I have a client who's wife died recently. As with any situation where the spouse dies at home, the police did a full investigation and went through all the computers and phones and the like and returned them to him. He desperately wants to get to the data on the phones, but cannot, as he does not know the PIN code to either. He has tried birthdays for the kids and every other things he can think of. He now only has 9 attempts left to get the PIN right, and fears the data will be lost if he gets it wrong. Is there any way to get to the data on these phones? Obviously we don't want to factory reset and risk losing everything. Any suggestions/ideas for help?
Only 2 ways. One is to use Samsung find my Mobile and the other is to use Google find my Device. Of course you might need to know the email and password. There's no way to bypass the PIN on Android 9 or 10 from the phone itself.
StoneyJSG said:
Only 2 ways. One is to use Samsung find my Mobile and the other is to use Google find my Device. Of course you might need to know the email and password. There's no way to bypass the PIN on Android 9 or 10 from the phone itself.
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So, she never registered the phone with Samsung, so the Samsung Find My Mobile isnt an option.
However, I have logged into the email and used the Google Find My Device. It lists the phone, the service is active, but the Gooogle FMP service says it cannot locate thee phone. Phone is powered on, SIM is inserted, and the service is active, as I can call and text the phone with no issues
If 'smart lock' was enabled, you could go to her favorite places (possibly their home) and the device would automatically unlock itself. The last option is to go to a Samsung service center with all documentation.
Related
My friend lost his HTC-Wildfire ( India, Bangalore).
There was no tracker enabled, is it possible to request HTC to block the device based on IMEI number? I read somewhere, it is not yet possible in India ( the blog-post was about a year old).
Any other suggestions?
HTC will not do it. Your mobile operator will do it, but, it needs a FIR from your local police station, and, as expected, it is a process full of hassle, unless you have 'contacts'.
And I heard, mobile operator keep asking to go back to device manufacturer. ( we work at SIM level, and not device, unless it is locked).
Then perhaps I should let the 'finder' enjoy his luck for now.
As I said, its a hassle filled process. From what I read and heard, it is the mobile operator who should do it, because, all of them have access to a global database of stolen phones. All they need to do is simply add your IMEI to this global list, and it is locked for use with any sim - any network. Obviously, its a process filled with legal red tape, which is why they are uncooperative.
I think when we are using android market, Google will be having our imei/serial number. Don't know if that helps to track the phone ( maybe not ). But I think everyone with android phone must be using market.
And if the person who got the phone wants to use wildfire without a sim or any other internet networks, then u can do really really nothing. All we should do is to protect our phone from being lost.
You could also try Plan B,if it works in your country.It`s an app that installs itself when the device connects to the market and then sends you the location of the phone.
Hope it will work for you^^
Haska said:
You could also try Plan B,if it works in your country.It`s an app that installs itself when the device connects to the market and then sends you the location of the phone.
Hope it will work for you^^
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That was the first thing I did, but I think I was late by hours. By that time the device was offline.
ALso, there was a 'pattern' based unlock password. So, if the person goes about reflashing the ROM (himself, or whoever he sells to).. then that wont work.
Haska said:
You could also try Plan B,if it works in your country.It`s an app that installs itself when the device connects to the market and then sends you the location of the phone.
Hope it will work for you^^
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It's already lost unfortunately.
Besides, atleast as far as I know, mobile thieves are today much more intelligent. They will first flash and format your phone before even attempting to use it (They switch off your phone immediately after picking it - happened to me once). Also, another aspect is that it is hardly ever the thief who will use it. He will sell it at first opportunity.
^@3xeno
Exactly.
I had no hope from planB, but I still did it - just in case.
Even if it works, the accuracy of location would be very important.
I can be evil and go all-out to get IMEI blocked. But just thinking whether its worth the hassle ( its more of a revenge), as they say, it wont help to get the device back.
Or should I let the 'receiver' enjoy his luck.
As i can remember there is a app in the market called 'plan B' which helps to track your phone even after it is lost. Log in to the market with your pc and search for it.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA Premium App
shiranmotha said:
As i can remember there is a app in the market called 'plan B' which helps to track your phone even after it is lost. Log in to the market with your pc and search for it.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA Premium App
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Of course he can install "Plan B" remotely in his device from PC android market without any confirmational messages (but provided only if his gmail account is still associated with his phone. This happens only if his sim card was unchanged and i dont think that is the case).
It would be nice if google gives some more security to keep the gmail account attached to the phone.
bharatgaddameedi said:
It would be nice if google gives some more security to keep the gmail account attached to the phone.
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I had that feeling almost two months afther buying it: you can simply pull out the sim card of the device and start it up, resulting in having access to the persons mails and contacts. You can even send mails if you enable wifi.
Solution for that: the pattern unlock. Most of the time annoying, but thiefs will have to hard reset the phone to get past it, loosing all the contact with my mail and google contacts.
EDIT: or at least I hope so, never really tried to see if there was a way to get past the unlock code (accept when you get called, but I really hope that the thief is not someone who has my number )
ErwinP said:
I had that feeling almost two months afther buying it: you can simply pull out the sim card of the device and start it up, resulting in having access to the persons mails and contacts. You can even send mails if you enable wifi.
Solution for that: the pattern unlock. Most of the time annoying, but thiefs will have to hard reset the phone to get past it, loosing all the contact with my mail and google contacts.
EDIT: or at least I hope so, never really tried to see if there was a way to get past the unlock code (accept when you get called, but I really hope that the thief is not someone who has my number )
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A typical thief wont be able to get past 'pattern-unlock'. However, in hands of a hacker, with adb - everything is possible with sufficient time and motivation.
Typical thief would either sell it, or try to use it using different sim ( your best hope for any post-theft-tracking possibility).
Irony is that, pattern lock saves you from un-educated 'thief' misusing your data. But, on the other hand it motivates them to reflash the ROM, thus eliminating any chance of u tracking it.
In hands of even bigger experts, even IMEI-lock wont stay for long. I am sure there are people who know how to spoof IMEI. But I would imagine that is very small community.
Yes it all depends on the person that finds/steals the phone but better to try and fail than not try at all.And yes the Plan B requirement is that the person that has your phone uses your gmail account login on the market.With pattern lock the one that finds it would have to flash it as akshayxyz said so it all depends on the settings/luck or whatever ,but still there is no harm in trying.
After all what are the chances that someone with knowledge about these things finds your lost phone,and if that was the case then your friend has really bad luck.
I lost my phone and i used it just in case,I even kept the same password in the hope that one would log in with it.It didn`t help me since as i found out later my lcd cracked when it fell out of my pocket ,but after i got it back(the person that found it came into the store i work at and asked how much would the replacement cost) and loged in the market the app installed itself,so try it.
No harm done and its just a few clicks on the net^^.
does anyone know how this feature works, can be found in the settings under Location and Security. Called 'Find My Mobile'
Particularly insterested in how 'Remote Functions' works as it allows the phone to be locked, tracked and data to be wiped remotely.
www.samsungdive.com
I'm in the US.. I tried it, and but after 30 minutes of attempting to find my phone, and I canceled and gave up.
ronj1986 said:
I'm in the US.. I tried it, and but after 30 minutes of attempting to find my phone, and I canceled and gave up.
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I had similar experience here in Canada. Has anyone actually got this to work?
np231 said:
I had similar experience here in Canada. Has anyone actually got this to work?
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I have tried it and it worked nice for me...I kept my Net connection on (background Data on too in Accounts and Sync) ..it won't work if your net is off on mobile
I'm in the U.S. and it works fine. I actually used "ring my phone" yesterday because I lost it in the house. I think I registered here first...
http://www.samsungapps.com/mobile/main.as?LANG_CODE=ENG&COUNTRY_CODE=GBR
Once you've registered, your user ID is good across all the different Samsung feature sites. Except for Social Hub which doesn't recognize the IMEI of the phone.
np231 said:
I had similar experience here in Canada. Has anyone actually got this to work?
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Works great here, takes around 15-20 seconds to get a location and a little less to lock/ring phone.
np231 said:
I had similar experience here in Canada. Has anyone actually got this to work?
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Certainly you'll need to have GPS signal where you are (in your room, office, etc.) or at least allow it use wireless networks to determine its position.
If even doing this you can't find it, then it definitely doesn't work...
np231 said:
I had similar experience here in Canada. Has anyone actually got this to work?
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I tried it here in Denmark. Worked flawlessly. Found my phone almost immediately.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Works for me in Canada, using KG3, and a different SIM card than the one I was using when I setup my Samsung account. Even told me the SIM had changed.
I've got it to work also. Could have been an error with the firmware I was using before...I can't remember which version it was. I'm on KG3 now though
Works good here in the USA for me too. Had to login directly into Samsung DIVE though. Was able to lock my phone and make it ring. Very cool.
Actually, as i see it this app is just for fun. If your phone is stolen, it's unlikely you can do anything in SamsungDive, since it requires an active data connection and even so, it doesn't seem to work if you don't accept google to collect data when prompted. What person would accept that when having a stolen phone ? Btw, does your SamsungDive account show your number ? Mine doesn't, but all features can be used.
Sp1tfire said:
Actually, as i see it this app is just for fun. If your phone is stolen, it's unlikely you can do anything in SamsungDive, since it requires an active data connection and even so, it doesn't seem to work if you don't accept google to collect data when prompted. What person would accept that when having a stolen phone ? Btw, does your SamsungDive account show your number ? Mine doesn't, but all features can be used.
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I agree with that. Samsungdive is pretty limited. You're better off with an app that uses sms messages to the phone to lock, locate, wipe, etc. At least it's more likely that a stolen phone will be on and connected to a cell network than have data on.
sunseaker said:
I agree with that. Samsungdive is pretty limited. You're better off with an app that uses sms messages to the phone to lock, locate, wipe, etc. At least it's more likely that a stolen phone will be on and connected to a cell network than have data on.
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its working as described in the UK.
even what u say is not enough, because in both instances ur relying on the SIM card and/or ur login details, which i expect to change immediately by a phone thieve
however the best tracking service would be by tracking the hardware ID or IMEI of the device, but unfortunately this is restricted to network providers only
Sp1tfire said:
Actually, as i see it this app is just for fun. If your phone is stolen, it's unlikely you can do anything in SamsungDive, since it requires an active data connection and even so, it doesn't seem to work if you don't accept google to collect data when prompted. What person would accept that when having a stolen phone ? Btw, does your SamsungDive account show your number ? Mine doesn't, but all features can be used.
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Click to collapse
Yes it shows my number but not in the spot I was expecting it. It was near the bottom of the page. I had to click on it to get any of the functions.
Sent from my GT-I9100
drreality said:
its working as described in the UK.
even what u say is not enough, because in both instances ur relying on the SIM card and/or ur login details, which i expect to change immediately by a phone thieve
however the best tracking service would be by tracking the hardware ID or IMEI of the device, but unfortunately this is restricted to network providers only
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Click to collapse
Ultimately no system is 100%. I just think the system that uses sms is more reliable, even if the sim card is changed it will send the number of the new sim card to a mobile number you have configured in the app so you can still send commands (turn on background gps tracking and data , remote lock, remote wipe, etc) to the new number. No radio data or sync services are required to be on initially.
All this assumes of course that the thief hasn't found the app and tried to un-install it (although it shouldn't allow un-installing without a password) or just factory reset the phone.
Best thing is not to loose your phone
iam here in austria.
on the first day, where i get my sgs2, i tried samsungdive. it doesnt worked.
but on the next day i tried again, and it worked perfectly.
tracking, writing message, call protocol and ringing worked finde. the last one (erase data) i dont tried out
cheers
So my dad works for a company that issues him a phone. When he is issued a new one I usually get his hand me downs. I just got a Samsung S8 from him that apparently was programmed to be locked down with a MDzm of Samsung. It automatically leads up with every boot and tries to register the phone. It locks the home button but I have circumvented this by installing a home button app. The phone is totally useable now but the security policy won't let me use the camera. Is there ahyway to either remove the MDM all together or a work around to at least be able to take pictures? I have tried disabling Samsung Knox as an administrator but it is greyed out and so is the ability to install unknown apps so a modded apk seems to be out of the question as well. Thank you all for any help!!
Most likely he will need his company to unenroll him. I work for att field services and have the same thing, our mdm is mobile iron. In order to unregister the device i would need to go to a website (att proprietary) login with my credentials and retire my device. Then you launch the mdm manager apk and it phones home, sees your no longer a user and unlocks the device. From there you uninstall the apk as normal.
You can try a factory reset, but if they log imeis your dad will need to have IT retire his old device.
My Wife accidentally forgot her lockscreen password, I’ve tried to reset it with samsung’s find my mobile service and Google’s lost phone service.
The first (Samsung find my mobile) appears to be turned off in device, I can locate the phone but either can’t start backup / remove lock screen. The Google’s service unable to locate the phone while it’s turned on, connected to the network and location services work.
The last thing I could do is reset the phone, as in phone we have lot's of memories.
If anyone here had issue like me, please share the solution.
Thank you.
Hey Everyone,
I have been bashing my head against a wall trying to get this phone unlocked, a friend has passed away and no one knows his PSW. The phone houses information that will help the family.
What I have been able to get access to over the course of time i have spent with all devices.
Emails, laptops, Samsung account.
He was good with securing his passwords but I was able to get through with some persistence.
The phone is linked to his Samsung account and when i go onto: https://findmymobile.samsung.com/
i see it however when i try to see any options I get the following:
"Your service provider doesn't support the Find My Mobile service on your phone.
If you've lost a device, you can find it with SmartThings Find in the SmartThings app.
SmartThings Find is only supported on devices with Android O or higher."
smart things gives me absolutely nothing. I tried to bypass the service provider by spoofing the wifi from his home and got him connected but that has given me no further progress.
I also checked if he had developer options on so i could ADB into the phone but again no luck with that. I am down to "3 attempts left" with no option to reset password.
Any help would be super appreciated.
Also have an iPad that i cant figure out the password to but I am guessing that thing is done, and the data cannot be removed from it.
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help.
_dW
one of the forum members was able to attempt to assist but we did not get far I have not seen a message like this in the samsung account ever and yet it always pops up . we reflashed the phone to a ATT variant and attempted to see if it can be found on that network and we got the same results.
I feel like I am between a rock and a hard place I would love to help the family but I know within 3 attempts the phone will be wiped.
If anyone has any other ideas I am all ears.
bump plz help
Data recovery specialist. They're out there.
Didn't they backup the data?