r/Android • u/AutoModerator • Oct 08 '14
HELP! My phone is missing/stolen!
It's unfortunate, but it can happen to anybody. You misplace your device or it gets stolen; no matter what happened you want it back and you want your data secure. This thread featured great information, but it's outdated now.
Leave a comment below with how YOU secure your device and how you recommend others protect their precious data!
Please note that this thread will be archived in the wiki and linked in the sidebar. Any off-topic or unhelpful comment will be removed.
Suggestions and comments on how to improve this thread are always welcome!
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u/Viktorgasm Oct 08 '14
Cerberus can take a picture of a thief every time the passcode is failed. You can also use the client app to remotely control your lost phone using SMS.
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u/Matthais Oct 08 '14
I'd recommend installing it on your phone, even if you don't plan on paying for it immediately. I did precisely this on my old HTC One X a few years back; about six months later my phone fell out of my pocket while I was juggling baggage. I was able to login and pay for the full version now that I needed it and, since the app was already on my phone, it helped me locate and take a picture of the kid who picked it up.
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u/MeSpeaksNonsense Oct 09 '14
Huh. Wouldn't think they'd allow that. But the devs are so nice. Can't live without Cerberus, I get constant shivers when I install another rom and it's not set up.
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u/nusyahus Oct 08 '14
When I go online to track device it will only do it when changing/resetting data connection e.g. turning wifi on or off, disabling then re-enabling data, turning airplane mode off etc. After about a minute or so, I'm unable to connect to device. Unlock fail pictures work similar manner. Any help would be appreciated.
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u/unerds Oct 08 '14
you may have to enable device administration within the cerberus app on your phone...?
read over the help section
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u/darubramha Oct 08 '14
I support cerberus and own the paid version, but how will it help if someone turns on the phone through boot loader, wipes the data?
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Oct 08 '14
If the phone is rooted you can install it as a system app. Then they can't remove it unless they flash a new ROM.
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u/samsaBEAR Oct 08 '14
I have at least two hundred emails, all with stupid photos of myself, in my inbox from where I typed my PIN too fast and fucked up the numbers. Thank god for GravityBox and it's security features, or I'd have way more emails now.
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Oct 08 '14
I found it raped my battery
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u/larsgj Oct 08 '14
Been using cerberus on all devices since it came out. Never had a problem. Anecdotal yes but it apparently differs a lot.
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u/bicyclemom Oct 08 '14 edited Oct 08 '14
First, turn on Android Device Manager. It's free, it works, you may as well use it.
Second, I always install linkme: Cerberus. It gives me a lot of features that ADM doesn't have, like the ability to withstand a factory reset, take video/stills/audio recording remotely and control the phone from SMS. There are other, similarly capable ones as well. I'm not here to get into a fanboy/fangirl war, this just happens to be the one I use and it has worked fine for me for the past 4 years, through 4 Android devices.
Third, if your phone has an "Auto factory reset" after 10 failed login attempts, turn that on.
Fourth, use 2 factor authentication on your Google account. Seriously, especially if you have anything of personal value on the phone or on Google - calendars, email, bank info, etc. Turn it on. Use :linkme Authy. if Google Authenticator seems like it sucks.
Fifth, visit https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions to see what apps and devices can use your Google account. If your phone is really lost and you're about ready to give it up, you can shut down access to your Google account from that phone from here.
Sixth, fill in that Owner Information thing for your lockscreen. There are a lot of honest, compassionate people out there who actually will return a lost phone.
Seventh, encrypt your phone if you really want it to lock down data when the phone is locked.
Eighth, periodically test both Android Device Manager and Cerberus to be sure they still work. This is mostly a paranoia thing, but sometimes, if you're a serial ROM user/factory resetter for instance, you may have forgotten to do the restore.
Ninth, wow, can't believe I forgot this one....password or at least PIN your phone. Why make it easy for someone to rip through your phone?
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u/PlayStoreLinks__Bot Oct 08 '14
Cerberus anti theft - Price: Free - Rating: 89/100 - Search for "Cerberus" on the Play Store
Source ^Code | Feedback/Bug ^report | Bot by u/cris9696
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u/vividboarder Oct 08 '14
What do you mean by Turn On? Android Device Manager is on by default on my devices. Did I enable it through the web a long time back or something?
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u/bicyclemom Oct 08 '14
It's been a while but I think you have to add it as one of your device administrators for it to work 100%.
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u/vividboarder Oct 08 '14
Maybe for wiping data, but I haven't turned on anything or even installed the app and I could locate, ring, etc... The Wipe button wasn't grey'd out either, but I wasn't ready to click that for science...
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u/dysomatic Oct 09 '14
Hey, just to verify, encrypting protects files when locked as well as when powering on? Haven't had the chance to set it up yet on my S3, but I've been unable to find anything substantial online about how it really works...
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u/antuna Oct 08 '14 edited Oct 08 '14
For those of you with Android Wear, I suggest Phone Finder, or something similar. Basically, when your phone loses bluetooth connection with your watch, the watch vibrates letting you know you left your phone behind. You can also open the app on your watch to make your phone's alarm sound at full volume.
linkme: Phone Finder Not the right one, here's the link
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u/orange_jumpsuit Oct 08 '14
That sounds pretty useful. Does leaving the Bluetooth on on your phone all the time affects the battery in a substantial way with today's batteries?
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u/OmegaVesko Oct 08 '14
I imagine stuff like Bluetooth LE goes a long way with reducing battery drain these days. Plus, if you have a smartwatch, you're going to have it on all the time anyway.
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u/NAG3LT Oct 08 '14
Bluetooth LE is very light on battery. I can keep Bluetooth on for whole day with the headset connected with no noticeable battery drain.
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u/acondie13 Oct 08 '14
Finally a feature I would love from a smart watch.
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u/antuna Oct 08 '14
I know! It's just so... so incredibly obvious to have as a feature!
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u/acondie13 Oct 08 '14
Definitely gonna remember this whenever smart watches become a bit more relevant to me.
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u/antuna Oct 08 '14
Yea, I've got a 360 and this is by far the most useful thing that I have for it. Saved me once already! Also, a less uh, intended feature, in this app is that it lets you know if your phone died in your pocket.
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u/hellphish Oct 08 '14
I have this on my watch and it is great. I also use Tasker to remove the pattern lock when the watch is connected, and re-enable it if the phone can't find the watch.
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u/unfortunateleader Oct 09 '14
Glance for pebble also has this feature, and you can customize the watch face to show if Bluetooth is connected or not.
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u/PlayStoreLinks__Bot Oct 08 '14
Phone Finder - Price: Free - Rating: 78/100 - Search for "Phone Finder" on the Play Store
Source ^Code | Feedback/Bug ^report | Bot by u/cris9696
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u/neotopian Oct 08 '14 edited Oct 08 '14
Here's something that no one has ever been able to give me a clear answer on: to find your phone, do you or do you not need data and location services to be turned on?
Edit: Also, is there an app that can turn on data and location with a text message?
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u/maybelying Oct 08 '14
Yes, you do. Without location services, any tracking apps cannot determine location, and without data, they cannot communicate back with you.
Cerberus, I believe, can be triggered from a text message, but would still need data and location to be of any use from that point.
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u/tangozeroseven Oct 08 '14
I believe Cerberus, if rooted and admin-enabled, can force location and wifi on.
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u/fluffman86 Oct 08 '14
Yes. You can get a very rough location from the cell tower, and a better location if you left WiFi on. You also need some sort of data to send the ring / wipe / whatever signal, whether that's WiFi or cell data.
But seriously... It's a smartphone, and if I wasn't receiving hangouts messages, formerly Google voice messages, and Gmail then I wouldn't need a smartphone at all, so I leave data on, and I'm on my second day of using my HTC one m8, and at 56%.
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Oct 08 '14
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u/DecisiveWhale Oct 11 '14
I don't think this is the case. Android device manager will not force location on even if Device Administrator.
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u/bdclark Oct 08 '14
It's pretty much a given that you need to have some sort of tracking/theft recovery software installed before you lose your device. My brother in law left his Verizon Ellipsis 4G tablet in a hotel room in Wyoming a few months ago and the manager said they didn't find it in the room (even though they called an hour after leaving and about 3 hours before check-in time). The only thing I could find that claimed to be able to track devices without being installed beforehand was Android Lost. I couldn't get it to work with his tablet, he had a ton of crap installed on there and I think it didn't have space to install it even though it said it did. It sure would be nice to be able to uninstall apps remotely, then it might've worked. If your device can accept SMS, just install the app. If it's a tablet (like in his case) you push a quickstart app to it, then the main app.
Since I couldn't get that to work, I found that I could log in to Google Maps using my brother in law's Google account and see the device's location history. If you head over to (https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/) you can see where the device has been. In his case, I was able to watch it go from the Best Western about 30 miles south to a trailer park. The police said it technically wasn't theft, since he left it in the room but they didn't know that. I noticed they'd been reading his emails, so I sent an email to the account stating that I am tracking the tablet & gave them the name of the trailer park and that I'm in contact with the police. I told them to turn the tablet in at the front desk the next day and we wouldn't press charges. The next day the Best Western manager called and said they were shipping the tablet to my brother in law, so it all worked out fine! Ever since then, all my relatives that use Android are now Cerberus users.
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u/vividboarder Oct 08 '14
Android Device Manager works by default if you have Google Services (like you use the Play Store).
That should do pretty well for locating and locking down a device.
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u/bdclark Oct 08 '14
I tried using it, but I couldn't get a location from it unless they were using it right then. The one time I saw its location through ADM they were apparently inside a trailer & the metal roof skewed the GPS data quite a bit. It's been a while, but I think the ring, lock & erase options were all grayed out for some reason.
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u/vividboarder Oct 08 '14
I haven't had those problems. Works locating my device despite being inside a building.
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u/woflcopter Oct 08 '14
Remember people, keep your IMEI in a notepad folder. Having your IMEI is so important. You can find it in the box or in the settings of your phone
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u/aclays Oct 08 '14
Can you ELI5 why it's good to keep a record of the IMEI?
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u/will99222 Oct 08 '14
The IMEI is a serial number.
Police can use it to identify your phone if its recovered or handed in.
Most stores keep a record of the IMEI of any phones they buy, service or sell, and police can "flag" numbers to be notified if they get passed through any main stores.
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u/tasko Oct 08 '14
With CDMA carriers (Sprint and Verizon), they will have a record of your IMEI/MEID history because they don't use SIM cards to provision service, they have to know your MEID. I'm fairly certain GSM carriers would also have these records, but can't speak from experience to be completely certain.
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u/jconnolly5 Oct 08 '14
I had success using Where's My Droid. You can text your phone an attention word from any other phone and it will ring, even if set to silent. It also has GPS (Long, Lat, Speed, Direction and link to google maps) and the paid version has front and rear facing camera control.
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u/vividboarder Oct 08 '14
If you've already lost it and never installed any of the apps mentioned here, don't worry! Go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager and your phone will show up anyway.
You can ring, lock, and locate your phone. I haven't tried the wipe feature myself because I haven't lost it, but I imagine it'd work.
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u/roloder Oct 09 '14
I use Cerberus. I'm rooted so I can avoid it being removed with even a reset. It's reall a great app, lets you take photos/videos/screenshots, call history, messaging history, gps location, set off alarm with taking a picture when alarm is removed, have that phone initiate a call to another device or message another device. It's beautiful.
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u/mraksmeet Oct 08 '14
I use GravityBox to disable the power button on the lockscreen (Nexus 5) so if it does get lost or stolen, they can't turn it off giving me plenty time to locate it using Android Device Manager. Edit: I also have a PIN lock on the lockscreen.
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u/SomebodyCool Oct 08 '14 edited Oct 09 '14
I have several layers of protection:
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I use Smart App Lock to lock certain apps (gmail, banking, Settings) when I'm disconnected from my home Wi-Fi. If they are opened, a dummy crash error is displayed: short pressing "Ok" on the error screen closes the app, while long-pressing it reveals a pattern unlock screen that lets you access the app.
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I further have Cerberus installed for remote control of my phone. It's set up to send alerts and be controlled from a secondary email address and phone number. It's also installed as a system app, so as to survive a factory reset (although, of course, a sophistaced thief could still wipe the system completely).
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As a last line of defense, I use Secrecy to encrypt sensitive documents. I have it set up to be opened by dialing a certain code in the phone dialer, and a different code is required to unencrypt the documents.
Of course none of this provides perfect protection, and a sufficiently sophisticated attacker would not have a hard time getting past SAL and Cerberus (Secrecy uses AES-256, so as long as the implementation isn't bugged it should allright). But they should give me enough time to prevent identity\data theft in case my phone is stolen, which is what they are intended to do. The possibility of remote surveillance on the phone via Cerberus is a plus, but I don't expect the police to follow through with it.
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u/bananabm Oct 08 '14
Does smart app lock not get in the way? One of the big things about my phone is I can read my emails while away from home
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u/SomebodyCool Oct 08 '14
Does smart app lock not get in the way?
It does, but less than a pattern\PIN lockscreen, since it only activates for selected apps.
One of the big things about my phone is I can read my emails while away from home
A little inconvenience is the price you pay for a bit more privacy. I understand that for some people this is not a good trade.
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u/IAmSarily Oct 08 '14
I've had Cerberus on all our devices for years now. But how do I install it as a system app?
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u/SomebodyCool Oct 08 '14
If you have a custom recovery installed, you can flash this zip to have cerberus as a system app. It's going to survive a factory reset if a thief attempts one, but if the thief does a full wipe of course it's not going to make it.
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u/neo7 Oct 08 '14
linkme: smart app lock, cerberus, secrecy
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u/PlayStoreLinks__Bot Oct 08 '14
Smart App Lock (App Protector) - Price: Free - Rating: 89/100 - Search for "smart app lock" on the Play Store
Cerberus anti theft - Price: Free - Rating: 89/100 - Search for "cerberus" on the Play Store
SECRECY - Encrypt/Hide Files α - Price: Free - Rating: 83/100 - Search for "secrecy" on the Play Store
Source ^Code | Feedback/Bug ^report | Bot by u/cris9696
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Oct 08 '14
To people who rely on Android Device Manager and Cerberus ability to wipe data: wiping your SD card and device means nothing because it's easy to recover all your private photos and data with tools like Piriform Recuva.
Unfortunately the only safe option is to encrypt your phone even though it's not very convenient to use password lock.
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Oct 10 '14
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u/PlayStoreLinks__Bot Oct 10 '14
Cryptfs Password - Price: Free - Rating: 93/100 - Search for "Cryptfs Password" on the Play Store
Source ^Code | Feedback/Bug ^report | Bot by u/cris9696
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u/PM_ME_UR_SNAPCHAT Oct 08 '14
Android device manager shows the last known locations of your devices. You might want to leave your GPS and mobile data on when you go out from now on just in case you're scared of loosing it.
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u/electricalgypsy Oct 08 '14
I usually turn data and GPS off my phone so I can save battery. So what I do is use Automateit so I can just send a text to my phone like 'turn on data' and then use Android Device Manager to find it
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Oct 08 '14
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u/Dh258 Oct 08 '14
These two got me my phone back this past Sunday. Pay whatever you need to for Cerberus, it's worth it. Police Officers were surprised to have pictures of the guy.
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Oct 08 '14 edited Oct 08 '14
A little known fact, if your device is online with Android Device Manager - you can install Android Lost remotely from the Google Play Store - this got me ping with the location and SSID it was connected to after my phone was stolen and Cerburus wasn't set up yet.
The app is only supported on Android 3 and below, however it did work (once and once only) for my 4.2 device and gave me enough info to track them down: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidlost.jumpstart
Don't rely on it to do wonders, but the basic pairing and a get info worked for me. Unsure if the thief was dumb enough to just open the app. I wouldn't put it past him as he hadn't wiped it, hadn't sold it after 3 weeks and hadn't signed out of my Google account.
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u/oldasianman Oct 08 '14
What can be done for users who have 2-step verification setup and who do not access the Android Device Manager website (https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager) from a known/trusted device?
The phone that was stolen is the one that will get the 6-digit PIN from Google - is there a way around this, or am I missing a step?
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Oct 08 '14
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u/zcmy Oct 08 '14
Recovery cannot be locked in any way. Even if your phone is encrypted, someone can still access recovery and wipe your phone, but not access your files. I've been actively trying to find a workaround for this, but I haven't been able to. Since my phone's encrypted by default and has daily backups, I'm never worried about losing my phone.
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u/fluffman86 Oct 08 '14
Ensure Android Device Manager is enabled under Settings > Security > Device Administrators.
Then you can log in on the web and check your phone's location, lock the device, wipe it, or make it ring even if it's on silent.
https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager