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Help How to know if remote erase worked? (Android Device Manager)

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Philwil

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Got my phone stolen yesterday and thus I used Android Device Manager to remotely erase all data on my phone. However at the time of doing so, the thief had turned my phone off as I couldnt call it. So was hoping the thief would either use his own simcard on my phone to connect to the internet or use wifi. But at the same time my phone has the pattern lock screen on, so he would need to bypass that first... unless he figured the pattern out as it could be clearly visible with my finger smudges, which it sometimes is.

I sent a whatsapp message to my phone at 1:56, and it showed one "gray tick". Which means message has been sent but not yet delivered. At 3:14 the message got two "gray ticks" indicating that the device received the message. So he must have gone online! I sent more whatsapp messages to my phone but they never received, just that one time at 3:14, so I assume remotely erase all data worked! Sucks Google wont send you an email letting you know if the device go the erase data command.

When I looked at the Device Manager in my Google account it shows when my phone synced last, and it shows 30min before it got stolen It didnt show last sync at the time the whatsapp message got received since he ust of been online then. So my question is, is the last synced message a reliable way of seeing when my phone went online last? Is it possible that my phone got the erase all data command, but didnt sync and therefore doesnt show up "last synced" at the time when my phone got erased? Because the last sync is still a time before it got stolen.

Freaking out about all the data in my phone and sdcard. Hope its erased.
 
You make a good point- Google sends an E-mail stating they will remotely factory reset your device the next time it is connected to the Internet, but they do not send a confirmation e-mail letting you know Android Device Manager successfully factory reset your phone. They should, in my opinion- it would put a lot people's minds at ease.

If you go to your Android Device Manager homepage it should tell you the last time it was located and the last time it was online. Press the little GPS locator button in the top right of the dialogue box and see if the box repopulates with any information. It shows you the the last TIME the device was located and last DAY it was online... but in your case (and many others) I agree that knowing the last time it was online would be helpful.

I don't think you should be worried about the "last synced" time not matching... when booting up a phone and getting the ADM command to factory reset, I doubt the phone would have enough time to sync all your Google services.

Considering all this... it would be smart for thieves to remove the SIM card before using the phone so they could get any data off it before potentially having it wiped by Android Device Manager. Then turning off GPS while offline. Let's hope most aren't smart enough and just start using the phone.
 
Thanks Rob for replying!

I checked the link, it just tells me last online 20december, no time included. And in Google settings it shows the "last synced" time which didnt help cause its before it got stolen. The only evidence I have that the thief went online is with the Whatsapp message I sent, proof he received my message and was online, so from that point maybe it reset.

Also if he removes SIM card and puts in his own, wouldnt the phone still reset? Afteral isnt the Device Manager linked to the gmail account and not just the phonenumber? So it should still get the reboot command even with his SIM inside?
 
If the WhatsApp message was indeed received then I would assume the device was also successfully factory reset. He/she could not have received your WhatsApp message unless:
  1. They kept your SIM in the phone (WhatsApp is tied to your phone number)
  2. They were online
If they swapped SIM cards, I'm pretty sure the device would still be tied to your Google Account. I'm not sure even being sneaky would allow them to receive that whatsapp message without having the phone get factory reset. Even if they:
  1. Powered the device on without a SIM Card
  2. Turned off WiFi, turned off Bluetooth
  3. Removed primary Google Account
  4. Add their Google account
  5. Opened WhatsApp...
At this point I believe all WhatsApp data would have been deleted (along with all other information associated with the Google Account) and not sure exactly what would happen if they tried to reconnect WhatsApp using the same SIM and a different Google Account. This could be the only foreseeable way they received the WhatsApp message without having the device get factory reset on them. Chances are if they're dumb enough to steal from someone, they're not smart enough to go through all these steps.

All of this wondering could/would be solved if Google would simply send a confirmation e-mail letting confirming to the Google user that device XYZ was factory reset on account ABC at whatever time etc... with whatever details and diagnostics they have available. Great suggestion... unfortunately I'm not sure there's much more you can do except keep your fingers crossed the thief was dumb and hope Google adds this in an upcoming Android update.

I'd be curious to hear if someone else has any other ideas/solutions/explanations though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!
 
Cheers Rob! Makes me feel bit better now :)

Weirdly enough from my experience Whatsapp will still work even if you put in a different SIM, its like a one time confirmation thing. Few months ago I had a friend temporarily put his SIM in my phone, I could still use my own Whatsapp, receive and send. So possibly this is the case with my phone and the thief. Eitherway Whatsapp gave a good indication that my phone went online, must of been his own SIM, because he turned my phone off/or flightmode and wouldnt been able to crack my SIM password. However what is still bit weird, no matter what SIM you put in, the lockscreen will always be there? So perhaps he cracked the pattern lockscreen, or how else would he have gotten online?

Also not sure what the odds are that the SD got erased, google said "maybe".

But yup, would be dead simple if Google just sent a confirm email. =(
 
Hello I've just read this and have a few questions...
1 . would the factory reset still work if the device was disconnected from the google drive account first ( first point of safety procedure if lost )
2 . If this not correct how could you remote connect back to google drive to initiate reset ? ..
3. If a new SIM is obained straight away and number is transferred to that SIM does that make the old SIM void and any DATA on it removed ? Also would reset still work after that procedure ?

Regards
 
1. No. "Find My Device" (as Android Device Manager has been renamed in the 5 years since the last post in this thread) can only show devices attached to the account. It doesn't even show my older devices which I've not used for a few months.

I'd recommend doing the erase first. After all, as long as they haven't got past your lockscreen there's no downside to wiping first, and if they have got past the lockscreen they already have access to all data on the phone (and can turn off the internet connection so you can't wipe it).

2. No, there is no interface for reconnecting a device remotely.

3. The reset procedure does not rely on the SIM being connected to your account. However it does require an internet connection, and disconnecting the SIM will cut it off from mobile data (if anyone is daft enough to leave your SIM in it). As long as it's connected to the internet and signed in to your Google account the reset will still work.

Disconnecting the SIM from your account will not erase data on it. On the other hand, SIMs don't store a lot of data these days - indeed many Android phones don't even let you add contacts to them (SIM contacts are very limited anyway, so I've not bothered with them since 2009).
 
What happens when a "Secure device" (aka remote lock) operation is triggered on https://www.google.com/android/find while the phone is offline?
Will it lock the phone immediately when it comes online?

Also, I have changed my google account password using laptop after my phone was stolen, and triggered a remote wipe data command using https://www.google.com/android/find while the phone was offline - will the data be wiped when the phone with an old password goes online?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just call your service provider and have them diable the phone.

Get a new phone and transfer your current service to the new phone.
 
steiny180 said:
Just call your service provider and have them diable the phone.

Get a new phone and transfer your current service to the new phone.
Click to expand...

This does not answer the question anyhow.
Also explain then how service provider can block the phone in order to protect the data on the phone. IMEI lock does not achieve that.
 
Correct, IMEI blacklist won't affect data on the phone - it might actually prevent the phone receiving the wipe command if it can't connect.

Of course if the phone hasn't come back online in a day or so there's a good chance it isn't going to, so at some point I would get it blacklisted anyway. But I don't know how persistent Google's remote wipe or lock is: you'd hope that it would be triggered when that device connects to the Google account whenever that happens, rather than timing out after a few weeks or months, but I've never tested it and am not aware of Google making the technical details public (I wouldn't do so if I were them).

If someone has reset it to try to get past your screen lock they will have done the data wipe for you (and locked themself out via FRP).
 
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