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Stolen Phone Tracking System?

KMitchell said:
They already have a program that can track your phone using SMS; its www.instamapper.com - they even have it on the Android Market. I had it earlier on my old G1 but formatted the phone to try to get the tetherbot to work and unfortunately lost the program (and of course had my phone stolen that day). But it works pretty good and will log where your going and you can trace it if you have lost it
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The first thing i would do if i stole a phone is delete the last users data to get rid of evidence and get it ready to sell, I want the ability to lock the phone first and formost. The ability to get the sim number is crucial to having the phone shut off by tmobil if it comes to that. To send a message to the locked screen is cool. But the best is the ability to remote wipe the phone, in this day and age we have so much personal info on our phones it only invites theives to abuse this info. If you wipe it that posibility is gone. it is also about the security of our loved ones.
 
Hey, I did just get my phone stolen, and I think I installed the program "Here I Am" where I can send a text message and get the gps location. But I never tested it out, and I can't find instructions for the program. Can anyone help me out? Thx
 
HI,


Cell's are very desirable pieces of technology, especially when they are popular models. They are costly, compact and easily lost or stolen. Be prepared and load your with the appropriate software beforehand, so you can track and retrieve the cell phone if it's stolen.

Thank you..
 
I think an app that when it receives a certain text message it launches latitude and turns on the GPS on a regular basis would be good for this.
 
  1. You send an SMS to the phone with a predefined string of characters that doesn't auto lock the phone. And dupes the thief into thinking that everything is working.
  2. It disables the wallet feature and international calling.
  3. It locks location services 'ON" and removes the setting completely from the menu. So it can't be turned off.
  4. Caller will probably begin calling friends or web browsing. (Who cares).
  5. Maybe some sort of high pitched chirp that you or the police can turned on (via SMS) when in close proximity to alert you and confuse the thief.
  6. It could lock the call log so any calls made from the phone after the first sms cannot be deleted. Leaving a string of calls linking it to the thief. Also locks sms sent.
  7. It leaves latitude "bread crumbs" to track movement.

Those just came to my mind. The Alert Chirp notification could be huge. Don't know how to overcome the battery issue. That's why I would make it so the phone looks and feels like it is working perfectly. The thief will just think you forgot it somewhere and haven't found it yet.
 
prerunnerseth said:
I think an app that when it receives a certain text message it launches latitude and turns on the GPS on a regular basis would be good for this.
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i just downloaded an app called kor.im (kor.im Phone Locator)...
this allows you to text a certain word (that you set up) to your phone and it will give you coordinates w/map on where your phone is. it's a little off (for example it gave an address that was a block away) but it works.
another function is that it will ring loud when your phone has been misplaced.

free.
 
Most phones if not recovered in the first 6-12 hours will never be recovered again. IF the crook is dumb enough to leave the phone on then it can be tracked by your local PD via e911. Depending on state law it's actually worth the time for the PD to track because the value of a phone exceeds 500$ making it felony theft. Actually had this happen at work in July when some one stole a Storm. Since he broke into a locker the company also pressed charges for vandalism.

If the perp turns the phone off then of course they cannot track it. If it's a cdma phone then the meid is locked forever and the phone is worthless.

The biggest advantage you can have is a text that wipes the phone and/or locks it with a password. That keeps you're info safe and potentially makes the phone worthless to the perp.

Check this out also
Android Developer Challenge
 
kor im looks good, but it doesn't wipe the phone. If my phone is stolen, I don't expect to recover it, but I don't want someone getting into my email accounts. I want to wipe it, brick it, etc. Wavesecure will do this, but not on a droid.

I sent requests to kor to see if they would consider adding a wipe function, and a request to wavescure to see if they would support the droid.
 
boatman said:
kor im looks good, but it doesn't wipe the phone. If my phone is stolen, I don't expect to recover it, but I don't want someone getting into my email accounts. I want to wipe it, brick it, etc. Wavesecure will do this, but not on a droid.

I sent requests to kor to see if they would consider adding a wipe function, and a request to wavescure to see if they would support the droid.
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Yeah, i ended up uninstalling kor im
 
I've had wavesecure on my phone for the past couple days and like it a lot. Some things I would like to see from that app though are a way to remotely turn on GPS. Incase someone steals it and is dumb enough to leave the phone on, or if I were to lose the phone then I might be able to locate it. And secondly I don't want a notification that my phone is protected by wavescure upon start up. If my phone is stolen and rebooted the last thing I want a thief to know is what app to find and delete before I can lock/wipe my phone. Other than that it seems pretty good for a beta.
 
I had an app on my BB called find me or found me and all you did was email yourself from your pc to an email account associated with your BB and in the subject line put Found You and send then your BB screen will flash red white and blue while beeping. then it would email the gps location to you.

Again, if it is off it wouldn't work but if it is left on it worked great.
 
ryno2292 said:
I've had wavesecure on my phone for the past couple days and like it a lot. Some things I would like to see from that app though are a way to remotely turn on GPS. Incase someone steals it and is dumb enough to leave the phone on, or if I were to lose the phone then I might be able to locate it. And secondly I don't want a notification that my phone is protected by wavescure upon start up. If my phone is stolen and rebooted the last thing I want a thief to know is what app to find and delete before I can lock/wipe my phone. Other than that it seems pretty good for a beta.
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yeah i would love to get rid of that notifications. if you try to uninstall this from your phone will you be asked for the login key? that would make sense, but I haven't tried
 
DGalt said:
yeah i would love to get rid of that notifications. if you try to uninstall this from your phone will you be asked for the login key? that would make sense, but I haven't tried
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It does make sense and I believe that's how it works on other OS but not on Android yet. Currently on Android you can uninstall it just like any other app as far as I can tell.
 
ndnjumpman said:
This shouldn't be that hard to make.( I don't think :confused:) But how about an app sort of like a stolen phone tracking system? It would be hidden inside the phone so you couldn't see it but if anyone ever steals your phone, you can call the phone tracking systems company and find out where it is/who stole it? I think this would be useful because everyone wants this phone and after 90 days of this phone, you can unlock it so I'm pretty sure everyone wants to keep their phone safe
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I think you should try this apps, WAY GPS Phne Tracking from QITLabs, this apps is working silent, View mobile positions on an interactive map,its work for Androind and blackberry.
 
I see there's a trial version of Wavesecure available. Anyone know how long it lasts for... does it enable everything to allow you to get a decent idea of the capabilities of this software.
 
Seekdroid is great for this. $0.99, tracking, alert, lock, wipe, etc. It's a lifetime membership, and doesn't drain battery power (it uses push notification).
 
Chuck O. Jones said:
Install free Lookout, configure, and you're all set, gents!

(Oh, and password protect the app with an applocker against uninstalling!)
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Some launcher apps (like Launcher Pro plus) allow you to hide apps in the app drawer. Lookout can be completely hidden, and unless the thief knows what they're doing they're not going to find it.
 
NoNameFace said:
Some launcher apps (like Launcher Pro plus) allow you to hide apps in the app drawer. Lookout can be completely hidden, and unless the thief knows what they're doing they're not going to find it.
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Seekdroid can do this as well, you just select "hide" from the web site interface and it'll hide itself from view using admin privileges.
 
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