Database Users

NOTE TO ALL. DO not help theives.

These "pattern lockout please help" threads are the worst attempt at recovering stolen phones. Its obvious thw thieves create multiple accounts on xda, Then reply with things like "this is happening to me too" It supposed to build their credibility by creating small layers of trust. Its to make you think "Oh, well if multiple people are having an issue, maybe this is just another failure in the long list of problems."
I wouldnt be suprised if they start pm'ing people who attempt to help.
The bottom line is, this is a weak attempt to socially engineer you to break the law by helping them break the law. We all know that if you forget your pattern its easy enough to recover from it. My son locks my phone once a week from incorrect pattern entry. With my G1 it was married to one google account so i was forced to recover via gmail. Therefore if they are the true owners they will have no problem recovering.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Word.
Well said.

Need to sticky this.
I'd pay for an app that locks down the recovery and download mode with a password - can't remember your pass - tough ****.

Hey people, I forgot my....
oh... I guess I have to ask androidforums...

+1
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

HG! said:
Hey people, I forgot my....
oh... I guess I have to ask androidforums...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely agree though!!!

Bump. Sticky this.

I agree with the OP, theres alot of phones on ebay and craigslist of the locked android phones. I sent a message to an ebay seller and his response was the phone was as is, but fully working. Would not go into detail when I asked him was it user error or stolen. My initial Vibrant I bought was stolen and I had no security installed. That mistake wont happen again but Please dont help the theives.

what if the person is being honest, and they are really pattern locked out, and they don't know anything about android? LOL that would suck, but I agree, lets not help thieves.

Yeah pretty much a big f you. I am a legit owner who was locked out the day I got my phone. Gmail did not unlock it so I called tmo. They walked me through a master unlock which made things worse, as now all my gmail info was deleted. Thank goodness there were people willing to help and I was able to get my phone back up and running. Its people like you who really make it hard for someone to get the help they need here on xda.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

SamsungVibrant said:
what if the person is being honest, and they are really pattern locked out, and they don't know anything about android? LOL that would suck, but I agree, lets not help thieves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it happens, but tough ****, we can't determine the real idiots from the thieves so it's best to help no one get past the unlock screen.
(although on stock vibrant there is a known issue that the pattern unlock does not go away even if you do the right thing)

While I do agree we shouldn't help thieves, we shouldn't make such a blanket statement. Just because you get locked out of your phone doesn't mean you stole it. I've had customers whose friends tried to unlock their phone and locked them out.
But I can see it now all the unhelpful vultures on here as soon as someone asks about being locked out of their phone. "ZOMG THIEVE CALL THE POLICE, TELL THE MODS, TRACK THEIR IP, THEIR WORSE THAN HITLER!!!!"

speoples20 said:
While I do agree we shouldn't help thieves, we shouldn't make such a blanket statement. Just because you get locked out of your phone doesn't mean you stole it. I've had customers whose friends tried to unlock their phone and locked them out.
But I can see it now all the unhelpful vultures on here as soon as someone asks about being locked out of their phone. "ZOMG THIEVE CALL THE POLICE, TELL THE MODS, TRACK THEIR IP, THEIR WORSE THAN HITLER!!!!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am not saying that if a customer brings their phone into my store i am not going to help then(i would get reprimanded for that) but online i have no way of knowing if they are telling the truth or not. when people bring their phone into the store you can usually tell if they are telling the truth or not, or you have a hundred tools at your disposal as a rep that will tell you whether or not they bought the phone and/or it is theirs

I am not suggesting there are not circumstances where everything goes wrong and you are unable to sign in using your gmail account to unlock. Wait... yes i am. If you are in this situation it is 100% your fault.
Take ownership of your phone and whats on it.
If it were so easy to circumvent 2 layers of secuirty on a locked android device... then why even have it on there.
Most if not all people looking to get around the pattern unlock are in possesion of a phone they dont own.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

or they are completely retarded like 90% of my customers, there are thousands of people out there that have an android device and have no clue what their gmail password is because the sales rep set all that up for them and made sure that when they walked out the door they would have no problems. at least once a week i get customers that come in and tell me that they locked themselves out of their phone and i know they did because A) i sold it to them and set it up B) a co-worker sold it to them and i set it up C) they are old. most people don't bother to remember passwords just like they don't remember phone numbers, because technology has the ability to remember stuff for us then why the hell should we have to use our brain at all?
i am not saying that we should walk people through how to get past it, i am just stating that some people really are that stupid and can't remember unlock patterns or passwords, or phone numbers or whatever else. frankly i think even i have locked myself out of my old G1 because i changed my pattern and then forgot what is was(i changed mine once a week) just because i changed the pattern doesn't mean i stole it, it means i'm an idiot
i have also seen phones that will not let you use the gmail credentials even though you can use those same credentials to log in via computer. just because someone is stupid does not make them a thief, although being a thief makes them stupid

NoDataFound said:
I am not suggesting there are not circumstances where everything goes wrong and you are unable to sign in using your gmail account to unlock. Wait... yes i am. If you are in this situation it is 100% your fault.
Take ownership of your phone and whats on it.
If it were so easy to circumvent 2 layers of secuirty on a locked android device... then why even have it on there.
Most if not all people looking to get around the pattern unlock are in possesion of a phone they dont own.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because you have not run into a situation in which all systems failed does not mean it doesn't happen. Don't be do short sighted and pig headed that you under mind the purpose of help forums. I consider myself a semi intelligent person but somehow found myself completely locked out of my first vibrant. With the help of a few good people I was back up and running the next day. And this was on my day old stock vibrant. And yes the gmail auth failed even with the correct login info.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Apexsilverevo said:
Just because you have not run into a situation in which all systems failed does not mean it doesn't happen. Don't be do short sighted and pig headed that you under mind the purpose of help forums. I consider myself a semi intelligent person but somehow found myself completely locked out of my first vibrant. With the help of a few good people I was back up and running the next day. And this was on my day old stock vibrant. And yes the gmail auth failed even with the correct login info.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I pointed out already(and I'm agreeing with you) this is a known issue, and t-mo has said many times that they plan on a fix but I doubt it will be soon
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

tubaking182 said:
or they are completely retarded like 90% of my customers, there are thousands of people out there that have an android device and have no clue what their gmail password is because the sales rep set all that up for them and made sure that when they walked out the door they would have no problems. at least once a week i get customers that come in and tell me that they locked themselves out of their phone and i know they did because A) i sold it to them and set it up B) a co-worker sold it to them and i set it up C) they are old. most people don't bother to remember passwords just like they don't remember phone numbers, because technology has the ability to remember stuff for us then why the hell should we have to use our brain at all?
i am not saying that we should walk people through how to get past it, i am just stating that some people really are that stupid and can't remember unlock patterns or passwords, or phone numbers or whatever else. frankly i think even i have locked myself out of my old G1 because i changed my pattern and then forgot what is was(i changed mine once a week) just because i changed the pattern doesn't mean i stole it, it means i'm an idiot
i have also seen phones that will not let you use the gmail credentials even though you can use those same credentials to log in via computer. just because someone is stupid does not make them a thief, although being a thief makes them stupid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall you are correct. I deal with people all the time that dont know tech at all. The only thing I see wrong with your logic is that those type of people would not be on this forum. If the people bought the phone through a legit source they can go back to that store and get it unlocked or replaced.

tubaking182 said:
As I pointed out already(and I'm agreeing with you) this is a known issue, and t-mo has said many times that they plan on a fix but I doubt it will be soon
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got to love the xda app lol, I meant to quote the post above. But appreciate your response
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Listen, there is a flaw with the fail safe of the patern lock. Its supposed to verify your google account info. It completely failed for me. First I was told I had to do it using 3G and not wi-fi. But neither worked. T mo actually replaced my phone because I got licked out
locked. They saw the error when I showed them I could log on with a computer but not with the phone which I had a receipt for.
Try it for yourself. Enter the wrong code until it asks for google verification.
Before you get your panties in a wad, why not see if there's a bug here after all.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App

Do you guys like pattern.locks?

I think this just shows how easy it is to get into.android.phones. Thank god we have software like whispercore. What do you.guys think?
http://www.whispersys.com/whispercore.html

I don't use a screen lock. It's disabled with Nolock, because it's completely unnecessary.

I'm confused..
The site you linked says nothing at all about breaking pattern locks?
Anyhow to answer your question, I do not lock my phone but if I did it would be with a number or word combo.

nebenezer said:
I'm confused..
The site you linked says nothing at all about breaking pattern locks?
Anyhow to answer your question, I do not lock my phone but if I did it would be with a number or word combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.whispersys.com/screenlock.html
There you go.

Oh my. Someone just needs to wipe their phone off every once in a while. Either that, or wash their hands.
As an alternative, how about actually using the phone once you've turned it on? I mean if you do anything (text, e-mail, browse, launch an app, change screens) your "grease trail" will likely be altered.

I know I should be using one, but I'm just too lazy to deal with it. I know, sad.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

mevensen said:
Oh my. Someone just needs to wipe their phone off every once in a while. Either that, or wash their hands.
As an alternative, how about actually using the phone once you've turned it on? I mean if you do anything (text, e-mail, browse, launch an app, change screens) your "grease trail" will likely be altered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL... agree with you 100% on both points!!!!
Sent From The Tree House Out Back!

Let's see, spend two months (more or less) writing code that will make it increasingly difficult to unlock your phone, or wipe the phone on your shirt/pants before you put it down.......I'll go with the latter.

Stolen Samsung Galaxy SIII

Hello guys !
15 hours ago I was walking towards my home when three unknown guys jumped on me, beaten me pretty good and then stole my phone. I don't really care about the bruises as I care about my little precious toy (though, I'm happy that I'm alive).
Because I'm such a noob I didn't protect my phone with Cerberus or any other security/tracing app. It didn't even have a lock-screen password (it's pretty useless because the phone can be wiped from recovery).
Guys, please, what do you suggest me to do ? I'd personally try to install a security app from google play store from my PC on my phone but I'm waiting for more oppinions. Have you tried it ?
The police asked for my IMEI code and they are probably trying to trace it by now, but I want to start my own investigation, see if this works.
As a last thing, Android users, PLEASE install tracing software on your phone. It doesn't matter if it costs money, or if it drains a bit of battery here and there. Also, make sure you will always have your IMEI code (mine was only on the box and it was almost worn-off).

Crys7y said:
Hello guys !
15 hours ago I was walking towards my home when three unknown guys jumped on me, beaten me pretty good and then stole my phone. I don't really care about the bruises as I care about my little precious toy (though, I'm happy that I'm alive).
Because I'm such a noob I didn't protect my phone with Cerberus or any other security/tracing app. It didn't even have a lock-screen password (it's pretty useless because the phone can be wiped from recovery).
Guys, please, what do you suggest me to do ? I'd personally try to install a security app from google play store from my PC on my phone but I'm waiting for more oppinions. Have you tried it ?
The police asked for my IMEI code and they are probably trying to trace it by now, but I want to start my own investigation, see if this works.
As a last thing, Android users, PLEASE install tracing software on your phone. It doesn't matter if it costs money, or if it drains a bit of battery here and there. Also, make sure you will always have your IMEI code (mine was only on the box and it was almost worn-off).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The police can handle that for you...

Phone your network and report it stolen or you will be liable for any calls made.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Contact your Carrier/Samsung as far as i can remember they have the option to "blacklist" your imei so the thief won't be able to use or resell it without changing the imei but i doubt that the guy has that kind of technical knowledge

All you can do is get the phone imei blocked by network operator. It's too late now to protect anything in the phone or wipe it remotely
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

I reported it stolen to the police and they asked me for the IMEI code so they can obtain a warrant and start to trace my phone. I wouldn't want to add it to that blacklist yet because I don't want the phone to become unusable (missing IMEI) while the police might be trying to get it. That's the only reason that kept me from calling Samsung last night.
Also, I called my carrier, canceled my SIM card and they are probably working with the police (if they got that warrant).
One interesting thing that the officer told me was that if the IMEI code is correct, whenever the thief gets a SIM card in that phone and calls someone, the numbers will pop up at their center and they can start tracking it.

You can track it by logging in to www.samsungdive.com if you set up a Samsung account
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

wow people are just soo low in todays world.. so few dont work for things they want like the rest of us

There is no need for 3rd-party software for that.
All the S II and S III (and maybe others) devices with a free service from Samsung called Samsung Dive.
Did you by chance take the time to setup Samsung Dive?
If you did, log on to www.samsungdive.com and it will locate your phone, give you log for the last calls, remote wipe, etc.
If you didn't, then too bad: serves you well for not taking the proper measures, even if Samsung tried to help you by giving you free software and service.

I'm not really a fan of Samsung's software. My phone didn't even know how does the stock ROM look like. Unfortunately, no Samsung Dive for me.
Thank you for the replies, guys !

Crys7y said:
I'm not really a fan of Samsung's software. My phone didn't even know how does the stock ROM look like. Unfortunately, no Samsung Dive for me.
Thank you for the replies, guys !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you get it, either get a tracking app or return to stock and use samsung dive.
Now what the police said is true, they can get him with the IMEI number if he puts a new SIM, locate him and kick his ass.
Don't be afraid, they will handle everything from here.

Isn't there a software called plan b? Not sure if it's any good or not but maybe worth a try
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

I would get in touch with Samsung and give them your imei number, just because you didn't register with them it doesn't mean they still can't track your phone for you
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

jonaz100 said:
Isn't there a software called plan b? Not sure if it's any good or not but maybe worth a try
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't work from ICS onwards (perhaps Honeycomb also) because apps can only be automatically started after you've manually ran the app once

Samsungnooby said:
I would get in touch with Samsung and give them your imei number, just because you didn't register with them it doesn't mean they still can't track your phone for you
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is something for police and network operator.
Unless you expect samsung to admit that they have Builtin backdoor to our phones
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300

I never knew about Samsung dive.
it just uses your Samsung account login details which is good, it knew about my s2 I had, my first s3 I had for 2 days, and this s3.tried it out and it's very good.
but....I still prefer findmyphone
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

It might be a hopeless case by now, but you can also try pushing androidlost from the market to the phone, via Play Store. And start praying that the thief has not wiped the ROM.
Good luck!

Well, thanks god you are safe and well right ? about the phone, without a tracing software i wouldn't have much hope. At least with the imei you would make it kind of useless as a phone for them.
Cerberus is always the first app i install on my phone. It is a must if you live in a ****ty place like brazil.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Idan73 said:
That is something for police and network operator.
Unless you expect samsung to admit that they have Builtin backdoor to our phones
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you register with them it's just easier for you to track your phone via your account but it's basically just a imei tracker it's just when you register your account details your imei just automatically get sent with your account I think?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

tntgdh said:
Cerberus is always the first app i install on my phone. It is a must if you live in a ****ty place like brazil.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must live in a pretty ****ty part of Brazil, because I've lived there most of my life and never had a single phone stolen. And I always have high-end phones AND know how to use them for both safekeeping my private data and the devices themselves.
OTOH, in the 1 year I lived in Ft. Lauderdale (FLA/USA) as an exchange student, I was robbed about once a month, including having my padlock broken in my high school's lockerroom twice. In 37 years living in Brazil, I had a car robbed once in 1996 and that was it.

Require Password to Shut Off Nexus 4....

It their anyway to force the phone to require a password in order to shut down the phone? This is a HUGE flaw that nobody seems to be focusing on. What's the point of having a security app on your smartphone if they can just shut it off and your done? Anybody feel the same way? It's like having a security system in your house and allowing anybody to simply shut it off without breaking a sweat. Are you okay with that? I messaged Lookout Mobile Security and Sent a Request which you can do so here once signing in https://www.lookout.com/help. Just click on Send a Request. Hopefully they can implement this vital feature in their security app. If theirs any smart people out their who can make this feature on their own I applaud you. Your phone will let you know where its at even if its off using Lookout online, but without out the phone screaming (a feature within Lookout that makes your phone emit a really loud sound) it's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Click on the link and let them know you want this feature. It just makes security apps on ANY phone totally useless without this feature.

What is a thief going to do with a phone they can never turn on? Sure you can't use the security features with it off but they have to turn it back on eventually.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

What kind of logic is that? You swear a person will wait years for the thieve to turn it back on? REALLY?

joshnichols189 said:
What is a thief going to do with a phone they can never turn on? Sure you can't use the security features with it off but they have to turn it back on eventually.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of logic is that? You swear somebody will wait for years for the thieve to turn their phone back on? Really?

its written in its hardware to shutdown after holding the power button for 10 seconds, you protect your information with encryption, locks so the thief won't bother, that's all, not much you can do once they install clockworkmod, no offense
if the mobile provider does block the imei, you can just use it in another country.
google needs a database to centralize all licensed androids/imei with gmail account to lock it of its stolen or un-authorized and report it.

Well it could be used for other purposes too.
For me for instance. I drove home yesterday from work while suddenly I felt a small vibration from my pocket. Looked and it was from the phone turning off... I must have sat wrong. I'd love a "lock" to not have this happen again.
HOWEVER... there are apps known for freezing your screen (i.e. TouchControl atm).
If you get a freeze you're .... ****ed! so not sure if I'd like that, but it would be a nice feature if you feel safe that you won't get freezes.

Password to turn off phone? It's useless lol.
Take out battery?
ADB reboot?
Anyways, no matter what they're gonna have to turn the phone back on. If not, why would they steal the phone?

123456789fg said:
What kind of logic is that? You swear a person will wait years for the thieve to turn it back on? REALLY?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your issue but all you have to do to turn a phone off is long press power for around 10 seconds and it automatically shuts down. By that logic removable batteries and SD cards are incredibly dangerous as well. If a thief gets your phone and knows what they're doing, there's not much you can do to get your phone back. The reason most people have passwords on their phones is really just to stop friends messing around with things, since it's fairly unlikely someone will steal your phone if you look after it properly.

Nigeldg said:
I understand your issue but all you have to do to turn a phone off is long press power for around 10 seconds and it automatically shuts down. By that logic removable batteries and SD cards are incredibly dangerous as well. If a thief gets your phone and knows what they're doing, there's not much you can do to get your phone back. The reason most people have passwords on their phones is really just to stop friends messing around with things, since it's fairly unlikely someone will steal your phone if you look after it properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most thieves DON"T know how to do this. Either way this shouldn't stop the feature from being their. Just because somebody can means we shouldn't?

lol this is comical.
The only thing they would have to do is let the phone die within a day by the battery running out. Then they could charge it with the phone off, and proceed to thievery as normal.
If they were to implement this, I can just see the 1st thread after this 'feature' is enabled
"Help! My Phone froze and now I need an RMA"

ingenious247 said:
lol this is comical.
The only thing they would have to do is let the phone die within a day by the battery running out. Then they could charge it with the phone off, and proceed to thievery as normal.
If they were to implement this, I can just see the 1st thread after this 'feature' is enabled
"Help! My Phone froze and now I need an RMA"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A day is more than enough to find your phone when stolen if it hasn't been "TURNED OFF" manually.
I'll tell you what's comical, the responses I hear lol
:laugh:

Really? lol I could put it in a shoebox in my closet. Good luck getting a GPS read on it, and even if you did it's only accurate to 30 meters and I live in apt. complex.
So there goes that theory

ingenious247 said:
Really? lol I could put it in a shoebox in my closet. Good luck getting a GPS read on it, and even if you did it's only accurate to 30 meters and I live in apt. complex.
So there goes that theory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of shoe box we talking about? Most thieves aren't smart enough to know these things. The first thing they will do after taking it is turning it off. If it requires a password how will that be possible? I know this solution will not end world hunger or war, but what it will do is provide a bigger window in finding your phone and that's all we need. Is time not relevant to you?

#1 I treat my phone like my wallet (since it is w/ Google Wallet) which means I don't pull it out and set it on a table at a restaurant/bar, I don't hand it to people I don't know who say "hey bro can I use your phone real quick", I don't set it down at a party/friends house/anywhere. It's always in my pocket. You'd have to beat me down to get it, so slim chance of that (good luck..)
#2 Everything I do is password protected (i.e. lockscreen, Google Wallet, Play Store purchases) and I can disable Wallet remotely and change my PW to my Google account remotely.. all my pics/music are in the cloud so there's nothing to lose/steal from my phone
#3 *IF* someone was lucky enough to get their hands on my phone somehow, the last thing I would worry about is if they were able to flash/reset it quickly because chances are the amount of time you're talking about would be ~6-8 hours at best on average unless you were at 100% charge when they stole it
#4 It would cause more problems than it would solve as phones tend to freeze here and there, I guarantee *YOU* would be the only one suffering any consequence of the implementation not some theoretical thief.

123456789fg said:
It their anyway to force the phone to require a password in order to shut down the phone? This is a HUGE flaw that nobody seems to be focusing on. What's the point of having a security app on your smartphone if they can just shut it off and your done? Anybody feel the same way? It's like having a security system in your house and allowing anybody to simply shut it off without breaking a sweat. Are you okay with that? I messaged Lookout Mobile Security and Sent a Request which you can do so here once signing in https://www.lookout.com/help. Just click on Send a Request. Hopefully they can implement this vital feature in their security app. If theirs any smart people out their who can make this feature on their own I applaud you. Your phone will let you know where its at even if its off using Lookout online, but without out the phone screaming (a feature within Lookout that makes your phone emit a really loud sound) it's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Click on the link and let them know you want this feature. It just makes security apps on ANY phone totally useless without this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great username, explains a lot.

123456789fg said:
What kind of shoe box we talking about? Most thieves aren't smart enough to know these things. The first thing they will do after taking it is turning it off. If it requires a password how will that be possible? I know this solution will not end world hunger or war, but what it will do is provide a bigger window in finding your phone and that's all we need. Is time not relevant to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in an apartment, good luck getting info on which unit I'm living in.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

exb0 said:
I live in an apartment, good luck getting info on which unit I'm living in.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'll just repost this again once the smart people come back from spring break. Addios.

123456789fg said:
I think I'll just repost this again once the smart people come back from spring break. Addios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good luck :3

exb0 said:
good luck :3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't need it.

123456789fg said:
A day is more than enough to find your phone when stolen if it hasn't been "TURNED OFF" manually.
I'll tell you what's comical, the responses I hear lol
:laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How dumb are you? If the phone dies there is no finding it. You don't have to turn it off manually for it to die.
123456789fg said:
I think I'll just repost this again once the smart people come back from spring break. Addios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, are you thirteen? Spring break was last month.
123456789fg said:
Don't need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really do need a lot of luck at this rate.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Stolen N7 2013. Sad day...

So today, I got home. Poof. N7 2013 gone.
Everything else was there! My more valuable PC was still sitting there on the desk!
Kitchen door wide open. No signs of a break in. I do have the bad habit of leaving it unlocked...
Anyway, after checking everything else... surprisingly only the N7 was missing... Only and only the N7 gone.
Quite the subtle thief...
I live with a couple other housemates, and after asking if they had borrowed it, I realised we had an outsider. I doubt it was them any of my housemates, we are good friends from childhood.
Anyway, what am I able to do in order to track it?
In my haste, I did log onto Android Device Manager through Chrome, and pressed the remote Wipe button. I did not want the thief to have access to all my apps, including bank details and other payment apps like PayPal. Other apps like games, I couldn't care less.
I changed all my passwords which I could possibly think of which had apps installed in my N7.
Then it sort of dawned on me... If I remote wiped it... Did I just give the thief a free pass to a new device? Did I just save him the bother of factory resetting the device?
Which meant, I am no longer able to even track it?
Sounds like a genius idea, whoever designed that function... Why would anyone in their right mind decide to remote wipe a device had it not been stolen... Unless you're sitting on the toilet, and did not want the bother of physically tapping the screen...
So... I guess I did the thief a favour...
Please correct me if I'm wrong. Because I would still like to track this mofo, and pass it to the police.

Did you also use the lock function in Android Device Manager? I'm sorry that your tablet was stolen. Have you opened ADM after you wiped the device to check whether it can see your tablet?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Jhall8 said:
Did you also use the lock function in Android Device Manager? I'm sorry that your tablet was stolen. Have you opened ADM after you wiped the device to check whether it can see your tablet?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I opened ADM and there has been no contact with it since I discovered the loss. I pushed the lock key before I chose wipe.

Maybe you should pass the message around you that your tablet has been stolen and you want the head of the guy.
Offer 50 bucks to the one who will give some info. This is what the USA did while looking for Osama.
You Know these guys can not keep their mouth shut.
Seem a teen who entered in your house. Big guys would have taken all... Not just a small tablet.