https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/4/22817758/broken-google-pixel-phone-privacy-leak
Google says it’s investigating the latest report
By Emma Roth Dec 4, 2021, 7:43pm EST
After game designer and author Jane McGonigal sent her Pixel 5a to Google for repair, someone allegedly took and hacked her device. This is at least the second report in as many weeks from someone claiming they sent a Google phone in for repair, only to have it used to leak their private data and photographs. McGonigal posted a detailed account of the situation on Twitter on Saturday and advised other users not to send their phones in for repair with the company.
In October, McGonigal sent her broken phone to an official Pixel repair center in Texas. She tweeted later that Google said it never received the phone, and during the ensuing weeks, she was charged for a replacement device.
“THE PHOTOS THEY OPENED WERE OF ME IN BATHING SUITS, SPORTS BRAS, FORM-FITTING DRESSES, AND OF STITCHES AFTER SURGERY”
But according to McGonigal, FedEx tracking information shows the device arrived at the facility weeks ago. Late Friday night — a few hours after she says she finally received a refund for the device — someone seems to have used the “missing” phone to clear two-factor authentication checks and log in to several of her accounts, including her Dropbox, Gmail, and Google Drive.
The activity triggered several email security alerts to McGonigal’s backup accounts. However, she speculates that whoever has the phone may have used it to access her backup email addresses and then dumped any security alerts into her spam folder.
“The photos they opened were of me in bathing suits, sports bras, form-fitting dresses, and of stitches after surgery,” McGonigal writes. “They deleted Google security notifications in my backup email accounts.”
In a statement emailed to The Verge, Google spokesperson Alex Moriconi says, “We are investigating this claim.” It’s still unclear whether the device might have been intercepted within the repair facility or while it was in transit, or who has it now. Google’s official repair instructions recommend backing up and then erasing a device before sending it in. Still, as Jane McGonigal points out, that’s either hard or impossible, depending on the damage.
The whole situation reminds us of the security concerns whenever we hand over our devices for repair, and unfortunately, such activity has precedent. In June, Apple paid millions to a woman after repair technicians posted her nude photos to Facebook. Apple recently said it would start selling DIY repair kits, giving users the chance to fix their own phones, or at least have the task done by someone that a user trusts, as opposed to sending it in or dropping it off at an Apple Store.
For Pixel phones, your options for official service are either via mail-in or, in some countries, local service through an authorized provider. In the US, Google partners with uBreakiFix franchises. Whatever phone you have, the options for repairs are still somewhat limited, and you end up having to trust that no one with bad intentions will get their hands on your phone while it’s out of your possession.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It also happened to a woman with an iPhone. Nothing new.
These people obviously don't have a reasonable screen lock.
Also, google should provide instructions to wipe with USB that can be followed by a normal person.
96carboard said:
These people obviously don't have a reasonable screen lock.
Also, google should provide instructions to wipe with USB that can be followed by a normal person.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for the most part, these people have no lock or biometrics on. and their screen is dead (so they think the phone is dead). but I agree, they should develop a tool but it wouldn't be easy. Have you tried running commands or whatever with a blank screen? its very difficult. but you're right, a tool that either locks or wipes the device would be awesome, no commands or messy fastboot menus for the user would help a ton.
Lesson learned don't take nudes lol
Alekos said:
for the most part, these people have no lock or biometrics on. and their screen is dead (so they think the phone is dead). but I agree, they should develop a tool but it wouldn't be easy. Have you tried running commands or whatever with a blank screen? its very difficult. but you're right, a tool that either locks or wipes the device would be awesome, no commands or messy fastboot menus for the user would help a ton.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The lady that sent it in said she did have a screen lock and took every precaution she was instructed to take since she couldn't power on her device.
pcriz said:
The lady that sent it in said she did have a screen lock and took every precaution she was instructed to take since she couldn't power on her device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup. I just read the article. the guy on reddit who posted a few days ago admitted there was no lock on the screen. so who knows. they could have had an easy unlock code (1234, 1111) which is the same as having no unlock code pretty much. but yeah it'll be interesting to find out the truth.
Alekos said:
yup. I just read the article. the guy on reddit who posted a few days ago admitted there was no lock on the screen. so who knows. they could have had an easy unlock code (1234, 1111) which is the same as having no unlock code pretty much. but yeah it'll be interesting to find out the truth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still though. If it's true, the service provider is in the wrong either way. Locked or unlocked. Easy or hard.
pcriz said:
Still though. If it's true, the service provider is in the wrong either way. Locked or unlocked. Easy or hard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. 100%. my comment makes it seem like it was the user's fault. this is 100% the blame of the repair agents/shipping/ whoever accessed the phone. this should never happen. but all we can do is minimize the likelihood
A.Priori said:
Lesson learned don't take nudes lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people don't want to hear this, but it's still an universal truth - if you don't want nudes to leaks, don't take any (at least not with a smart device/cloud capable phone). If you really need to have nudes of yourself, take a polaroid and share them with your partner manually. That way, it's at least physically restricted to your immediate surroundings.
Every device can be hacked, every cloud can be broken. All those ICloud leaks could have been avoided, plus a lot of drama. It doesn't mean you can't make any nudes, just use tech that is too ancient to become a problem.
As a golden rule of thumb: Any and each information you spread to the internet, is permanently stored. And - in doubt - is accessible by at least one more person other than yourself. Keeping that in mind is paramount to understand the world wide web.
So DO NOT share any information you do not want to get accidentally leaked.
Of course this is still a terrible crime (OP linked story) and Google + the repair shop have to be held responsible. Still, you should always expect other people to behave like an a** - to deceive, cheat, fraud, lie or fool - that's the way of life for many.
Ergo life is, most often or not, about making sure that you do not share any vulnerable sides unnecessarily. At least if you want to avoid trouble.
What I don't get is when I sent my phones back it SPECIFICALLY states to factory reset the phone? Do people not read? Also, if you don't want your nudes to be seen don't take any? Like...EXPECTATIONS<REALITY
Gytole said:
What I don't get is when I sent my phones back it SPECIFICALLY states to factory reset the phone? Do people not read? Also, if you don't want your nudes to be seen don't take any? Like...EXPECTATIONS<REALITY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you propose to do that if the phone is not able to turn on or connect to an external source? If this story is actually true, and I have my doubts, this would be the time you eat the cost of the device and put it in a drawer or smash it to smithereens.
Gytole said:
What I don't get is when I sent my phones back it SPECIFICALLY states to factory reset the phone? Do people not read? Also, if you don't want your nudes to be seen don't take any? Like...EXPECTATIONS<REALITY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with ya here. To me, this stuff seems like common sense (which the world's population seems to be losing). My thoughts are:
If you don't want your nudes stolen, don't take nudes in the first place. Even if you're not shipping your phone somewhere for repair, your pictures are still getting uploaded to Google Photos and can be snatched in other ways. But still, if you really want to take nude photos anyway, then you should put them into a locked folder within Google Photos just after taking them so that they're not immediately visible within the Photos app. Granted, I'm not sure if the jpg files of locked folder pictures would still be present in the normal "DCIM" folder... But I imagine they'd be hidden somewhere at the system level (which normally can't be accessed without root)...?
I should probably test this on my phone - but I'd have to take some nudes first, haha. (Jk, of course)
Alekos said:
for the most part, these people have no lock or biometrics on. and their screen is dead (so they think the phone is dead). but I agree, they should develop a tool but it wouldn't be easy. Have you tried running commands or whatever with a blank screen? its very difficult. but you're right, a tool that either locks or wipes the device would be awesome, no commands or messy fastboot menus for the user would help a ton.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't be hard. Just running "fastboot format userdata" would clear it, so you don't need to mess with menus -- just power it on with the right volume button pressed. So really all the tool needs to do is monitor for fastboot on a USB and issue the format command.
Google says Pixel repair privacy breach wasn’t from employees, new security instructions coming
Ben Schoon
- Dec. 8th 2021 8:23 am PT
Google has been under scrutiny this week as multiple reports of mail-in Pixel repairs resulted in compromised accounts and leaked photographs. Now, the company is saying that this breach of privacy wasn’t at the hands of Google employees, and the company will apparently update instructions for mail-in Pixel repairs and help customers lock down their data.
Speaking to The Verge, Google has said that an investigation of these privacy issues has confirmed that the account invasion was not from Google employees/Pixel repair techs. The company has not said where the breach came from at this point or where the invaded devices are. Transit seems like the most likely scenario at this point.
After a thorough investigation, we can say with confidence that the issue impacting the user was not related to the device RMA [Return Merchandise Authorization]. We have worked closely with the user to better understand what occurred and how best to secure the account going forward.
Google Spokesperon Alex Moriconi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To prevent this sort of issue in the future, too, Google will apparently start providing new instructions to help users lock down their accounts and data, presumably in addition to the current instructions that already recommend resetting the device before sending it in.
Specifics aren’t available, but Google apparently told Jane McGonigal that new security instructions for those who cannot factory reset their phone before sending it off for repair will be coming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Related
I bought my TouchPro2 through Mobile Phones Direct.co.uk, back in June '09. Just recently it started giving me problems with the ExtUSB. Have to fiddle with it just to make it take a charge, and I've given up trying to get to to connect to PC via USB.
Today it has got to the point where sliding the screen up or down too fast turns the phone off. Then I have to press power button to turn it on again.
I understand HTC supply a 24 month warranty. At least that's what my warranty card leaflet says. I already check the water indicators on the bottom of battery and next to MicroSD slot, they are both good (white with red crosshatchings.)
I have two concerns thought.
1) Is there a way for me to confirm that the Rom/SPL etc that I am using are the official ones that won't validate my warranty. I am pretty sure I never did any modding to this phone, only to my old Kaiser. But to be sure I would like to double check. ANy advice on how to do this?
2) My major worry is that my phone has loads of scratches on the screen, on the corners where paint is chipped. The battery cover is in a bad way too, the top left corner has a small crack and the metal strip in the middle of it has broken off around the camera lens.
So I am worried that HTC will tell me that whatever my problems are are because of normal wear and tear and therefore wont fix my phone. The thing is though all these problems are merely aesthetic which is why they never bothered me too much (at least once the first scratch is out the way anyway). My phone worked fine for ages despite these superficial defects (I never used a screen protector or case, phone used to go in my pocket along with coins, keys etc., and of course it did sustain the occasional drop).
Can anyone advise me as to whether this will be a problem? If HTC refused to fix/replace it then I would rather not send it in, to avoid the fee for returning it.
P.S. Also I don't know if I still have the paper invoice to prove purchase, will the emailed invoice be proof of purchase if I can't find the paper copy?
Oh yeh and finally, I don't have any insurance, so I am completely dependent on this warranty being honoured.l
I returned my Pro2 to the UK centre earlier this year. They don't need proof of purchase believe it or not, they never asked me once for mine, however, the electronic one will be fine as say you bought it on eBay, you wouldn't have a paper copy necessarily.
Also, I was using using a different stylus, had many programs like HD Walls and REStart and so on packed in there. Changed the home screen, even edited the files in the Windows directory that mailla used, altering them to say "Kev's Messages" and so on, and they never said a thing to me. My reason for returning is that the hard keys weren't working, they repaired it and flashed a new ROM on it and they never once had an issue with the "state" (if you will) that my Pro2 was in. Also I had many scratches on the battery pack and so on so I think you'll be fine! I hope this helps!
Thanks for your reply, salemfox. I'm going to give HTC a call tomorrow to arrange for them to collect the device.
In the mean time if anyone has any other advice than please let me know before I arrange for it to be sent in tomorrow.
How did it turn out?
not good,
arguing on phone to some dude now.
they originally sent me email saying device wasnt in warranty choose 1 of 3 options
1) pay 160ish £ to repair device
2) pay 20 to have device returned to me
3) allow htc to dispose of device
obviously didnt want to choose any of the 3 options, so i rang htc. spoke to someone who repeated options to me, saying if i did nothing then my device would be disposed of. I said i want to escalate matter, he told me theres no point, they'll tell me the same thing. I said i want to escalate anwyay, he told me to fill out service escalation form from htc website. found this at http://www.htc.com/uk/serviceescalation.aspx (even though its not linked to, anywhere in uk htc site)
filled that out on 6/10/10. never got any reply or anything. last friday 22/10/10 i got another email asking which option of the 3 i wanted to choose. rang htc back, told em how come no ones replied to my service escalation form, first person told me that the guy i originally spoke to (6/10/10) WAS the guy who escalated the issue, i was like WTF?? she said hang on, passed me to someone else, who said it had been escalated , i just didnt get the reply, but that he had in writing from the people who the matter was escalated to, that phone wont be fixed under warranty, i started complainign, saying i filled out the escalation form because i wanted to speak to someone who was higher up, and that i gave my contact details so i expected a reply FROM THEM. He then said he'd let me speak to his superior, which i did, and that guy repeated the same, first saying what form did i fill out, calaiming theres only customer care form on the website, but i told him original guy i spoke to told me to fill out the service escalation form, which i found (only by googling and guessing url).
I told him check the phone convo which should have been recorded, and he would see that i was advised to fill out SERVICE ESCALATION form from HTC website, which i did. he said he will check photos to see if the visual damage is minor enough that they will continue to repair anyway, (i doubt it , coz it had one pretty deep scratch in the screen, and back battery cover was cracked in corner). He also said he'll get original guy who i told me to fill out esclation form to call me back tomorrow.
I think theyre lying, noone seems to have done anythign about my escalation form. They say that the matter was escalated and that they have it back, in writing, that phone is not under warranty, but then why didnt anyone tell me anyof this, i wasn't contacted despite leaving contact info in contact fields of escalation form.
GRRRR, i knew this would happen, any excuse to get out of fixing the damn thing, i keep saying that im not bothered about the aesthetic damage (scratched screen, small crack in battery cover) since my phone worked fine for ages WITH these problems. i want them to fix the fact that my phones extUSB connector has gone dodgy, and that phones turns off, when i slide it open.
Not had phone for ages now, using old kaiser, but the touch screen doesnt work on this.
so bascally they are ssaying that due to visual damage (scratch, crack) phone isnt in warranty. I keep saying thats not whats caused problem, so just fix problem then. they say they can't half fix phone. so i say then fix the whole thing, but dont ask me to pay for it.
I mean seriously though, i've had the phone for almost 2 years, ofcourse theirs gonna be scratches and stuff, how can they say that puts my phone out of warranty!! (((
I'll keep u guys posted. sorry for poor grammar etc.
Could tell you woes a plenty,
email me at j-r at watchet.net and I can give direct names and contacts for escalation at HTC UK. When you get the right man, not too bad but not in call centre!
BEWARE unless guaranteed in writing they will flash the device with the latest win 6.5 rom and you will lose everything.
Even if they agree not to touch it, still often hard reset!
I'm fighting them for a LOT of compensation - for time, ignoring written instructions and £80 of telephone calls. Wil sue them if don't get anywhere this week.
JR, UK
salemfox said:
had many programs like HD Walls and REStart and so on packed in there. Changed the home screen, even edited the files in the Windows directory that mailla used, altering them to say "Kev's Messages" and so on, and they never said a thing to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of those things violate the warranty. Just hard resetting clears all of those. HardSPL and flashing a custom ROM violate the warranty.
redpoint73 said:
None of those things violate the warranty. Just hard resetting clears all of those. HardSPL and flashing a custom ROM violate the warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but I just assumed if they picky they could refuse on the basis of "you're changing what you're not meant to"...
Hi all,
I am not sure if this is better in a different Thread, so admin please move if so..
BE CAREFULL !!!! If you plan to root you S9, do NEVER do the following:
Switch on your S9 for the very first time and once you are forced to set-up a new google account, REMEMBER the data you enter !!!!!!!
Even if you (like me) do not want a google account, do not enter anything stupid, a password that you dont remember...
BECAUSE, if you now do a factory-reset from the bootloder, the phone will be lost forever!!!!!
You will have to send your phone to a SAMSUNG Service-center for unlock...
Thanks to Google and Samsung, this "feature" is very close to be illegal...
That sounds like FRP lock. If you know what you're doing (and you didn't steal the phone) there are ways around it.
joe535 said:
Hi all,
I am not sure if this is better in a different Thread, so admin please move if so..
BE CAREFULL !!!! If you plan to root you S9, do NEVER do the following:
Switch on your S9 for the very first time and once you are forced to set-up a new google account, REMEMBER the data you enter !!!!!!!
Even if you (like me) do not want a google account, do not enter anything stupid, a password that you dont remember...
BECAUSE, if you now do a factory-reset from the bootloder, the phone will be lost forever!!!!!
You will have to send your phone to a SAMSUNG Service-center for unlock...
Thanks to Google and Samsung, this "feature" is very close to be illegal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been the case for a long time, and the same with iPhones, don't forget your login, make sure you have a recovery for your email password and don't steal phones
Not sure why it should be illegal to protect people's personal info
joe535 said:
Thanks to Google and Samsung, this "feature" is very close to be illegal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's actually illegal is people "forgetting" their password for "their" (newly acquired) phone.
So yeah. Let's totally make it easier to bypass you forgetting your password. While we're at it, let's just get rid of all security measures because they can be inconvenient at times.
FRP is a Documented Feature
The online Samsung S9 documentation does document the Factory Data Reset process. While this is surprising if it happens to you the feature is designed to help make stolen phone less valuable. At least in theory.
Note: When you sign in to a Google Account on your device, Factory Reset Protection is activated. This protects your device in the event it is lost or stolen. If you reset your device to factory default settings with the Factory Reset Protection (FRP) feature activated, you must enter the user name and password for a registered Google Account to regain access to the
device. You will not be able to access the device without the correct credentials.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
joe535 said:
Hi all,
I am not sure if this is better in a different Thread, so admin please move if so..
BE CAREFULL !!!! If you plan to root you S9, do NEVER do the following:
Switch on your S9 for the very first time and once you are forced to set-up a new google account, REMEMBER the data you enter !!!!!!!
Even if you (like me) do not want a google account, do not enter anything stupid, a password that you dont remember...
BECAUSE, if you now do a factory-reset from the bootloder, the phone will be lost forever!!!!!
You will have to send your phone to a SAMSUNG Service-center for unlock...
Thanks to Google and Samsung, this "feature" is very close to be illegal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, that's why they call them smart phones, you need to be smart to use them.
Well, I do have the invoice from MY NOT STOLEN Phone.......
And an "anti-theft-feature" basically does not protect the phone from being stolen. It is simply not usable, but nevertheless the victim has a certain damage...
So, how can this kind of feature by advanced? VERY easy: In case of theft, the owner of a phone may log into his accoount from any other Computer and he ACTIVELY (!!!) has to quote his phone was stolen. NOW it can be locked.
I will send my phone to Samsung this week. I will expect thay RESET it for free...
Or maybe contact google... I remember the password but not the account... So maybe they can tell me the account-name if I gave the IMEA number...
oildale said:
What's actually illegal is people "forgetting" their password for "their" (newly acquired) phone.
So yeah. Let's totally make it easier to bypass you forgetting your password. While we're at it, let's just get rid of all security measures because they can be inconvenient at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Especially since I do have the invoice, a proof that I BOUGHT the phone !!!!
oildale said:
What's actually illegal is people "forgetting" their password for "their" (newly acquired) phone.
So yeah. Let's totally make it easier to bypass you forgetting your password. While we're at it, let's just get rid of all security measures because they can be inconvenient at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tomiga said:
That sounds like FRP lock. If you know what you're doing (and you didn't steal the phone) there are ways around it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already tried a lot of workarounds, so far with no success. Off course it is not stolen, I will make an image of the invoice later today if everybody mistrust me...
I will try that google give me the account-name I have created, because I do remember the password. I assume, that the account is tied to the IMEI of the phone...
If this does not help me out, I will se how far I will get using ADB. Luckily I activated USB debugging before I did the big mistake.
As last Option I will have to send the phone to a Samsung Service center...
Lets see...
joe535 said:
Well, I do have the invoice from MY NOT STOLEN Phone.......
And an "anti-theft-feature" basically does not protect the phone from being stolen. It is simply not usable, but nevertheless the victim has a certain damage...
So, how can this kind of feature by advanced? VERY easy: In case of theft, the owner of a phone may log into his accoount from any other Computer and he ACTIVELY (!!!) has to quote his phone was stolen. NOW it can be locked.
I will send my phone to Samsung this week. I will expect thay RESET it for free...
Or maybe contact google... I remember the password but not the account... So maybe they can tell me the account-name if I gave the IMEA number...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So OK let's reverse this scenario, you buy an S9, you secure it with your Google account, someone steals your phone, they use whatever method you are wishing for to unlock the device, and now they have access to all of your info, data, media, and also a brand new S9 for themselves
You are happy about this, right?
Or even if we say they reset the device, so your info is safe, they now have a brand new S9 for themselves. you are also happy about this too right?
Or how about the scenario when people already know it is useless resetting the phone because there is no way to unlock it without the original Google account login (Same as iPhone), now they don't bother stealing your phone because it would be useless to them, so now you get to keep your expensive S9 because they didn't want to steal it
Which scenario makes you happiest?
If you forget absolutely everything about the account you used for your phone, for some reason you do not have any record of it from other reset email accounts you should have added, then you have no-one to shout at other than yourself, you messed up, not Samsung or Google, YOU
*Detection* said:
So OK let's reverse this scenario, you buy an S9, you secure it with your Google account, someone steals your phone, they use whatever method you are wishing for to unlock the device, and now they have access to all of your info, data, media, and also a brand new S9 for themselves
You are happy about this, right?
Or even if we say they reset the device, so your info is safe, they now have a brand new S9 for themselves. you are also happy about this too right?
Or how about the scenario when people already know it is useless resetting the phone because there is no way to unlock it without the original Google account login (Same as iPhone), now they don't bother stealing your phone because it would be useless to them, so now you get to keep your expensive S9 because they didn't want to steal it
Which scenario makes you happiest?
If you forget absolutely everything about the account you used for your phone, for some reason you do not have any record of it from other reset email accounts you should have added, then you have no-one to shout at other than yourself, you messed up, not Samsung or Google, YOU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not fully agree!
If my phone is stolen, I will ACTIVATE the anti-theft-protection after it has been stolen.
Normally someone would recognize very fast that it has been stolen. It does not matter whether the stolen phone is deactivated right now or some hours later. It will be unusable from this moment, the owner deactivates...
No one is happy about a stolen phone, but stolen is stolen, regardless if the thief can use it or not. The damage I have anyway...
Imagine you buy a Windows-PC. But you prefer Linux, format the HDD and try to install linux. But some geniusses decided that your PC will no longer be usable... Really a good idea??
It should go without saying that having an invoice showing the purchase of a phone, if purchased from other than the manufacturer or cellular provider, does not eliminate the possibility that the phone was reported stolen by a previous purchaser/owner. I would much rather have my phone automatically rendered inoperable by anyone not having my password and/or Google account information than give them the opportunity to acccess it during the lag time spanning the period that: 1) I realized my phone is lost; 2) I successfully reported the loss to the carrier or manufacturer having the ability to hard lock the device; and 3) the carrier/manufacturer actually locks the device.
elbee222 said:
It should go without saying that having an invoice showing the purchase of a phone, if purchased from other than the manufacturer or cellular provider, does not eliminate the possibility that the phone was reported stolen by a previous purchaser/owner. I would much rather have my phone automatically rendered inoperable by anyone not having my password and/or Google account information than give them the opportunity to acccess it during the lag time spanning the period that: 1) I realized my phone is lost; 2) I successfully reported the loss to the carrier or manufacturer having the ability to hard lock the device; and 3) the carrier/manufacturer actually locks the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yes and no To me, the probability to "loose" my phone in a way I accitentially did is much higher than it might be stolen...
So do you mean, even I can proove the purchase, I do not have the right that Samsung unlocks it??? See, if it is stolen, I cannot use it. If I do 2 SOFTWARE based steps, I cannot use it. It is lost in both cases, so non of them is good...
If you can prove the purchase, and -- if you are not the original purchaser - no prior owner has reported the phone lost or stolen and there is no related bad IMEI issue -- then I would agree that you should have the right to have the phone unlocked/reactivated by Samsung or the carrier. I suspect Samsung or the carrier will check to make sure that a lost/stolen phone report is not received in the interim.
joe535 said:
I do not fully agree!
If my phone is stolen, I will ACTIVATE the anti-theft-protection after it has been stolen.
Normally someone would recognize very fast that it has been stolen. It does not matter whether the stolen phone is deactivated right now or some hours later. It will be unusable from this moment, the owner deactivates...
No one is happy about a stolen phone, but stolen is stolen, regardless if the thief can use it or not. The damage I have anyway...
Imagine you buy a Windows-PC. But you prefer Linux, format the HDD and try to install linux. But some geniusses decided that your PC will no longer be usable... Really a good idea??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your argument is weak, it is a LOT more difficult to lose a PC than a phone, it is a LOT more difficult to steal a PC than a phone
Thousands (maybe millions) of phones are lost and stolen every day around the world, PCs not so much...
Why would you buy a Windows PC if you wanted Linux? Wouldn't you just build a PC and install Linux from day 1?
At the end of the day, for whatever reasons you are p*ssed because you are locked out of your phone, the reason you are locked out is your own fault, you are looking to blame someone when all you need to do is look in the mirror
Maybe Samsung will unlock it if you can prove proof of ownership, maybe... but by the sounds of it, you didn't buy it new, which leads us right back to the possibility of it being stolen, which is likely the same conclusion Samsung will come to
*Detection* said:
Your argument is weak, it is a LOT more difficult to lose a PC than a phone, it is a LOT more difficult to steal a PC than a phone
Thousands (maybe millions) of phones are lost and stolen every day around the world, PCs not so much...
Why would you buy a Windows PC if you wanted Linux? Wouldn't you just build a PC and install Linux from day 1?
At the end of the day, for whatever reasons you are p*ssed because you are locked out of your phone, the reason you are locked out is your own fault, you are looking to blame someone when all you need to do is look in the mirror
Maybe Samsung will unlock it if you can prove proof of ownership, maybe... but by the sounds of it, you didn't buy it new, which leads us right back to the possibility of it being stolen, which is likely the same conclusion Samsung will come to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just talked to Samsung support. Will cost me about 35€ to get the security chip changed.
Ok, could have been worse...
joe535 said:
Just talked to Samsung support. Will cost me about 35€ to get the security chip changed.
Ok, could have been worse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let us know what happens
joe535 said:
Especially since I do have the invoice, a proof that I BOUGHT the phone !!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying that you stole the phone but because you don't take making your account seriously the rest of us have to have security that is easily bypassed for our phones? I don't think so.
You screwed up and now you're paying the price. Hopefully you can get things sorted out and get access to your phone. In the very least though, you'll never do something so stupid again right?
*Detection* said:
So OK let's reverse this scenario, you buy an S9, you secure it with your Google account, someone steals your phone, they use whatever method you are wishing for to unlock the device, and now they have access to all of your info, data, media, and also a brand new S9 for themselves
You are happy about this, right?
Or even if we say they reset the device, so your info is safe, they now have a brand new S9 for themselves. you are also happy about this too right?
Or how about the scenario when people already know it is useless resetting the phone because there is no way to unlock it without the original Google account login (Same as iPhone), now they don't bother stealing your phone because it would be useless to them, so now you get to keep your expensive S9 because they didn't want to steal it
Which scenario makes you happiest?
If you forget absolutely everything about the account you used for your phone, for some reason you do not have any record of it from other reset email accounts you should have added, then you have no-one to shout at other than yourself, you messed up, not Samsung or Google, YOU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's it.
oildale said:
I'm not saying that you stole the phone but because you don't take making your account seriously the rest of us have to have security that is easily bypassed for our phones? I don't think so.
You screwed up and now you're paying the price. Hopefully you can get things sorted out and get access to your phone. In the very least though, you'll never do something so stupid again right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. At least, we know by now, that there is a physical security-chip inside the phones
I am just wondering, why this forum does exist.. I assume a lot of us like custom ROMs , rooting etc. because we like to get rid of google and other bloatware. At least this it what I personally like to... But if a google "feature" locks someone from his own phone, he suddenly is a criminal ?!?!?!
OK. @admin - better close this thread as it does not really helps us.
Hi all. I am baffled as to what happened to my phone. It has no mods and is running stock android 11. It was absolutely fine, not having any issues at all, and I realized I hadn't rebooted it in a few weeks. So, I did a plain old restart.
And it died.
It won't do anything no matter how long I hold the power button down. The battery is fully charged.
Tried to get to the recovery screen by holding down volume up and power, which did nothing. Then I tried vol down and power and got a screen I've not seen before: SS RDX Watchdog Reset.
And here I am stuck. I plugged in a usb cable to my laptop and now there's a device connected on my laptop called msm_upload which I can only see from the windows Bluetooth and other devices panel.
I have no idea what to do from here and I'm desperate.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
did you see this
https://www.reddit.com/r/galaxynote10/comments/k6c4l5
raul6 said:
did you see this
https://www.reddit.com/r/galaxynote10/comments/k6c4l5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I saw that. If you read the thread, the solution was to "play around with the buttons and it will eventually work." LOL.
mellie815 said:
Yes I saw that. If you read the thread, the solution was to "play around with the buttons and it will eventually work." LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. i thought if it is software issue than it might be timing issues with pressing correct keys combo. possibly wishful thinking. i assume you've seen one other thread on xda with similar issue with no direct resolution. Still try smart switch
raul6 said:
yes. i thought if it is software issue than it might be timing issues with pressing correct keys combo. possibly wishful thinking. i assume you've seen one other thread on xda with similar issue with no direct resolution. Still try smart switch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never used smart switch before. If my pc doesn't see the phone, how would that work? My phone doesn't show up in my laptop except as a Bluetooth device called msm_upload that I can't figure out how to interact with? I guess I'll need to install smart switch on the laptop and hopefully it will see the device?
mellie815 said:
I've never used smart switch before. If my pc doesn't see the phone, how would that work? My phone doesn't show up in my laptop except as a Bluetooth device called msm_upload that I can't figure out how to interact with? I guess I'll need to install smart switch on the laptop and hopefully it will see the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true and who knows it might work. essentially trying anything to see if it will somehow make a difference. fingers crossed
Watchdog
Very strange.
Sort of sounds like it's bricked.
Play with new firmware/software, win new prizes. I could go on...
You need to navigate to the boot menu somehow. Keep playing with the buttons; sequence and ***timing*** is everything.
If you can drain the battery until it auto shutdown that might get it... much latter.
Disconnect the battery and force a hard reboot.
Otherwise it's repair shop time.
blackhawk said:
Watchdog
Very strange.
Sort of sounds like it's bricked.
Play with new firmware/software, win new prizes. I could go on...
You need to navigate to the boot menu somehow. Keep playing with the buttons; sequence and ***timing*** is everything.
If you can drain the battery until it auto shutdown that might get it... much latter.
Disconnect the battery and force a hard reboot.
Otherwise it's repair shop time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to a repair shop out of desperation. Had to drive over an hour to get to it as I live in the country, and he basically said it's dead. The fun part is, I called my warranty co and of course, they aren't honoring the warranty because "they don't insure phones that cost over $999" which mine did when I got it. But of course, there was nothing that said they didn't cover my phone, which is why I bought their lease/warranty plan.
So, basically, I have a brick that I owe $591 on yet, and they couldn't care less. At this point, I am willing to try anything at all because I have no other options. I already filed a BBB report against them after spending over an hour on the phone with them to no avail.
Any ideas at all would be very helpful at this point.
Also, I CAN still get to that SS RDX Watchdog Reset screen and it will scan an SD card (because I tried it). The problem is, I cannot for my life find a stock Note 10+ ROM anywhere that I can actually download. Wondering if I should just try to throw a custom ROM on it instead? It's obviously not going anywhere otherwise.
mellie815 said:
Also, I CAN still get to that SS RDX Watchdog Reset screen and it will scan an SD card (because I tried it). The problem is, I cannot for my life find a stock Note 10+ ROM anywhere that I can actually download. Wondering if I should just try to throw a custom ROM on it instead? It's obviously not going anywhere otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a stock rom for it, obviously.
If you can degrade to 10, do so.
The boot loader version will dictate if you can or can't.
I'm not experienced enough to advise you on this but that's what might be needed.
Again play with the button sequence/timing and try to get into the boot menu.
Just a slight difference in timing or the wrong sequence and it won't go to the boot menu.
It's not likely but possible the buttons were remapped.
Try taking out the Sim and SD card.
My guess is you can get it to go to the boot menu but until today I never heard of this happening.
A apk timed out because of not rebooting for so long? Don't do that again... at least reboot every couple days.
Malware is another possibility.
Last resort talk/send to Samsung.
Play with it... Androids wuv attention.
I'm having a RIDICULOUS time trying to find a clean copy of stock ROM for my Note. Every single one I've found either ends in a dead link or I download it and it ends up being corrupt. This is no small feat as I live in the middle of nowhere and the only ISP is Hughesnet, which is neither fast, nor unlimited. It literally took me 4 hours to download a 5gb alleged stock ROM only to have it be corrupt.
Isn't there anywhere to get a clean copy of stock??? I see a lot of mods here in XDA, but as far as regular stock SM-N975UI, either I'm totally missing something or there isn't one here.
Can someone please help me find one that is clean? SamMobile's download is limited to 15kbps for non paying members and their copy has been downloading literally since yesterday and is only at 900mb. Living in the country has its perks, but high speed internet isn't one of them. Nothing worse than checking on a download that was running all night to see it say it still has 2 days to go.
mellie815 said:
I'm having a RIDICULOUS time trying to find a clean copy of stock ROM for my Note. Every single one I've found either ends in a dead link or I download it and it ends up being corrupt. This is no small feat as I live in the middle of nowhere and the only ISP is Hughesnet, which is neither fast, nor unlimited. It literally took me 4 hours to download a 5gb alleged stock ROM only to have it be corrupt.
Isn't there anywhere to get a clean copy of stock??? I see a lot of mods here in XDA, but as far as regular stock SM-N975UI, either I'm totally missing something or there isn't one here.
Can someone please help me find one that is clean? SamMobile's download is limited to 15kbps for non paying members and their copy has been downloading literally since yesterday and is only at 900mb. Living in the country has its perks, but high speed internet isn't one of them. Nothing worse than checking on a download that was running all night to see it say it still has 2 days to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need a much faster connection; that slow, that much data, the download has a great chance of being corrupted.
Maybe have a 3rd party download it and send it to you by mail etc. Samsung could... if you could harang them into doing so.
blackhawk said:
You'll need a much faster connection; that slow, that much data, the download has a great chance of being corrupted.
Maybe have a 3rd party download it and send it to you by mail etc. Samsung could... if you could harang them into doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the authorized service center I visited yesterday, they don't even have access from Samsung. They are directed to send the phone directly to Samsung, which just floors me. I asked the tech if he could at least flash stock and see if we could get it to load, since I definitely can get to the SD card from Watchdog and it will read it. His reply was nope. I called 2 other repair shops since I was in the city already and got the same story.
Back in the day, rooting Android 4 was easier than this! Do you know of any reputable sites for stock roms? SamMobile is definitely out. And many I've gone to will list my stock, but when you follow the links, the file is no longer available. This feels like a bad X files episode at this point. LOL.
mellie815 said:
According to the authorized service center I visited yesterday, they don't even have access from Samsung. They are directed to send the phone directly to Samsung, which just floors me. I asked the tech if he could at least flash stock and see if we could get it to load, since I definitely can get to the SD card from Watchdog and it will read it. His reply was nope. I called 2 other repair shops since I was in the city already and got the same story.
Back in the day, rooting Android 4 was easier than this! Do you know of any reputable sites for stock roms? SamMobile is definitely out. And many I've gone to will list my stock, but when you follow the links, the file is no longer available. This feels like a bad X files episode at this point. LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Talk, write to Samsung and lean on them.
You'll probably end up sending it in. Take detailed pictures of the phone before boxing it and as boxing it. Double box it and pack/seal it well. Insure the package!
Fight with Samsung if they try to charge you more than $50. Expect trouble... Samsung's tech support is one of the worst on this planet.
Finding stock ROM should not be that difficult, by browsing through the forum, Guides, News & Discussions:
Links to US-firmwares: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/n975u-and-n975u1-firmware-links-here.3957648/
Following thread describes how to download FW using Frija and flashing using Odin: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-25-feb-21-galaxy-note10-sm-n975f-ds.3957812/
There's a YouTube video...,
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DQe94cBd_fSc&ved=2ahU
He shows you how to fix it. Has FB page "How to Solution"
Check it out
mellie815 said:
According to the authorized service center I visited yesterday, they don't even have access from Samsung. They are directed to send the phone directly to Samsung, which just floors me. I asked the tech if he could at least flash stock and see if we could get it to load, since I definitely can get to the SD card from Watchdog and it will read it. His reply was nope. I called 2 other repair shops since I was in the city already and got the same story.
Back in the day, rooting Android 4 was easier than this! Do you know of any reputable sites for stock roms? SamMobile is definitely out. And many I've gone to will list my stock, but when you follow the links, the file is no longer available. This feels like a bad X files episode at this point. LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever get this fixed?
I have similar problem. N975u1 stuck in SS Rdx unknown mode. No way to gt to recovery or bootloader
mellie815 said:
I went to a repair shop out of desperation. Had to drive over an hour to get to it as I live in the country, and he basically said it's dead. The fun part is, I called my warranty co and of course, they aren't honoring the warranty because "they don't insure phones that cost over $999" which mine did when I got it. But of course, there was nothing that said they didn't cover my phone, which is why I bought their lease/warranty plan.
So, basically, I have a brick that I owe $591 on yet, and they couldn't care less. At this point, I am willing to try anything at all because I have no other options. I already filed a BBB report against them after spending over an hour on the phone with them to no avail.
Any ideas at all would be very helpful at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
File a complaint with your state attorney general's office.
Against the warranty company and especially the carrier.
Lean on the carrier, verbal breach of contract because the warranty company refused to repair it.
I'd stiff the carrier out of principle. It's likely they wouldn't bother to take it to small claims court.
Before you do that though lean on them like a cheap suit, call, call, call. Talk to their retainment group. Don't give them a moments peace. One time I called Verizon close to 30 times in a week before they finally issues a full credit over a Direct TV breach of contract. If I was you I be seeing red...
My friend bought a P6P from Craigslist and it appears to be a Google corporate device, which wasn't visible on an EMEI check. Is she screwed?
I tried a few fixes from this thread, and removing the "Phone" permission from Google Play Services worked, I was able to complete setup, install all the apps and had a very happy friend... for a day, because then the message came back - somehow Google PS re-enabled the Phone permission and keeps doing it upon restart.
I flashed the factory image, that didn't help.
Will rooting and putting on a custom rom help? Is it even possible to oem unlock the bootloader on these corp issued devices? (I asked her about oem unlock option, don't know yet)
Anything else I can do that anybody knows about?
Thank you!
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Yep, nothing you can do about it. It was probably stolen. Rooting might help with a custom ROM, but who knows. I doubt if you can unlock the bootloader on a managed device, so which method did you use to flash the factory image?
Good luck!
roirraW edor ehT said:
Yep, nothing you can do about it. It was probably stolen. Rooting might help with a custom ROM, but who knows. I doubt if you can unlock the bootloader on a managed device, so which method did you use to flash the factory image?
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wondering the same thing. If you were able to unlock the bootloader, getting rid of MDM should be fairly trivial. A clean factory flash should remove it, however Pixels on factory firmware are known to still arbitrarily install various apps - such as the My Verizon app for Verizon customers - so it is entirely possible that the MDM app is installed when the device contacts Google's servers. While this could probably be prevented with root, you'd need to know the domain names of the servers in question.
The best solution would be to contact the number/email on the screen, tell them you purchased the device secondhand, and ask if they can remove the MDM lock. I don't know if they'll tell you if it was stolen or reported lost, but if they refuse to help, chances are it was.
If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that you should only buy used devices on Swappa.
Why go through all this trouble with rooting and all. Just contact the number on the screen and see if yo can't sort it out.
roirraW edor ehT said:
Yep, nothing you can do about it. It was probably stolen. Rooting might help with a custom ROM, but who knows. I doubt if you can unlock the bootloader on a managed device, so which method did you use to flash the factory image?
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, definitely sounds stolen, the guy she bought from stopped accepting calls and blocked her number.
I booted into recovery and did "adb sideload", this worked fine, I was then able to setup everything by not installing a sim card and not setting up wifi. It's when Google Play Services is started when it does some sort of server-side check and delivers the good news that it'll reset in 2h...
V0latyle said:
I'm wondering the same thing. If you were able to unlock the bootloader, getting rid of MDM should be fairly trivial. A clean factory flash should remove it, however Pixels on factory firmware are known to still arbitrarily install various apps - such as the My Verizon app for Verizon customers - so it is entirely possible that the MDM app is installed when the device contacts Google's servers. While this could probably be prevented with root, you'd need to know the domain names of the servers in question.
The best solution would be to contact the number/email on the screen, tell them you purchased the device secondhand, and ask if they can remove the MDM lock. I don't know if they'll tell you if it was stolen or reported lost, but if they refuse to help, chances are it was.
If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that you should only buy used devices on Swappa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She is going to bring the phone by today, I will check whether "OEM unlock" is enabled. It's definitely a server side check as I was able to bypass it for a bit by removing the "Phone" permission from Google Play Services... though it somehow auto-grabs it back eventually.
My friend said she called the number but wasn't able to get through to anyone who would help, perhaps I will also try.
Definitely wouldn't buy a phone like this, but not everyone is savvy and I have sold quite a few through CL myself so it's a pretty common method at least here in the SFbay...
phillymade said:
Why go through all this trouble with rooting and all. Just contact the number on the screen and see if yo can't sort it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My friend couldn't sort it out, she called the number and said they weren't helpful at all. I will also try this after I get the phone again, though reading reports on reddit people didn't have a lot of luck either.
I would email them and try to get a straight answer. Explain the situation honestly, provide the IMEI, ask if they have record of ownership, whether it was supposed to be sold, and if they can release it from their mobile management database.
If you could, post the emails here (with all personal information redacted, of course) just so we get a good picture of how Google handles this. There have been incidents where former corporate fleet devices were sent out as RMA replacements, too. Sometimes the device gets registered by mistake, often because a user tries to use work software and accounts on their personal device.
V0latyle said:
I would email them and try to get a straight answer. Explain the situation honestly, provide the IMEI, ask if they have record of ownership, whether it was supposed to be sold, and if they can release it from their mobile management database.
If you could, post the emails here (with all personal information redacted, of course) just so we get a good picture of how Google handles this. There have been incidents where former corporate fleet devices were sent out as RMA replacements, too. Sometimes the device gets registered by mistake, often because a user tries to use work software and accounts on their personal device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "OEM unlocking" option is grayed out, unlike on my regular Pixel, well crap.
Ok, just emailed the address, let's see if they get back to me.
Obviously Google didn't respond in any way... except when I asked an employee friend to look into the matter internally. After asking many questions about the perp's identity etc they denied the request to unlock it and had the gall to ask for the phone back with no reward. Shame.
"Hi <> in regards to the device, your friend unfortunately was scammed that is why i always advise about buying items like that from sites like that unless you really are able to test the device out fir. For the IMEI to be flagged it usually has to be reported to a carrier to be marked as stolen, additionally when someone has a stolen phone that they do a hard reset unless its removed from the previous owner profile it wont let someone register and set up the device. In this case the phone was literally just lost a few days and the ticket does have an escalation to UPS. They can always return it but we don't give out rewards since we don't want to encourage the behavior. I always feel bad when i get these escalations since i know the person is out money they can always call the local police department in the town where they purchased or met up with the person to purchase the phone."
So I guess the lesson is - don't trust a clean IMEI check and don't buy devices from randos on CL.
glebonator said:
Obviously Google didn't respond in any way... except when I asked an employee friend to look into the matter internally. After asking many questions about the perp's identity etc they denied the request to unlock it and had the gall to ask for the phone back with no reward. Shame.
"Hi <> in regards to the device, your friend unfortunately was scammed that is why i always advise about buying items like that from sites like that unless you really are able to test the device out fir. For the IMEI to be flagged it usually has to be reported to a carrier to be marked as stolen, additionally when someone has a stolen phone that they do a hard reset unless its removed from the previous owner profile it wont let someone register and set up the device. In this case the phone was literally just lost a few days and the ticket does have an escalation to UPS. They can always return it but we don't give out rewards since we don't want to encourage the behavior. I always feel bad when i get these escalations since i know the person is out money they can always call the local police department in the town where they purchased or met up with the person to purchase the phone."
So I guess the lesson is - don't trust a clean IMEI check and don't buy devices from randos on CL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the phone can be used for parts. But yeah, this sucks.
mkhcb said:
I guess the phone can be used for parts. But yeah, this sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that was my advice to the person too - sell it as is on CL with a clear explanation of the situation. Other than parts, It's perfectly usable for a media player or camera or mostly anything with sideloaded apps... as long as you don't enable or need Google Play Services for them. Could be helpful to QA in some startup, I definitely sold a few phones to people like that just looking for test devices on the cheap.
glebonator said:
Yes, that was my advice to the person too - sell it as is on CL with a clear explanation of the situation. Other than parts, It's perfectly usable for a media player or camera or mostly anything with sideloaded apps... as long as you don't enable or need Google Play Services for them. Could be helpful to QA in some startup, I definitely sold a few phones to people like that just looking for test devices on the cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean...The right thing to do would be to send it back to them, as it's still their property. Yeah, you're out a couple hundred bucks, but integrity is priceless.
Contact police, provide contact details for seller to them. How was it paid for? If cash, not great. If electronic, GREAT. Contact payment broker. Keep phone and follow police instructions with respect to handling it.
96carboard said:
Contact police, provide contact details for seller to them. How was it paid for? If cash, not great. If electronic, GREAT. Contact payment broker. Keep phone and follow police instructions with respect to handling it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possession of stolen property....he'd be better of returning it to Google as it's rightfully theirs. I hate to say it, but all too often cops don't care who actually committed the theft; simply being in possession of stolen goods is cause for arrest.
Agreed with @V0latyle. Selling property that you know was stolen is prosecutable, too. It might not happen but I wouldn't be willing to bet one way or other.
V0latyle said:
Possession of stolen property....he'd be better of returning it to Google as it's rightfully theirs. I hate to say it, but all too often cops don't care who actually committed the theft; simply being in possession of stolen goods is cause for arrest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats why you go with what the COPS INSTRUCT YOU TO DO. You don't send it back to gooble if the cops say they need it as EVIDENCE.
96carboard said:
Thats why you go with what the COPS INSTRUCT YOU TO DO. You don't send it back to gooble if the cops say they need it as EVIDENCE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong. NEVER trust the cops to give you legally sound advice. If you get a good cop, then he'll tell you to send it back, because petty theft isn't worth the time or resources it takes to investigate. If you get a bad cop who just wants a notch in his belt, you'll get arrested and prosecuted for possession of stolen property.
Cops don't exist to make things right. They exist solely to enforce the law. They don't care about getting the phone back to Google; they care about progressing in their jobs, which is driven by statistics such as arrests.
This is the world we live in. You don't get rewarded for doing good things. The best you can do is do the right thing while covering your own ass.
If you don't believe me, talk to an attorney.
Here's my 2 cents, for what it's worth...
1. In most states, to be convicted of receiving stolen property you had to know or should have known or had reason to believe that the property you bought was stolen. Check your specific state for details. This element of the crime, or lack thereof, would probably shield you.
2. Once you do know it is stolen, you may be liable for possessing stolen goods (since now you know or reasonably should know the goods are stolen) if you don't take any remedial actions. Another element of the crime in many jurisdictions is the intent to permanently deprive the true owner of possession. Therefore any actions or non-actions you take regarding this can have a bearing on this element. Some states may require you make a reasonable effort to find the true owner. Other states, this may not help at all. Some states may require you to report the stolen property to the police. Again, need to check your specific state laws.
3. Because now you do know, or at least believe, it was stolen you probably have 4 choices:
a. See if your state or community has any free legal services and contact them about what you should do. Or if you know any attorneys or someone who does, contact them.
b. Contact the police and tell them the situation. Document the conversation. In some states, you may actually be liable for not reporting the stolen property to police. Again, check you local law.
c. Contract the rightful owners (Google in this case?) and see what they have to say.
d. Do nothing, throw it out, etc. and risk the consequences. Absolutely do not sell it for parts, sell it as is, give it away, etc..
V0latyle said:
Wrong. NEVER trust the cops to give you legally sound advice. If you get a good cop, then he'll tell you to send it back, because petty theft isn't worth the time or resources it takes to investigate. If you get a bad cop who just wants a notch in his belt, you'll get arrested and prosecuted for possession of stolen property.
Cops don't exist to make things right. They exist solely to enforce the law. They don't care about getting the phone back to Google; they care about progressing in their jobs, which is driven by statistics such as arrests.
This is the world we live in. You don't get rewarded for doing good things. The best you can do is do the right thing while covering your own ass.
If you don't believe me, talk to an attorney.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go ahead and talk to a lawyer if you want to. This really is nothing to do with the cops, but rather it provides you with a legal fallback. Gooble tries to give you a hard time over it, you have documented evidence that the cops told you to hand it over to them. You are covered. Don't believe me? Go ahead and talk to your lawyer.
Now on the other hand, if you give it to gooble, you may end up responsible for DESTROYING EVIDENCE. That's a lot worse.
If the cops want it as evidence, they get first dibs. If they don't, THEN talk to gooble about what they want to do about it.
Got an ex review Galaxy fold 4 which had not been wiped before I was given it. I factory resetted it, but it needs the gmail and gmail password from the previous owner... is there any way to byoass this or will it simply be easier to chase up the previous owner?
patdude1234 said:
Got an ex review Galaxy fold 4 which had not been wiped before I was given it. I factory resetted it, but it needs the gmail and gmail password from the previous owner... is there any way to byoass this or will it simply be easier to chase up the previous owner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first who knows how you have got the device? You really new owner or what someone trying to hack into hte device. Kindly reach out the old owner. or do your own research.
Let's be reasonable. Telling us you need the account info from the previous owner is a HUGE red flag. That means is was never factory reset when it was...sold/given/stolen to/by...you. So do understand we are not a community that will assist anyone with a stolen device.
That said, methuselah is correct. You should research the issue instead of asking for help via a vague post. You COULD take it to your carrier's store and have them assist you. Honestly, that's the best route. Take the proof of purchase with you to show it's not stolen.
Good luck.
Of course. That is totally reasonable, For background, I am a reviewer and Samsung's local PR firm forgot to reset the phone before couriering it to me (which is incredibly frustrating). I have reached out to their PR team, but it is taking forever to get this resolved Meanwhile I have a shiny galaxy fold 4 sitting there that is unusable
there are ways but FBI would raid me if I tell u...
nice try tho
I'm sending it back to Samsung to be swapped out for a fresh review sample...
patdude1234 said:
Of course. That is totally reasonable, For background, I am a reviewer and Samsung's local PR firm forgot to reset the phone before couriering it to me (which is incredibly frustrating). I have reached out to their PR team, but it is taking forever to get this resolved Meanwhile I have a shiny galaxy fold 4 sitting there that is unusable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's FRP (factory reset protection). Background: Let's pretend that your mobile device got stolen. The first thing a thief will do is to reset the phone, because without knowing the correct display pattern the device is pretty useless (and it's very hard to sold in that state ). Since the settings menu is also unreachable with a locked display the thief is forced to reset the phone via recovery mode. This mode must be always accessible by pressing the right key combo in case you are in serious trouble with an unbootable device. Doing it that way, the following setup of the device requires a login to the last active Google account to verify the owner.
This verification step is also required if you do a factory reset in your settings menu. But here the verification is done before you delete everything by entering your display pattern. This will disable FRP for the following reset because you have then verified that this device is yours.
As a reviewer of the phone, you must have contact to a person of Samsung's local PR firm. Talk to her/him and get a new one.
Yes as mentioned above that is exactly what I am doing...
Thanks for the follow up, that all sounds fine. It just helps to give more information.
Yes, if you contacted Sammy and they are replacing it, then you found the best route. Good luck on the review.
Sharing frustration of all ends. Got a refurbished Sammy phone on Amazon, it arrived with someone's pwd on it. I bought it as a backup phone for the office so we discovered it outside the 90 days warranty and could not have sent back. I have the receipt, it is AMAZON selling it, and I have a brick on my desk. Nice, isn't it?
EranNavick said:
Sharing frustration of all ends. Got a refurbished Sammy phone on Amazon, it arrived with someone's pwd on it. I bought it as a backup phone for the office so we discovered it outside the 90 days warranty and could not have sent back. I have the receipt, it is AMAZON selling it, and I have a brick on my desk. Nice, isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phone arrived like that from Amazon, return to Amazon ASAP