[Q] Possible to get IMEI number without phone? - Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
Someone stole my phone the other day, and I was told to report it to the police etc. However, they asked for my IMEI number so they can block it and I don't have it -_- The sticker on the box has also been ripped so I can't find out that way.
The thing is, I have an efs backup from my Galaxy before it got stolen. Is it possible to find my IMEI number from this backup without the use of a phone?
Or would I be able to use this backup on another i9000, to get the IMEI so I can report it? Cause I know someone is using my phone cause I can see them downloading games etc on my Google account but they wont reply/give back my phone.
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think it should be possible, but i have no idea how :S
But another tip if someone has stolen your phone, install Lockout from Google Play to your phone and you will see where your phone is.

redeye25 said:
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Plan B
Follow these easy steps to use Plan B:
1. Install Plan B to the phone that you are trying to find from the Android Market website: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lookout.labs.planb.
2. Plan B will start automatically and send your phone’s location to your Gmail address.
3. To locate again after 10 minutes, borrow a friend’s phone and text the word “locate” to your lost phone.
Using Plan B is simple, but requires access to the Android Market website and your Google account. (If you have an Android phone, you already have a Google account.)
After you install it, Plan B will start locating your phone using cell towers and GPS. On some phones, Plan B can switch GPS on automatically. Your location will keep updating for 10 minutes, and you will get an email each time it is located, whether the phone is moving or standing still. You can start the process again by texting “locate” to your number from any other phone. In order to locate your phone, we send you a text via SMS, so standard message rates apply.
Once you have found your phone, download Lookout Mobile Security for full protection.
Best to install this at night when the person may be sleeping, but does not matter as it cannot be stopped and GPS is automatically turned on, an phone location map accurate to 30++ meters sent to your gmail account within a min

Related

G1 got stolen, a few questions

So, unfortunately I got mugged and my G1 was stolen.
I already changed all relevant passwords and will soon contact the network and police so they can lock the phone and the card.
However, I just wanted to be sure that if I change my google account password, the G1 can no longer access my data without the new password.
Or if the G1 always has access to it despite any changes.
wap32 said:
So, unfortunately I got mugged and my G1 was stolen.
I already changed all relevant passwords and will soon contact the network and police so they can lock the phone and the card.
However, I just wanted to be sure that if I change my google account password, the G1 can no longer access my data without the new password.
Or if the G1 always has access to it despite any changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Within a few minutes of a password change Android will lose sync and a pop up will hit the notification bar to update the password.
Sorry to hear about that... =(
Are you getting a new one? If so, make sure this time you install a GPS tracker, there are many programs on the market. I use GPStracker by instamapper, it works really well. You need to create an account and enter the device code you get online onto your G1. From there you can text your phone and it will enable GPS, and you can view where your phone is online. Here is the site, and i am terribly sorry that happened to you!!
http://www.instamapper.com/
Thanks for all the input guys.
The thing is, first thing the thieves usually do (as they did in this case) is take out the battery on the phone.
Also, they usually also get rid of the SIM card, and insert another one, most likely of a different network, so the G1 won't have internet access.
That kinda makes those programs useless.
wap32 said:
Thanks for all the input guys.
The thing is, first thing the thieves usually do (as they did in this case) is take out the battery on the phone.
Also, they usually also get rid of the SIM card, and insert another one, most likely of a different network, so the G1 won't have internet access.
That kinda makes those programs useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I don't unlock my phone for another network until it's absolutely necessary. If they have to unlock it, that takes time with the correct SIM installed (and then I am able to track it).
Out of curiosity, have you tried looking on Google's Latitude?
momentarylapseofreason said:
That's why I don't unlock my phone for another network until it's absolutely necessary. If they have to unlock it, that takes time with the correct SIM installed (and then I am able to track it).
Out of curiosity, have you tried looking on Google's Latitude?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latitude wasn't activated...
owned.
well you can tell t-mobile and they can probably track your sim.
G1-evolve said:
owned.
well you can tell t-mobile and they can probably track your sim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They wont. They will disable the IMEI (if recorded) on their network but that's it.
Yeah, no chances of SIM tracking, but they can disable the IMEI on a national level, essentially making the phone useless on the country.
Well, I know I've never had to worry about being hacked with my Trackstick.
Any application you can get for tracking your phone's location will only be useful if you LOSE your phone... then you can follow it.
If you want to be able to track a STOLEN phone, you need to think along a different line....
First off, the FIRST TWO THINGS that the thief will do are... 1) change SIM, 2) FACTORY RESET. That means that anything installed on the DATA partition... is gone.
So what do you do? Obviously, you need to install something on the SYSTEM partition. Not only that, but it must not have any configurations that are stored on the data partition.
Easy and simple solution is this;
You rig up a bootup script that checks if the installed SIMCARD is yours. If it is NOT, it will send an SMS message to some phone number, i.e., your googlevoice number. You will then have the thief's phone number. For further fun, CELL SITE ID, maybe GPS coordinates within the SMS message. And periodically repeat.
Note: The phone number may or may not be traceable by itself. To catch the bastard, you need to find a HOT SOUNDING girl to seduce him over the phone and arrange to meet up with him for a "good time". You then go there and beat the snot out of him and retrieve your phone. Or even better, you go there with cops to slammer him.
That sucks, I'd be lost without my G1

[Q] Anti theft software ?

Hey all ...
I just got my WP7 stolen :-(
I tried to use the tools we have with hotmail to locate, close etc our phones.
And you know what ?
I just discovered that they all use text messages to send the commands to your phone with your phone number !!!
And of course if the thief take off your sim card then you are f*cked up.
So I have been digging around to see if there are more serious solutions and found some much better application on Windows Mobile 6 or Android for example that can detect if you change the sim card, send messages, autolock and such ....
Anyone know if that kind of application exist on WP7 ?
Actually I'm wrong ....
Looks like it can also use push messages directly from hotmail to your phone.
By default that's what it tries, but if your phone isnt logued on on the hotmail push service (or something like that) then hotmail ask you for your phone number and try to lock it with a SMS. And of course if the thief changed your SIM it wont works.
But if i get it right, if the thief change the SIM card and turn your phone on with a full internet data access and let your phone log on on your hotmail account then it receive a push message that will lock it.
I'm not sure exactly how it works, specialy now because I have bought another HD2 and Flashed it exactly like my previous one, so on my hotmail account there's 2 phones and I there's some mixed stuff happening ... ( Makes me think of I ll create another temporary account to use my new phone til I give up on trying to lock my stolen one)
I tried to call Microsoft Hotline, talked with a guy for 20 minuts, he tried to get more info on how it is working exactly and called me back the next day but he couldnt get much more detailed explanations ...
I tried to check on the web but I can t get anything else than just the regular documentation saying how to lock or map your phone ...
the problem is that almost anyone could quite easily get around this, unless the thief is a complete numpty there is little that can be done.
There was some fantastic progams on WM that could be built in to the ROM, so short of flashing a new ROM, it would always report home on what ever SIM card was inplace.
With the tools we have, you have probably got a window of abut an hour before it will be reset, airport moded sim removed or reflashed, after than, unless they are stupid, is a gonna. In saying all of that, even the location tool is mostly useless, unless you catch them going home, once they are in the house it uses network triangulation, which depending on where they live could give you 200 houses to check! inshort, the second you know its gone, find a PC and lock and locate it.
Dont forget to get pictures of the IMIE and serial numbers pus any identifiable marks, even finding it is useless unless you can prove its yours.
as for WP7, there is nothing available yet, i doubt there would be anything useful in the near future either.
I know only antitheif which is only work for 6.5.

My Note just got stolen, help login out of everything.

I just got my Note stolen a few hours ago, I am so pissed right now, but hey what can I do... I live in Nicaragua, so no warranty and no police claim will get it back for me...
Tomorrow I will call my carrier and see if I can block my phone through IMEI number so the son of a **** that stole it cannot use it...
I never kept my gps enabled unless I was using it so no tracking software will be able to track my phone, I already blocked my number with my carrier so I guess there is not much I can do to track it, but I would like to sign out of everything on my phone, and I was just wondering if I changed passwords on every service installed on my phone would the theif still be able to login if I had checked the "remember me" or "stayed logged in" options?
Thanks,
Chaosin1983 said:
I just got my Note stolen a few hours ago, I am so pissed right now, but hey what can I do... I live in Nicaragua, so no warranty and no police claim will get it back for me...
Tomorrow I will call my carrier and see if I can block my phone through IMEI number so the son of a **** that stole it cannot use it...
I never kept my gps enabled unless I was using it so no tracking software will be able to track my phone, I already blocked my number with my carrier so I guess there is not much I can do to track it, but I would like to sign out of everything on my phone, and I was just wondering if I changed passwords on every service installed on my phone would the theif still be able to login if I had checked the "remember me" or "stayed logged in" options?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to install plan b from the market. You can install it remotely from Google play using a web browser and should be able to get the GPS coordinates of your phone providing the thief has not removed your Google account. Do it asap to increase your chances.
+1 Good idea, However The phone will need to have internet access to receive the remote download.
Dont suppose you had Lookout installed ?? On my device it is un-installable, and i can remotely turn GPS on / off, Track the phone, Wipe everything, Lock the device, and even make the phone scream !! (useful for when you are tracking and a close enough to hear it)
I hope you get it back !!
Changing the password won't let the thief use any of the services you have logged into. The app should request him for the new password. Do it ASAP!
I feel for you man! Had my iPod touch, Optimus 2X and Galaxy SII stolen!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA
first of all sorry you, that's one of the worst things that can happen to a phone.
if you think the theft is using your phone only with a different simcard you have the following options:
- try planb (as already mentioned above) to locate your phone.
- if you have a google account on the phone, try android lost that will gain you the full control over the phone including locating it, taking photos of the cameras and wiping the complete data of the device out. its a really great tool .
- if you have a Samsung account on your phone, try the samsung dive website with this you can also do things like locating or wiping data view call logs and so on.
if all the above fail you should change the passwords of all your accounts used on the phone, especially the email accounts. also try to contact your provider, really few of them provide a location service based on the imei number of the device. and also some of them offer the service to put the device's imei number to a ban list so the phone is useless at all because it cant login in to the gsm network.
*EDIT*: go to the police and let them give you a document that the phone is stolen, and the imei and serial numbers. give this document to samsung and they will put the device to a blacklist, so the device wont get service/support/repair anymore.
i hope some of this become useful to you
Best thing would be to:
1- Track it (with the app said above) or with Samsung Dive!
2- Find the perp
3- Beat him with a cow bone
4- Retrieve the phone
5- Send it to me for inspection
Hi guys, thanks for your help, I installed Plan B a few hours after the OP, but still no email...I would gladly beat the crap out of the theif, but I fear I won't see my note again, I have already ordered another one, this time I will install every tracking anti theft app available...
Anyhow, after this, I installed Lookout on my Girlfriends Note, and tried out the tracking, the tracking is not that accurate, it positions the phone within a 2 Km radius...any other app that would be more accurate?
Thanks,
Im using avast and i have to say its working well, it has a ton of features, you can make mobile data persistent with a single text making tracking that bit more accurate
combine it with the screaming feature of lookout and you should be able to hear it if you are close enough.
Try samsung dive
http://www.samsungdive.com
Lol samsung dive will dissapear when factory reset
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Little late for the original poster but Cerberus is a nice app too. I got in on a free promotion. I have it activated and don't even think about till I get an email saying that I changed my sim. You can remotely hide the app, wipe phone/sdcard have a login screen pop up appear, record video and or audio and map in real time.
Even though I think tracking your kids is creepy, I can see how some parents would love to install it on their kid's phone.
Thanks again for all the info, I will try all these once my new phone gets here.
I have a question though, all of these tracking apps need data connection on the cel phone's side...correct? What if the theif turns off data connection? Is there one that works with only GPS?
Well in avast, you can remotely activate data network even if the thief switches it off, It also has stealth mode where it hides all traces of being installed.
If you are rooted it can even withstand a factory reset.
Chaosin1983 said:
Thanks again for all the info, I will try all these once my new phone gets here.
I have a question though, all of these tracking apps need data connection on the cel phone's side...correct? What if the theif turns off data connection? Is there one that works with only GPS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS also needs data connectivity.
ravi_buz said:
GPS also needs data connectivity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used GPS trakcing with data off before ...it will track you even if the map does not render...afterwards when you get connectivity the map will be displayed along with your tracking info.
GPS don't requires data connection thogh, tracking won't work without data connection.
GPS fix the position without data connection, but for tracking you need to pass that information to server, which needs data connection.
can i unblock a samsung galaxy note ?
hey everyone !
so i got scammed in ebay and i got a samsung galaxy note n7000. the guy said it worked perfectly and stuff...buuut no !! when i got the phone it wont read any sim card so i just figured it was from the sim card reader. when i took it to my retailer they told me the phone was stolen/lost and the original owner kinda blocked it so no one can use it. i have access to the phone and everything except that it wont read my sim card. i contacted the guy i got from on ebay and filed a claim and everything but i know these things can take FOREVER before i can get my money back. the guy i got it from told me he bought on ebay too in november 2012. i dont wanna sell the phone again on ebay and scam more people i tried looking for the original owner so we can figure out a deal but i couldnt.
is there anyway i can fix this phone ?!! or can i contact the samsung store maybe and they can find the original owner ?!! please help...anyone ?!!!
Strange. Post could be chameleon or possibly victim of stolen phone.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
salmavic said:
hey everyone !
so i got scammed in ebay and i got a samsung galaxy note n7000. the guy said it worked perfectly and stuff...buuut no !! when i got the phone it wont read any sim card so i just figured it was from the sim card reader. when i took it to my retailer they told me the phone was stolen/lost and the original owner kinda blocked it so no one can use it. i have access to the phone and everything except that it wont read my sim card. i contacted the guy i got from on ebay and filed a claim and everything but i know these things can take FOREVER before i can get my money back. the guy i got it from told me he bought on ebay too in november 2012. i dont wanna sell the phone again on ebay and scam more people i tried looking for the original owner so we can figure out a deal but i couldnt.
is there anyway i can fix this phone ?!! or can i contact the samsung store maybe and they can find the original owner ?!! please help...anyone ?!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe, but how do I know you didnt steal it yourself/know you bought a stolen phone?
Salmavic please return that phone to chaosin! Lol jk
_______________
Via GT-n7OOO using xda app-lite

[Q] Theft of my i9000

Am from India.
Today morning a thief took away my Samsung Galaxy S i9000. I don't have its IMEI number, nor its bill, nor its box. Its 2-year old. I have NANDroid Backup of my phone.
Can \efs folder backup help me recover my IMEI, so that I can complain the police and track my phone with help of police and operators.??
Plz help ASAP.
guru_iyer said:
Am from India.
Today morning a thief took away my Samsung Galaxy S i9000. I don't have its IMEI number, nor its bill, nor its box. Its 2-year old. I have NANDroid Backup of my phone.
Can \efs folder backup help me recover my IMEI, so that I can complain the police and track my phone with help of police and operators.??
Plz help ASAP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
install plan B, from google play using your PC, immediately to track it , it give you location within minutes via email to your gmail account
I have given install order of PlanB from Google Market. What if the thief has thrown away my SIM card.??
And "Data Traffic and GPS was OFF when it was stolen"..
guru_iyer said:
I have given install order of PlanB from Google Market. What if the thief has thrown away my SIM card.??
And "Data Traffic and GPS was OFF when it was stolen"..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does not matter, it will install as long as you had google account sync on it, and it will auto ON GPS by itself , and cannot be shut off, as no settings menu in it., read instructions, as you can send locate sms to give you repeated details of location
WHat about INTERNET DATA connection..???
xsenman said:
does not matter, it will install as long as you had google account sync on it, and it will auto ON GPS by itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about MOBILE DATA connection.?
xsenman said:
you can send locate sms to give you repeated details of location
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I send SMS if that person has thrown the SIM Card.? To which phone number should I send.?
I still haven't got my first e-mail from PlanB, which is worrying me..!! :crying:
Can \efs folder backup help me recover my IMEI.?
I've a backup of \efs folder of my phone on my laptop....!!!
guru_iyer said:
Can \efs folder backup help me recover my IMEI.?
I've a backup of \efs folder of my phone on my laptop....!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Efs is encoded and encrypted as such only samsung will be able to guide you on this. Normally professional thieves would not be stealing it to use but to sell to a middleman who would ensure its shipped and sold in another state after altering its ROM etc. Hence they might not even switch it ON to avoid being detected, So lets hope that whosoever stole yours is an amateur and hopes to use or play with it
The only thing certain in life is death, everything else is hope, so even if you had the IMEI, the networks will only block the connection and Police, will not be doing anything ( unless they are getting something ). I have relations living in India, so I know and its the same here in the Philippines and many parts of this world.
Just hope Plan B works as Plan A, is never lose sight of your phone.
I feel, even an amateur will do Factory-Reset before using it.
So, I lost all hopes now..!!
guru_iyer said:
I feel, even an amateur will do Factory-Reset before using it.
So, I lost all hopes now..!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will never know as to what or how one thinks, as such If I were you, I would still try to install as many locating apps on my Phone using my gmail account . just look at google play https://play.google.com/store/apps/...GwsMSwxLDEwOSwiY29tLm1vYml1Y2FyZS5jbGllbnQiXQ.. and try to reinstall the Plan B and any and all others that may help recover your phone.

HELP Locked out of phone after leaving N Beta

A few weeks ago after Google I/O I decided to give the N Beta preview a try. I enrolled my phone and everything worked fine. However over the last week or so I've been getting a lot of app crashes and slowness that has been frustrating so I decided to roll back to Marshmallow and un-enrolled my Nexus 6 from the program. Immediately my phone started downloading the latest Marshmallow software update and after reading the warning that all data would be deleted from the phone I installed the update.
Once installed the phone activated the cellular service and the Welcome Screen appeared. I then connected the phone to wifi and was prompted to enter my Google account (email address) and password which it seems to accept but then I get a message that pops up that states "Please sign in using one of the owner's accounts for this device". and it bounces me back to the screen asking for my email address again.
I have 2 google accounts that I've used on this phone and neither seem to work. I have clicked on the "Need help finding your account?" link and answered the questions and I get a window pop up that states " Verify your number Google will send a one-time text message to confirm that (xxx)xxx-xxxx is yours." with the options to verify or try another way to sign in. Verify does nothing, since I can't get in the phone to check the text message they are trying to send and "try another way to sign in" sends me to g.co/recover which has a bunch of options for recovering a lost account but not how to fix this issue I'm having with the phone not recognizing my correct Google account.
So I am really sure where to go to get help to get back into my phone.? Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
First things first - You may be tempted to try to change your google password - I'd suggest not doing that - if you do that, you'll not be able to sign in to your phone using that ID for 72 hours.
Now, do you have 2 factor authentication set up? Do you have backup codes printed? (if not, can you use your computer to get to your google account, and get a backup code? Use that).
If you only have the SMS option, move the SIM card to a different phone and get the one time code, and then, move the SIM back to your Nexus 6 and sign in with that.
Edit: weird that you are running into this issue - this would happen only if the Gmail ID you are signing in with now is different than the one you used when you signed in to the N preview, or earlier
jj14 said:
First things first - You may be tempted to try to change your google password - I'd suggest not doing that - if you do that, you'll not be able to sign in to your phone using that ID for 72 hours.
Now, do you have 2 factor authentication set up? Do you have backup codes printed? (if not, can you use your computer to get to your google account, and get a backup code? Use that).
If you only have the SMS option, move the SIM card to a different phone and get the one time code, and then, move the SIM back to your Nexus 6 and sign in with that.
Edit: weird that you are running into this issue - this would happen only if the Gmail ID you are signing in with now is different than the one you used when you signed in to the N preview, or earlier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the same google account to try to sign in to the phone now as I used with the N preview, so I really don't understand why it's such an issue.
Unfortunately I think I screwed myself up. Initially I thought that my password was wrong (I wasn't paying attention) and I did change it, so based on what you say I will have to wait until Sunday morning to do anything.
I do have 2 factor set up and can get into my Google account on my computers and my Nexus 7 but I don't think it's is helpful at this point since I did change the password. Additionally I don't have a 2nd phone to move my SIM card to.

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