Prepare for stolen phone

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petum

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Hi.

So I have apps like fnb (main account), absa (bond), tyme (savings), Google photos, bitcoin apps, and many more on my android S10.

I need most of it for life and work but will be up the poop whole if my phone gets stolen and I can't wipe my phone hopefully using the google wipe thing? Never used... I backup everything as far as I understand...

All apps are either password protected or finger but what if.

Is there anything else I can do if I do loose it or prepare for loosing it?

This thread is proudly sponsored by the ANFNC.
 
petum said:
Hi.

So I have apps like fnb (main account), absa (bond), tyme (savings), Google photos, bitcoin apps, and many more on my android S10.

I need most of it for life and work but will be up the poop whole if my phone gets stolen and I can't wipe my phone hopefully using the google wipe thing? Never used... I backup everything as far as I understand...

All apps are either password protected or finger but what if.

Is there anything else I can do if I do loose it or prepare for loosing it?

This thread is proudly sponsored by the ANFNC.
Click to expand...
Well, if your fly is open, and your nads hang out, loosely, then that would suck.
By losing your nads however, that would make you lose it.
 
Know 2 people who's phones were grabbed while they were busy using them and then money transferred soon after. Your phone might not be locked when they grab it.
 
You can do a remote wipe but I think whoever these thieves sell the phones would be smart enough to do a hard factory reset.
 
B-1 said:
Know 2 people who's phones were grabbed while they were busy using them and then money transferred soon after. Your phone might not be locked when they grab it.
Click to expand...

Did they save passwords to their Google account? That's something I never do.
 
Ninja'd said:
Did they save passwords to their Google account? That's something I never do.
Click to expand...

Never really cared to ask the details but I assume if you have access to the primary email app, SMS, etc you can pretty much reset any password.
 
B-1 said:
Never really cared to ask the details but I assume if you have access to the primary email app, SMS, etc you can pretty much reset any password.
Click to expand...

True,

Looking at the bank apps on my phone, the old Capitec doesn't have a PIN reset, I believe that has to be done at the branch and TymeBank requests your ID number for forgotten pins.
 
Heightened levels of paranoia. I take it most banking apps use a pin or biometrics to unlock. Hopefully you don’t use the same passcode. If you’re held at gunpoint it’s a different story.

Set your device to auto lock after 60 seconds.
 
If your cloud backups are fine and you need to wipe the phone then you can do it with Google. You can do it through most mobile antivirus solutions like Eset as well.

Most of the time cellphone thieves just load new firmware so your data is lost either way.
 
My wife left her phone in a toilet at the mall:)
A vey kind lady found it, and called me as one of the contacts.
She had it back very soon after.

I would like some pointers on how to track where a phone is, using Findmyphone app.
 
A while ago I bought a used Vodatab, for R200.
The seller had done a factory reset on it, but could not remember the Google password, so the tablet was locked, and he gave it away, on the basis I took the chance it was a brick.
I managed to unlock it, but it required a lot of effort to figure out how to do a flash of the ROM. Google was no help at all, too much misinformation out there.
I wonder if the local cell repair shops can unlock phones that have been bricked like this?
 
How will they get access to any of these apps if you have them properly password protected?

Stop being so paranoid, man.
 
I wouldn't stress too much. Thieves want to get the phone off the network as quickly as possible. So they will, most likely, dump the SIM and turn the device off. So make sure you have security turned on, so if they turn it back on it is locked. They will then probably do a factory reset.

Some phones allow you to change the IMEI through engineering mode (code from the keypad or the boot menu) but it may not be permanent. So they change it and sell it as working. Next time the new owner reboots the phone it reverts to the original IMEI.
 
Your bigger problem will be getting into your stuff if you ever lose your phone.

If you have 2FA prepare for a world of pain.
 
ghoti said:
Your bigger problem will be getting into your stuff if you ever lose your phone.

If you have 2FA prepare for a world of pain.
Click to expand...

I was just thinking this now. How would you log into Google in the first place with 2FA enabled. Time to rethink.
 
Lord Flacko said:
Heightened levels of paranoia. I take it most banking apps use a pin or biometrics to unlock. Hopefully you don’t use the same passcode. If you’re held at gunpoint it’s a different story.

Set your device to auto lock after 60 seconds.
Click to expand...
60??? My screen times out after 5 seconds! I set it this way, but for the life of me can't remember what I did.

My point is, 60 is way too long
 
splattie said:
I was just thinking this now. How would you log into Google in the first place with 2FA enabled. Time to rethink.
Click to expand...

Sign in with backup codes - Computer - Google Account Help

If you can’t sign into your Google Account with your normal 2-Step Verification, you can use a backup code for the second step. Create backup codes to use in case you lose your phone, change your phon
support.google.com support.google.com
You can print 10 backup codes you can use. I have it in my wallet for years now.
 
I remember when my first android device was liberated from me many years ago. I had always been a massive advocate for mobile device tracking and had everything set up to track my phone if it was ever lost or stolen. Of course I immediately changed my google password which prevented me from using the find my device feature.

Surprisingly, the only thing that ever provided any sort of lead was the free AVG mobile security app I had installed. A little while after my device was stolen I started receiving emails from AVG every time the sim card was swapped in the phone and they sent me the serial numbers of the new sims. I then received an email stating that someone had changed the email address linked to the AVG app. I used that email address and publicly available Facebook info to eventually track the name and mobile number of the person who now seemed to have my phone. Not that the police ever took this information seriously and acted on it.
 
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