Hey Guys,
So i bought a new unlocked S3 as a gift and left it in my car and went out for dinner and When i came back my car was broken into and obviously the phone was stolen along with other things in the vehicle. So i called the cops and filed a report but i was not able to give any info n the phone like a IMEI number. So i filed a claim with the store i bought this from and they are being a pain. So i had to call my bank and put a stop pay but there might be an issue. So i am curious to know if this phone can be tracked or not, btw there was never a sim in the phone. I have been looking everywhere searching for answers. Any info on this is helpful. I paid $700.00 for the phone and now its gone.
Thanks!
solomon862000 said:
Hey Guys,
So i bought a new unlocked S3 as a gift and left it in my car and went out for dinner and When i came back my car was broken into and obviously the phone was stolen along with other things in the vehicle. So i called the cops and filed a report but i was not able to give any info n the phone like a IMEI number. So i filed a claim with the store i bought this from and they are being a pain. So i had to call my bank and put a stop pay but there might be an issue. So i am curious to know if this phone can be tracked or not, btw there was never a sim in the phone. I have been looking everywhere searching for answers. Any info on this is helpful. I paid $700.00 for the phone and now its gone.
Thanks!
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Hey there,
I'm sorry for your misfortune, but you shouldn't have left such a pricey object in your car I suppose..
You don't know its IMEI so you should contact the person to get ahold of the store he bought it from to maybe check with the store about getting the device's IMEI number in order for you to track it..
Other than that, I'm not sure there's something else you can do..
check out Lookout Plan B
Was the phone still in the box?
yes there is.
1. is your phone rooted? if yes this will make this easier, if not its okay, there's still a lot we can do.
2. even without a simcard inside the phone, did you ever set up a Google account? hopefully you still remember your info, but if you don't, and aren't able to recover it thru Google's site, PM me.
3. go to market.android.com (it'll redirect you to whatever they changed their new URL to when they renamed it play store).
4. luckily android can remotely install apps to your phone even without you having the phone (scary isn't it? lol). you're going to want to install an app called androidlost .
5. from there, visit androidlost.com and even without you having the phone, you can setup and configure the app (also scary right? lol).
6. now this is where root comes in, if you're rooted, you can do all sorts of evil things, like listen in on that dude thru your phones mic, watch him thru your cam, dial numbers from the phone, track it thru GPS, take any content out of it, delete anything inside the phone, check call logs, location history, and when you actually find the guy, you can set off a siren to max out your phones volume, and never stop blasting till you take confront that SOB face to face. of course how much of this actually depends on if you're rooted or not, like remotely formatting the SD and such, the others, no root necessary! (now is it scary? lol)
also if you plan on having more of your phones stolen in the future, you should do all this before having your carrier shut down your phone lol. (you'll have to rely on wifi for now)
also, did you buy it with a Visa? if you did, and you live in the US, even if you bought it from outside the US, your store warranty is doubled, and if that didn't fix it, they'll completely replace it up to $500 per item, up to $50,000 per year (as long as said item wasn't stolen from your car ) (
Related
no
Take it to a TMO store, I doubt anyone here will be too willing to help giving the possibility that you may have a stolen device.
If it is rooted there is a way, I don't have the link, but you use adb to pull and edit one of the db's , if it is not rooted, then most likely SOL ...
colaicee said:
i work at a cellphone repair shop. we also buy sale and trade phones. i use XDA a lot for the new android phones coming out when people have problems.
my coworker bought a vibrant from a customer that came into our store, the thing is that now the phone is patterned locked and we dont know the original email address. he said that it was working fine when he first purchased it. my guess is the customer unlocked it before my coworker played around with the phone.
anyways, no i didnt steal it. or any of that bs. we have a business license, a store front, and 99.9% feedback on ebay.
pm me if theres a way. willing to paypal for info.
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if you really did buy it, then call the person up and ask them.... unless i'm mistaken if any store buys stuff from customers they're supposed to document all information in case the item has been stolen
The phone is locked regardless. There is an android bug that doesn't allow the phone to verify the google credentials after you try the pattern lock too many times. Even if if was the OP's actual phone, he'd need to either factory reset, flash a new rom to the device, or get a replacement phone.
No one here will be able to help you get past it. There were security holes that allowed people to bypass it, but Google has sinec patched those, without fixing the fundamental issue (users, their children, their friends locking them out and basically "bricking" the device for all intents and purposes).
You got got, and it's probably a stolen device (not saying you stole it, someone else could have).
If you go to T-Mobile they will ask for you account information and check the IMEI against you account. T-Mobile uses different bands as AT&T so there aren't that many people buying Vibrants up front to unlock them and use them on different carriers, TBQH. If that IMEI belongs to someone else (it's even on you contract/reciept), they won't replace the phone. They will assume it's stolen.
Maybe if you start a contract/new line the reps in the store may help you out, though.
However, contacting Samsung may yield better results, but I think the Warranty is handled by T-Mobile, unless it's a hardware defect (hardware locked devices and pattern lockouts are both software issues).
"No i didn't steal it"
LOL
:/........
Nvm, lol
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
If it is rooted you could always try this ..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=485988
ookas said:
if you really did buy it, then call the person up and ask them.... unless i'm mistaken if any store buys stuff from customers they're supposed to document all information in case the item has been stolen
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yep, good call there. if the op purchased the phone he should have all of the sellers info on file.
Does someone know of a way I can tell if my phone is used or refurbished? I just got a Vibrant through a T-Mobile store and it was sold to me as new but I feel it might not be...mainly because as the rep was setting it up before handing it over the home screen icons were all scattered about and when I opened doubleTwist player to check it out there already was a device name set in the Settings menu. I tend to be mistrustful of phone carriers in general so my paranoia may be ill-founded. This is my first smartphone and I am definitely a "noob" to androids. Thanks everyone.
Could possibly be some foul play. When did you get it?
Does it have scratches?
Is it possible to call T-Mobile and ask them if the phones imei has ever been used by another sim?
Either way, if you just got the phone, ask them to exchange it for you, and tell them not to open the box, you will open it yourself.
most likely you purchased a phone from a "authorized dealer" usually in cases like that when a person buys a phone they have xx days to return it. authorized retails (some not all) will resell that "gently used" device as new. I haven't heard this happening from T-Mobile Corporate stores. Check for wear backplates, battery and surrounding area, screen and connector pins for the micro usb plug. if everything looks up to par don't worry about it.
Yeah I was a pretty annoyed that the clerk was setting up the phone and I had to tell them I wanted to see what they were doing. The phone looks new and all the accessories were still in their respective 'bags'.
I did purchase the phone from a tmo corporate store. I also posted on doubleTwist's support forum and found out that a default name (a random Star Wars or Dune character name) is automatically set if you aren't logged into a gmail account during setup, which I didn't have. The other item of concern is the pin2 code to access the Fixed Dialing Number menu is already set and I didn't do it. Calling tmobile support tonight to find out what's up with that. I'll post here what I find out. Thanks.
So I called tmobile customer support to ask about the pin2 code but it was after hours. I did find out from the user manual that you DO have to get this code from your carrier if your sim card supports it. I also successfully registered (after several attempts) my phone with the IMEI code on the Samsung site. I think I've been a little paranoid about this and actually received a new phone like I should have. Doesn't hurt to be a little skeptical though, eh? Thanks again to SamsungVibrant and boystuff for your responses.
I lost my phone last night in a yellow cab in NYC.
I had the tasker setup to locate phone when i text it a certain mssg.
I tried this morning to track down my phone but the taxi was all over the place and its nearly impossible to get my phone because even when it did stop moving...the adress it gave me was a large apt building and theres no way i can get my phone back even if i do know its in the building somewhere.....
I need any advice i can get please.
I would get in touch with the cab company.
Walk into the apartment with dual Uzis and go door-to-door until someone looks scared ****less. No, but seriously, just call the cab company, ask if anyone used the cab to arrive at that apartment or near the area, then yeah, how you confront them I'm not too sure.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/sub_lost_prop_inquiry.shtml
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
The worst part about this is knowing where it is and knowing i have a limited amount of time to find it before its gone forever...and as far as i can see i think its still in the cab as ive been tracking the phone by gps and its been all over the city....I just dont know the cab medallion number and its nearly impossible to catch this cab driving around in the city.
I don't know if tasker gives you network or GPS location. There is an app called lookout plan b. You can install it from market.android.com from a computer onto your phone remotely and locate your phone with GPS. If that's more accurate, that may help you track it down easier.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)
Have you tried calling the phone?
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
Entropy512 said:
Have you tried calling the phone?
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
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Yes Entropy ive tried many times and at first it just seemed that it was still in the back of the cab unnoticed as no one was picking up. I went online and suspended my service and i also know now that the battery has died since my gps location isnt responding anymore and when tried to call goes straight to voicemail now.
One thing is that i checked my call log online and noticed there was a 911 call made from the phone yesterday at around 7pm. The phone is locked so he must have either tried to get in thru the emergency call or called 911 to report the missing phone.
Either way i called the 2 precincts in Manhattan that receive lost items and claim nothing was brought in. It seems to me that even if it was, they would not want to tell me anyway, and are really rude.
I lost my chance of finding the phone as it is dead now and the service has been cancelled. maybe if someone tries to charge it up and turns it on i can try to track it again.
I had no insurance on the phone. But i did pay for the phone with my american express gold card and they have a protection plan that covers stolen/ accidental damage till 90 days after purchase. I sent a claim to them so hopefully they will reimburse me the money paid . Then i called ATT to mail me another sim card to my house. My brother has an upgrade and i spoke to the rep and he said i can do a cross upgrade where i can get a phone for the upgrade price without having his line added to a data plan as well.
In the end i might get the same phone back for free but with having another line on my family plan under a 2 year contract. I loved that phone a lot...running your kernel and unnamed. Even if i get the same phone again...idk if it will be the same for me lol.
Also im so stupid i didnt have any nandroid backups on my comp and were only on my sd card. lucky i had titanium backup stored in my dropbox so that is good.
Also lookout for android is ****. After i realized i had lost it...i upgraded to lookout premium for 14 days free trial and tried to lock and wipe my phone. didnt work. tried to locate my phone using that as it stated it might be more accurate. didnt work. tried to use the scream function. didnt work. nothing worked and i tried searching forums and i think a lot of ppl have problems with it not working... I should have tested it out before i actually needed it.
Also thank god for 1.3.1 update that fixed the lock screen issue that i installed a couple days ago...otherwise all my info was just out in the open....im still worried tho...wish the stupid wipe function worked.
Sorry if this is in the wrong place, first time poster here.
In December I purchased a nexus5 off of some guy that was selling one in my local area. He seemed like a good guy, the phone was in the original box and I was pumped at getting one for a bit cheaper than they are on the play store. Although this last week it randomly could not connect to the network, so I called Telus (my Canadian provider) and after a half hour of troubleshooting they told me that the IMEI is blacklisted as a lost or stolen device? I feel pretty ripped off and disappointed. I found the guys email that I brought it from and tried to contact him but he wont answer his phone, texts, or email. So I don't know what to do? Am I just screwed and forced to buy a new phone? is there anyway I can change the IMIE address? Or anything that anyone can recommend I should attempt to do? Thanks in advance for any help that can be supplied!
Always check before buying. If it is stolen (instead of lost) then you should turn it in to the police. But there is no way to tell and the provider will never tell you which.
It also isn't unheard of for a telco to incorrectly block a phone. I'd try arguing your case since you used it for a month before they shut you down.
nordlead2005 said:
Always check before buying. If it is stolen (instead of lost) then you should turn it in to the police. But there is no way to tell and the provider will never tell you which.
It also isn't unheard of for a telco to incorrectly block a phone. I'd try arguing your case since you used it for a month before they shut you down.
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Thanks for the input. Who would I contact about arguing it? I talked to someone at Telus for a good half an hour, and they just told me that they have no control blacklisting the IMEI. They would if say i was under contract and I didnt pay my bill. But I am off contract and just put their SIM in my unlocked device. The person told me that say for example if the phone was stolen from BestBuy in novemeber, it could have worked this entire time because it took bestbuy this long for them to put the numbers in there system, and it finally just caught up with me. And also, my SIM works in my friends nexus4, so it doesnt have anything to do with Telus, its an issue with the phone not getting access to the towers. And if it is blacklisted on the national list for being lost or stolen it wont work on any of the carriers in the country... So i dont know what to do
This probably isn't the best place for this, but I don't really know where else to ask about it.
A few months ago I was on a trip and I found a MetroPCS phone that was locked. There was very little I could do about figuring out who the owner was (it wasn't anyone's in the group I was in) or trying to unlock the phone (no way!). When I got home, I called up MetroPCS and explained my predicament, but they were surprisingly unhelpful and basically told me I had to take it to the store, and even then they likely couldn't do anything for me or the owner. After a bit of arguing about how ridiculous that is, the support guy ended up essentially telling me to throw out/recycle the phone. Obviously there's a whole other issue here with their support on this issue, but I won't touch that at the moment.
Well, the nearest store is really far from me (over an hour away) and its out of the way from any normal driving I do, so I ended up just throwing the phone in a drawer for a while. I was cleaning up yesterday and I found it again, so I decided to look into this once more. Today I learned about ESN and IMEI blacklisting, and I looked the phone up to see and of course it is blacklisted because it was reported lost.
Is there anything I can do with this thing? I guess I could sell it for parts on eBay or something like that, but I feel weird selling a phone that a lot of potential buyers would yell "stolen!" at.
Ductapemaster said:
This probably isn't the best place for this, but I don't really know where else to ask about it.
A few months ago I was on a trip and I found a MetroPCS phone that was locked. There was very little I could do about figuring out who the owner was (it wasn't anyone's in the group I was in) or trying to unlock the phone (no way!). When I got home, I called up MetroPCS and explained my predicament, but they were surprisingly unhelpful and basically told me I had to take it to the store, and even then they likely couldn't do anything for me or the owner. After a bit of arguing about how ridiculous that is, the support guy ended up essentially telling me to throw out/recycle the phone. Obviously there's a whole other issue here with their support on this issue, but I won't touch that at the moment.
Well, the nearest store is really far from me (over an hour away) and its out of the way from any normal driving I do, so I ended up just throwing the phone in a drawer for a while. I was cleaning up yesterday and I found it again, so I decided to look into this once more. Today I learned about ESN and IMEI blacklisting, and I looked the phone up to see and of course it is blacklisted because it was reported lost.
Is there anything I can do with this thing? I guess I could sell it for parts on eBay or something like that, but I feel weird selling a phone that a lot of potential buyers would yell "stolen!" at.
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Wifi toy for the kids / nieces / nephews / friend ...?
Obviously the phone is a lost cause at this stage, despite your best efforts. Typically there is a way to use a button combo to get into recovery to wipe the phone so the previous user's data and passwords will be removed. How to do so, or if it is possible, depends on the model.
Ductapemaster said:
Today I learned about ESN and IMEI blacklisting, and I looked the phone up to see and of course it is blacklisted because it was reported lost.
Is there anything I can do with this thing? I guess I could sell it for parts on eBay or something like that, but I feel weird selling a phone that a lot of potential buyers would yell "stolen!" at.
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You can sell it, just list it as having a bad ESN/IMEI and "for parts".
If there's a SIM card, you could pop it in a MetroPCS or unlocked GSM phone and it should have the phone number (Settings -> About device -> Status). Call/text the number (from another phone, obviously).