist (www.fivestarscard.com) and they got some press about funding in August. Curiously, I'm unable to find any other reports of people receiving unsolicited FiveStars text messages as they drove past merchants.
I'm rather annoyed by all this. Some app on my phone must be leaking location information and my phone number without my knowledge. If this is a harbinger of the future, then I will become one very cranky person.
You are not alone, but in my case I'm getting:
Your entry last night has won! Blah blah target reward card blah blah 1000 dollar gift card blah blah claim your prize.
A root call blocker could be of use to you... I have a spam blocked on my Miui Rom personally.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Victor from FiveStars here!
SteveRiley said:
Yesterday I was in the car, on my way to symphonic band rehearsal. My phone buzzed with a text message. Not all that unusual of an occurrence. But a very unusual message:
There are two creepy aspects to this. One, I've never heard of FiveStars, and thus have no account. Two, the message arrived just as we drove past -- indeed -- a Stacia's Pizza.
Some Googling doesn't reveal much. Yes, they exist and they got some press about funding in August. Curiously, I'm unable to find any other reports of people receiving unsolicited FiveStars text messages as they drove past merchants.
I'm rather annoyed by all this. Some app on my phone must be leaking location information and my phone number without my knowledge. If this is a harbinger of the future, then I will become one very cranky person.
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Hey Steve,
I'm actually the founder and CEO of FiveStars! I also happen to love flashing new roms onto my galaxy so I'm on this forum all of the time.
What you described is actually a coincidence -- we actually have no way of knowing where you are! We provide loyalty cards for small businesses, so for example Stacia's Pizza uses us to manage their Buy 10 Get 1 free program so you don't have to carry around a bunch of paper punch cards. They must have enrolled you when you ordered a pizza from them at some point, but the usual text message was delayed (you're supposed to get it right away, so these creepy scenarios don't happen).
Hope that helps! Our goal is to get you more free stuff without having to carry around all of that paper anymore.
Vic
While I may be willing to accept that FiveStars has no knowlege of my presence, I'm unwilling to accept -- for the moment -- that my experience was purely a coincidence. I am not a customer of the pizza shop in question, so I'm unsure how they would have obtained my phone number. Furthermore, as a rule I don't join loyalty programs because the value they provide is not worth the information I must trade.
I will admit that I recently flashed a new build of JB on my G2, and when I was passing the pizza shop, I had not yet gone through my usual procedures of removing or otherwise blocking the various anti-privacy mechanisms that plague Android. See my post from a few months ago for some examples.
Just tell your service provider to block the number.
estabien said:
You are not alone, but in my case I'm getting:
Your entry last night has won! Blah blah target reward card blah blah 1000 dollar gift card blah blah claim your prize.
A root call blocker could be of use to you... I have a spam blocked on my Miui Rom personally.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bet if you remove MIUI you will not need a spam blocker.
victorsho said:
Hey Steve,
I'm actually the founder and CEO of FiveStars! I also happen to love flashing new roms onto my galaxy so I'm on this forum all of the time.
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Click to collapse
Heh! That's quite a post count you have there, Vic.
...for example Stacia's Pizza uses us to manage their Buy 10 Get 1 free program so you don't have to carry around a bunch of paper punch cards. They must have enrolled you when you ordered a pizza from them at some point...
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If a place I spent money with enrolled me in a "program' (or spamgram, if you will...) of their own accord, what they'd get from me is an earful, but not one more dime.
Hope that helps! Our goal is to get you more free stuff without having to carry around all of that paper anymore.
Vic
Click to expand...
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Really? I think your goal is to make money by exploiting and irritating cell subscribers with your unsolicited, unwanted spam. And now you have annoyed xda members with another spam. I'm pretty sure the forum has rules against posting spam. Time to find the report button.
At the time the car passed the pizza place, SoundHound 8 (infinity) was running on my phone (got the paid version on sale for 99 cents). Among others, SoundHound has these permissions:
* Location: coarse (network-based), fine (GPS)
* Network: full access
* Phone: read status and identity
I hardly use it; I forgot that I had accidentally started it several hours prior.
According to the imminently useful Logging Test App, SoundHound includes adware and logging blobs from:
* Google AdMob/AdSense
* Millennial
* Mobclix
Yes, even the paid version appears to spy on you.
<conjecture>
Given the permissions SoundHound has, it could report my phone number and location to these ad services. I would have to run a network sniffer to be sure. The pizza place could be purchasing such data from these services, which might include real-time location reports. The pizza place could randomly choose a nearby phone and push an ad for a loyalty program.
</conjecture>
I will admit I have no visibility into whether the above actually happened. I will, though, stop by the pizza place to ensure that they have no record of my phone number, to rule out that possibility. I've had the number for 12 years, and before then it was unassigned according to T-Mobile.
Related
<<<<<snip>>>>>
Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me.
If it was that easy to obtain high value gods for peanuts I think people would be selling the goods on ebay rather than the link to the site.
Well you don't get the phone for peanuts.. If you look, 40 people need to buy the product from the company..
So 45 x £20 = £900
So the company makes £900, and buys you an XDA II from it, and keeps the rest. Seems possible to do. Actually, it's quite a good idea. I was careful however. I used my credit card do to the transaction, so if its anything dodgy - and they try and screw me over, I always have the option of a charge back.
Not sure how long it will take to fill the list, but I'll keep you updated if it works out (or if it doesn't!) ;-)
Well, if they are offering EVERYONE on the list a phone, then I dont see how they can do this...
J
not to mention that I got 2 boosters from ebay for $1!! and with free shipping
but NO they dont work its just a sticker with golden patern printed on it.
This is foolishness. Such a system cannot possibly sustain itself long enough to fulfill the measure of its promise. Mind that you aren't required to wait longer than the charge dispute deadline for your credit card to receive your "gift", eh?
Actually, since your transaction was for a signal booster, if you actually get a signal booster you may not have a valid claim in the eyes of your bank should you dispute on the grounds that you didn't receive the gift.
If it SOUNDS too good to be true…
-nerrdo
I think you didn't understand the nature of the way it works...
It's not EVERYONE on the list that gets the XDA II...
There is one person at the top... Then once the list fills up, they get the XDA II... Then the person who second in the list, moves up in to first place... Once the list fills up again, they get the XDA... etc etc...
It was only £20... So I don't really care if it has the chance of getting me a sim free XDA II in a few months time
This is really a pyramid scheme. If the list fills up, there are 3 possibilities i see happening at that point:
1) Everone except #1 is out of luck. A new list is started for people that have not purchased anything...
2) #1 gets the gift, and everyone moves up a spot. That then leaves 1 spot open for the 'new guy' when he makes a purchase. Once that happens, everyone moves up again. 1 spot opens, and a new guy gets in the list. So, each time they give a phone away, they are only getting 1 new purchase. THIS CANNOT WORK!
3) #1 gets the gift, and everyone else moves up... But you have to create 40 lists now, so that they (the sellers) can get the new people in there (by making a purchase)... If you are 2nd, you get to be first on a new list, and you need to find 39 people to make a purchase-Filling the list. Well, what about #3 on the list. What happens to him? He moves to #2 on SOME list, it cannot be the same list that you are on, can it? If it is, then we are back to option 2 above. So, whenever a phone is given away, there must be 39 new lists created, in some manner, that moves everyone up a spot, but still leaves all the 'open spots' for the people that are putting money into the system.
Without these new purchases, the system fails...
In re-reading your explanation, it sounds like the 'list' is a list of lists, and you are always at the 'top' of your list, even though your list is maybe 2nd or 3rd or so in the 'list of lists'. So, once it is your turn at the #1 spot, your list gets filled, Woo hoo!...
BUT, each time someone gets their list filled, it is creating a new 'list of lists'. So, when do those lists get filled??? After yours, I would hope!
Goodness. There is some math wiz out there that can figure out how long it will take to get your free phone (and how much money the system is generating in that same timeframe.)
This is a pyramid scheme. Good luck. Maybe you will get your phone, I hope so. Let us know!
J
Ross said:
Well you don't get the phone for peanuts.. If you look, 40 people need to buy the product from the company..
So 45 x £20 = £900
So the company makes £900, and buys you an XDA II from it, and keeps the rest.
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are you stupid?? that £900 there is for him to buy himself a mobile you are one of his 45 people needed for him to get this phone!!!
you will still need to get about 44more people so that you move to the top of the pyramid!
gawd by the time you get that many peeps xda 3 will be out gawd some people always fall for these scams
yes it is possible for you to get it but its also a scam at the same time.
I saw a new App from Experian where you can access your credit report from your phone. Has anyone tried this? I already have an account with freecreditreport.com so I downloaded it, but I am too paranoid to enter my personal information.
check the webpage and support info on the app, if everything links back to the official experian websites should be ok...
not too many hackers with the balls to imitate big credit bearu names, lol
thats federal time there.
also browse google and see if there are any mentions from experian theirself about a release of a mobile app.
I would probably stay away from that app.... I don't know if that app is legit. I checked google and didn't find anything about it. I also went to the source experian.com and didn't find any info. Now I'm not saying it's bogus, but just suggesting that you stay away from it until confirmed that it's the real deal.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Looks a lot like their new iPhone app. I wouldn't worry about it.
I have been advised to not use freecreditreport.com, I have been told to instead use annualcreditreport.com
This below is from militaryonesource
Thanks to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), every U.S. citizen is entitled to a free credit report once a year from each of the three main credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. There are three ways to order your credit reports: online, by phone, and through the mail.
To order your credit report online, go to www.annualcreditreport.com. This centralized Web site sponsored by the three main credit bureaus allows you to order all three reports and view them instantly online.
To order your report over the phone, call 1-877-322-8228. Your credit report will be mailed to you within 15 days.
To order a report by mail, you will need to fill out an annual credit report request form. Go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf to find a copy of this form online. Then mail the form to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Due to security reasons, www.annualcreditreport.com does not work from overseas. If you're stationed or deployed outside the U.S., you can print the form to order your report by mail at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf.
When you get your reports, look them over carefully. If there's anything you don't understand, call the credit bureau for an explanation. The reports include a lot of information and you may need some help interpreting them the first time you see them. Federal law requires that the bureaus make this help available to you. Here is the contact information for each of the three main credit bureaus:
Equifax Credit Information Services
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374
Telephone: 1-800-685-1111
Fax: 1-404-612-2993
www.equifax.com
Experian
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, Texas 75013
Telephone: 1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com
Trans Union Corporation
Consumer Relations Center
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
Telephone: 1-800-916-8800
www.transunion.com
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Also it is probably best if you order only 1 report every 4 months so this way you can check your credit 3 times per year instead doing all 3 and having to wait another year for free reports. This is even recommended in the Frequently Asked Questions section.
Actually, you want to monitor your report. It is a good way to keep an eye on things. I use freecreditreport.com which is actually Experian.com and love it. I started using it at regular price which was around 15 a month, then I called and said I wanted to cancel, I couldn't afford it. They dropped in 50% now I pay 7 bucks. I pull a free one once or twice a month. It's quite essential to monitor your report. Don't listen to people who don't know how important it is.
jzero88 said:
Actually, you want to monitor your report. It is a good way to keep an eye on things. I use freecreditreport.com which is actually Experian.com and love it. I started using it at regular price which was around 15 a month, then I called and said I wanted to cancel, I couldn't afford it. They dropped in 50% now I pay 7 bucks. I pull a free one once or twice a month. It's quite essential to monitor your report. Don't listen to people who don't know how important it is.
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"free"creditreport.com is fine to use as long as you know going in that it's not necessarily "free" (you have to sign up for credit monitoring services that charge). The only source for true free credit reports is the once-a-year annualcreditreport.com site.
I personally use creditkarma.com, it's free, you get a score calculated by your TransUnion credit report, and targeted credit card and loan offers even. Has a bunch of tools to help you manage your finances and credit too.
Thanks for the replies. I didn't find any mention of an Android app on the freecreditreport.com website. Doesn't mean it isn't legit, but you can never be too cautious.
Hello has anyone used the money toolkit app to access your account?. On my iphone I have an official natwest app, which am sure is safe however a bit worried about this one cause it clearly states not affiliated with any bank.
Hi marvi0
I am Dan - founder of Money Toolkit, so obviously my opinion is not impartial
You are absolutely right to question apps like ours, and I wish more people were more diligent in this resect.
The biggest barrier to using any third party financial app is trust. For a small start up like ours, theres a bit of a catch 22 thing. The best way for people to trust our app is to see others using it, which means having enough early trail blazers use it.
I hope you do read some of the pages on our site regarding security - we have gone to very great lengths to keep you in charge of your credentials.
But this is still only our word. Probably the best thing to help increase your confidence is to look on our get satisfaction pages - (we cant delete messages, so it is an open conversation). Also check the comments on the Android market, again we can't even respond as the developer (which can be frustrating).
I hope others do respond on here, though we only have 500+ active users, so I would be a bit surprised.
There will always be some nervousness committing to our app, ultimately you have to go with your instincts - most people who see our app don't go on to enter their details, which is a shame in my opinion (obviously), because those who do find our app really useful.
Any questions, just ask.
Cheers.
Dan.
I have installed it and it looks pretty good
I have my fingers crossed regarding the security
Thanks for your reply so does this app actually allow me to view my natwest account information?
marvi0 said:
Thanks for your reply so does this app actually allow me to view my natwest account information?
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it does yeah
you get an overview and then when you click on the account it drills down into the transactions
you cant see direct debits etc
also i wish you could change the theme, the wooden effect is a bit yukky, lol
but it does the job fine
also you have to manually log out or the app will run in the background, and if someone picks up your phone they can see the bank funds etc
winwiz - thanks for that.
You are not alone a few people don't like the wooden theme, so we are thinking of changing that.
The idea was that it continues the web site theme of being a work bench - continuing to follow the tool kit idea! We also didn't want to look like another boring bank, but probably it doesn't work that well on the phones.
Regarding logging out - we keep you logged in on purpose, (it will time out after 5 minutes) it is really annoying when you accidentally go back too far or want to swap to another app and have to log back in. Perhaps we should make that another setting?
some people even choose to keep their password remembered, and rely on the phones own security.
Remember this is a READ ONLY app, there is absolutely no way anyone could transfer funds, or make any changes to your bank.
We've got some nice things planned, like categorising your sending and graphs etc.
So any feedback or ideas really welcome - especially on the get satisfaction pages
Cheers.
MTK-Dan said:
winwiz - thanks for that.
You are not alone a few people don't like the wooden theme, so we are thinking of changing that.
The idea was that it continues the web site theme of being a work bench - continuing to follow the tool kit idea! We also didn't want to look like another boring bank, but probably it doesn't work that well on the phones.
Regarding logging out - we keep you logged in on purpose, (it will time out after 5 minutes) it is really annoying when you accidentally go back too far or want to swap to another app and have to log back in. Perhaps we should make that another setting?
some people even choose to keep their password remembered, and rely on the phones own security.
Remember this is a READ ONLY app, there is absolutely no way anyone could transfer funds, or make any changes to your bank.
We've got some nice things planned, like categorising your sending and graphs etc.
So any feedback or ideas really welcome - especially on the get satisfaction pages
Cheers.
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Click to collapse
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the great feedback. I'd like the option to customise the background, or if this is not possible, a solid black background. The timeout option should be configurable so the user can set the timeout period!
I look forward to the updates
MTK-Dan said:
I am Dan - founder of Money Toolkit, so obviously my opinion is not impartial
...
Any questions, just ask.
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Hi Dan,
Was just deliberating about using Money Toolkit and I had a couple questions. I've no knowledge in this area so please bare with me.
On the blog post here: hxxp://moneytoolkit.com/2010/09/secure-mobile-banking/
You said that:
"Yodlee then sells your bank data to the web site that you signed up".
Which I agree doesn't sound ideal - but they have to make money to be a sustainable business. How does money toolkit intend to make money? Which part of users financial details will be utilised to do this?
Secondly - regarding the security - the same blog post says:
"Not only would someone have to get access to your phone they would have to go to the same lengths as they would if they wanted to ‘hack’ into a bank, but they would have to do it three times!"
I presume that each location storing data can't login to the bank account in part. Instead a single server instance would have to login - requiring all 3 parts of the information to do so as banks usually randomise the questions asked. That presumption may be wrong however - but if it's correct does that mean a hacker could just hack that single server instance and intercept the traffic being sent to the bank?
You said that:
"Yodlee then sells your bank data to the web site that you signed up".
"but they have to make money to be a sustainable business. How does money toolkit intend to make money? Which part of users financial details will be utilised to do this?""
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We point out the normal relationship with Yodlee because Yodlee is an independant third party, they are the entity that you end up having the biggest contractual relationship with, in fact you sign over power of attourney to them when you use a web site that uses their aggregation (read the small print).
Regarding Money Toolkit making money, so far we don't! Of course, as you point out, we need to, so we have two options - we will ask for 50p per month (for example), or we will offer good deals with companies we trust (generally not main stream banking companies), where we will make a commission, if we do that we will make the commission obvious and share it with the person taking the offer.
"Secondly - regarding the security...
...does that mean a hacker could just hack that single server instance and intercept the traffic being sent to the bank?"
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Click to collapse
Well your main assumptions is correct, but the reasoning not quite right. Firstly it is not just because of the random nature of the security questions that the three way split is valuable, but literally each part is utterly useless without the other parts, they are three parts of an encrypted file, which MUST come together before it is possible to decrypt.
The decrypted file (now only in volatile memory) then returns values to your phone and it is your phone which sends (over SSL) the right request to the bank, so they would have to breach our own SSL traffic (and custom encryption). Our IP's and the bank's are hard coded so a traditional man in the midle attack is ruled out. They would in effect, have to dupe you into downloading a dodgy Money Toolkit apk for this to be possible.
As you may know, the huge majority of security problems come from static data being discoverable (cd's and memory sticks left on trains for example). In our case the three seperate locations, including your phone make this kind of static data recovery, all but impossible.
However... you are right tht if someone managed to compromise the individual server that, at that moment (we have many), did that specific decryption: then if they were very smart, they might have the ability to detect your secure bank details. Though it would be almost imposible for that to happen and us not know about it. To alter our code and not have our systems detect the intrusion would be phenomenal.
MTK-Dan said:
so we have two options - we will ask for 50p per month (for example), or we will offer good deals with companies we trust (generally not main stream banking companies), where we will make a commission, if we do that we will make the commission obvious and share it with the person taking the offer.
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Click to collapse
Great, both options sound reasonable
MTK-Dan said:
they are three parts of an encrypted file, which MUST come together before it is possible to decrypt.
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Click to collapse
Neat, didn't realise.
MTK-Dan said:
The decrypted file (now only in volatile memory) then returns values to your phone and it is your phone which sends (over SSL) the right request to the bank, so they would have to breach our own SSL traffic (and custom encryption).
They would in effect, have to dupe you into downloading a dodgy Money Toolkit apk for this to be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That at least does sound secure (without understanding it more) I suppose there may also be security issues beyond a dodgy .apk file if the Android device has been rooted - because I think that allows apps to work outside of their sandbox. Again, I don't know enough about that.
Thanks for the detailed answers, it gives me more confidence in the service.
aph5 said:
Great, both options sound reasonable
Neat, didn't realise.
That at least does sound secure (without understanding it more) I suppose there may also be security issues beyond a dodgy .apk file if the Android device has been rooted - because I think that allows apps to work outside of their sandbox. Again, I don't know enough about that.
Thanks for the detailed answers, it gives me more confidence in the service.
Click to expand...
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Is it possible to transfer money to whomever you want with this app?
As a person who has had two phones stolen I can tell you one thing - there needs to be a password on the use of flashing. First I had a galaxy note, which has Samsung locate. But hardware reset saw to that. Second I had a CSL Spice, knowing about hardware reset, I set about finding an un resettable program. In comes avast (brilliant though it is).
Two criticisms, first is its method of retrieval. Sms. Yes, sms. The thief has thrown your sim card in a bush, but in order to remotely access your phone, avast smses your sim card. Classic. Try it, steal your own phone, or get a mate to, it's so tragic its funny. Go on, back up your apps, take out your sd card, and be your own thief. Second issue, obviously is flashing. Avast hides on the partition, but this is wiped and remade based upon your new OS. Bye bye avast.
So really there are two key solutions: password protection on the flashing access. Set by the user, changeable only by those the user gives it to (engineers/new owners). And the other is set a hardware code like IMEI on accessing not just a phone network, but also Google Play registration, and Samsung /other apps registration. That way the code can be flagged by the owner. Actually thirdly is an email address which appears upon failed flashing password attempts. To remind the thief that he can still take the brick of plastic and metal (and gps) back.
I'd like all new owners to be informed of what to do upon loosing their phone, codes to note down etc. As I feel this is not done enough. I'd love to start a push to get Samsung and other droid phones as well as Google Play to start this and maybe we can finally end phone theft.
Anyone think a petition is possible?
How were your phones stolen? I have never had one of the 40+ phones i or my immediate family have owned (knock on wood here as i probably just jinxed myself) stolen.
In my case it could be just locale, but i have worked in some pretty rough areas with high crime rates so i could just be lucky or plain diligent with what i do with my phone when not in use.
Not being disrespectful here, just seeking enlightenment on what behaviours/actions leads to them being stolen to see how it is different to my experience.
As to your proposal, not a bad idea. One thing i can think of is that like the locked bootloaders that were/are put on some phones, somebody will most likely find an exploit/hack to get around it. They almost always do. Could be talking out my arse on that as i am not knowledgeable with this but they always seem to find a way.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
but this dexpends where you go and therefore stuff as such.....if i were to stay home alot im sure the 40+ phones ive had would hardly get stolen as well. saying this I've had to phones stolen as well and its not fun. i would sign
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
I do like the Imei idea. I've never had a phone stolen. I've worked in gyms, restaraunts, public schools, indoor reffing, etc
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
depends how tech savy the thief is.. if they perform an Odin flash then only thing preventing use of the phone on ATT is IMEI blacklisting. Couple of things come to mind that might help. If they pick up the phone and try to use it as-is without switching SIMS or factory reset Plan-B can help. If either of these is done then only thing that will help would be something such as a preconfigured Plan-B app in the CWM image to "phone home" after SIM change and factory reset.
Security would lay back and laugh at your problem.
Just being aware of your environment and using sensible precautions will go a long way towards preventing theft. Treat your phone like it's worth hundreds of dollars and you should be OK. For example, If you were at a social gathering where there were many people you didn't know would you leave six one hundred dollar bills sitting on a table in a secluded area while you went to the bathroom? Probably not, yet I commonly see people doing just that with their $600 phones at parties or while at the park with friends. They rely on strangers honesty and their friends vigilance to protect their property. The trouble is, cell phones have become so common place the friends would be as likely wonder why someone is picking up their beer as to why they are picking up your phone. Honest folks expect others to be just as honest as they are and why not? They are normal after all and aren't all normal people honest just like them? So, if someone sees another picking up a random ubiquitous phone and putting it to their ear while they walk out the door they will surely not think twice about it. The phone is obviously that person's, else why would they pick it up? Thief's who steal in public rely on people not noticing "normal" behavior. Just treat your phone like it's a hundred dollar bill and you should suffer no more losses due to theft, unless you are mugged of course.
Just get Cerberus. Problem solved.
TheMrRoxtar said:
but this dexpends where you go and therefore stuff as such.....if i were to stay home alot im sure the 40+ phones ive had would hardly get stolen as well. saying this I've had to phones stolen as well and its not fun. i would sign
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
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I wish i could stay at home a lot. Not the case. Do lot of traveling and in a lot of different locales/ environments. Just don't put my property where there is an opportunity for some one else to make it theirs. That is why i asked what the circumstances were behind theirs being stolen. If it was stolen due to lack of diligence on their pArt or were they physically assaulted.
Sorry about your losses and i am sure it is not a pleasant experience. I know i would not be happy.
I personally think the idea is sound.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
jpeg42 said:
Just get Cerberus. Problem solved.
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what he said...
and, be more aware of where your phone is at ALL TIMES...
one time is understandable; two times is carelessness..
I love how western these answers are. Lol, left it in a cafe. My galaxy note was ripped out of my hands my a thief on a motorcycle in Malaysia while I was checking gps map, and my CSL Spice was pushed out of my pocket as I was being dry humped on a moped in Bali. That last one is classed as an accidental loss, which turned into a theft as the lucky buggers driving behind me probably found it. How is besides the point really. "you were stabbed? Oh, we're you in stab proof armour? Carrying a gun? Oh, silly girl!"
Cerberus is bandied around like avast anti theft, if it's flash proof, then I'll bite (as it were), but I'd like to see that claim.
Chiefly what we could do with is a hardware code that content providers request on account activation. Something a phone can't change. It needs a built in theft message/action not one remotely sent. And it needs a flash password.
Actually a readable hardware code would suffice if all content providers signed up.
Who would you speak to to suggest such a thing?
Already in chats with Samsung and Google Play customer services, but they aren't really the development team sadly.
In my city there are at least 4,000 phones for sale on Craigslist daily. Can you imagine how many customer service people at&t would need to manage the IEMI switching? It would be like the frakkin DMV for transfer of ownership. And managing blacklisted IEMI? Fuggetaboutit. I asked one about that idea and their response was "stolen phones are new customers".
the only way to prevent stuff from being stolen, is not to own it in the first place...IMHO
That being said, we all take the risk together when we pull out these fancy devices for the world to see. and lets face it, we all like to flaunt our wares as a status symbol on occasion.
the note is a big fancy eye catcher, and a prime target for crooks to swipe from unsuspecting folks not paying attention. ( sorry about the dry humping moped issue).
And since the odds are, your device will get stolen again, you should change your habits of usage if possible.
I agree that security of the device after theft is difficult, and I would support a petition to enhance the security measures, but I'm not gonna hold my breath on any carrier taking the task on. Like ranger said, a stolen phone is a new customer.....g
It wouldn't require any work, nor switching, just adding a field for IMEI. This is automatic for carriers right, but it needs to be the same for Google play and other app sites.
When a user looses his phone, he logs the IMEI as stolen, and the Google Team put that code on a watch list. Any Form designer could handle that. IMEI or serial number or whatever is hardware based.
Simple idea no?
Thats why I bought this app called gotya.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myboyfriendisageek.gotya
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
NOTE user:
"take a deep breath, make sure to get a good look at it, relax and slowly take it in, the size is overwhelming at first but you will have a happy ending afterwards".
Woman:
:O
Veruvir said:
It wouldn't require any work, nor switching, just adding a field for IMEI. This is automatic for carriers right, but it needs to be the same for Google play and other app sites.
When a user looses his phone, he logs the IMEI as stolen, and the Google Team put that code on a watch list. Any Form designer could handle that. IMEI or serial number or whatever is hardware based.
Simple idea no?
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And when the vindictive girlfriends and exwifes report out of spite?
rangercaptain said:
And when the vindictive girlfriends and exwifes report out of spite?
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you'd think they'd just smash it on the floor or drop it in the toilet...
You probably live in a ****ty neighbourhood no offence.
Sent from my SGH-I717M using xda premium
Sarius24 said:
You probably live in a ****ty neighbourhood no offence.
Sent from my SGH-I717M using xda premium
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Yeah, there's no criminals in "nice" neighborhoods.
I use Tasker for:
When I switch locations, a front/back pic + GPS, sent to google drive.
When not at a location that has is known, it sends the same info every time the screen comes on.
Tasker locks certain apps in unknown locations, so the main screen stays unlocked. I figure the longer they can play with the phone on the more likely I am to get it back.
Sms of course to trigger by minute pics and GPS.
rangercaptain said:
Yeah, there's no criminals in "nice" neighborhoods.
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sure there is; thats where they go to steal stuff!
Whenever my automated system finds an Android App Review online it sends an email to the developer telling the link to the review.
Each day I get between 5 - 10 thank you mails from both large app companies and indie developers, which I guess is a good indicator that it's a great tool in order to be able to take advantage of the review in their marketing. (I know how hard it is to be seen with a good app)
The question is, how do I monetize that service?
You have to pardon me if I sound desperate, but I actually am desperate and starting to worry about my ability to provide for my family.
Do you have an idea on how I could either monetize the service, or give it away to someone who can actually afford running it?
There are three main problems with it:
- Donations doesn't work (noone evidently donates anyway, so that went down the drain)
- Advertising, might have worked but there are far too few visitors.
- Most dev's have an invalid email address specified for their account at google play, which makes them not receive the notice from the service,
They can however subscribe for reviews of a certain package name, but how the heck could they when they don't even know the service exists?
I feel so stupid for having these great ideas and realize them, just to later find out that the only thing I've gained is more time away from my kids. I am honestly starting to loose all energy for the creation process of apps, web sites and services, just due to the fact that I can't even reach out enough to make anything out of it. And I can't afford advertising the services/apps/whatever crap I've made. Which even might be an indicator that I should stop trying, but I can't really do that either since I struggle to even afford the food for the month, yeah it's gotten that bad, and I hate sounding this pathetic.
Anyway, the link is in my sig called something like 'Android App Reviews' if you wish to have a look in order to give feedback on my question.
Maybe it's just a bad day 'cause I'm not usually this whiny, but even on a good day, the question stands.
Ah.. whatever. You have a good idea, let me know.
Later
very nice idea, perhaps most of your emails mistakenly get weeded out as SPAM. I have an APP published on Google Play with our company gmail address there, but in more than one ocasion we had people trying to contact us and those emails got to the SPAM folder automaticly by mistake and we never saw them.
DarknessWarrior said:
very nice idea, perhaps most of your emails mistakenly get weeded out as SPAM. I have an APP published on Google Play with our company gmail address there, but in more than one ocasion we had people trying to contact us and those emails got to the SPAM folder automaticly by mistake and we never saw them.
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Thanks, actually I was very glad myself when I got an email from my own service once, so yeah I think it's a great idea also.
So yes, one problem is, as you mention that most emails probably ends up marked as spam.
The other problem is money, it's running in a very low priced environment and actually doesn't require much juice to run but I can't afford maintaining it if it doesn't generate enough income to even support itself.
I would consider running it for nothing and I could even spend some personal money just for the satisfaction and appreciation, but given the gravity of the current financial situation in my family I can't do that.
So let's just see what happens, and thanks for taking the time to read.
Cheers
have you tried selling it? For about how much would you be willing to sell it? As i said the idea is pretty awesome and you got it pretty much nailed down. Perhaps with a few tweaks to the search algorithm it could be the next Google for Apps!
have you tried selling it? For about how much would you be willing to sell it?
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- Actually, no I haven't tried selling it yet as I don't have any experience selling these kinds of things, and don't really know where to turn.. So I haven't really thought of for how much I should sell it for,
what do you think something like this could be worth?
Thanks again
Actually i have no idea loool
I would buy it if I had the means.
The value of it probably based on how many views does your site has per day, how many apps does it have categorized, how many it crawls per day... idk.
For example i tried searching it and it seems to have few apps catalogued... my app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rtt3ch.suecaonline) isn't there.
EDIT: About how much do you spend on it a month? If it's not much and you're willing to give it away because can't afford it I wouldn't mind getting it lol, i think i can keep it alive.
If you want to generate income from your site, you have to run your site like a business. The ideas you have in your first post are too linear, especially for a small website with limited exposure (i'm sure you'll know ). Websites and youtube channels grow in exposure and size exponentially. Your site is still in the growth state of a business life cycle (the slowest, most challenging phase of business), so it's best to get as much exposure as possible, which means expanding.
- Try to create some sort of quasi-partnerships with other sites by sharing content or linking to each other. I've noticed you have some links on the side of your site, but try to get in contact with 'bigger names' out there
- Create a youtube channel and start reviewing apps like that. That way you have another avenue of traffic to your site
- Reviews of products may also be an idea.
Hope this helps It's what I can remember from business studies classes >.<
sup MetalDroid, any news?
I'd go with what SammiSaysHello said, you need to run it like a business. Personally I'd make the homepage look more like a professional a sales page and introduce a subscription fee if you want to use it for more then one app. Or even a one time fee for more then one app. I end up logging onto my developer console several times a day so I'd gladly pay a couple bucks a month to have the reviews sent straight to my inbox.. Just my two cents
Hey!
Sorry for not posting an update, I've been having the mother of all flues on and off for the past several weeks now!
sup MetalDroid, any news?
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Well, actually yes. The associated twitter account is growing, and the number of web page visitors is also increasing. Very slowly but I'm still positive about it. I've also, shockingly, had a few interesting partnership/business proposals drop down in my mailbox, so I'm gonna have a look to see what is offered there..
If you want to generate income from your site, you have to run your site like a business.
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I'd go with what SammiSaysHello said, you need to run it like a business
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You're right, that seems like a logical next step. I might add a low subscription fee if you wish to use for more than one app,
that seems like a very good suggestion, I'll have to wait a couple of days though to see how things turn out from some of the email proposals
I've had.
If you're interested I'll keep you updated on what happens, and I'm very grateful for your input,
Cheers