Theft proofing your phone!

[mufakir]

I've had my phone stolen more times than I'd like. Given the fact that I've had my phone stolen this many number of times may suggest to some that I'm careless. Well, that would be a correct assumption to make. However, I don't equate being careless with deserving to have my phone stolen by some low lying piece of koopa. Anyway, the last one was a Moto G and the thing that pissed me off was the fact that the device had achieved an equilibrium in all areas that are important; the right balance of applications, just the right battery time etc. It knew me and I knew it. We were familiar to each other and then it was ripped from my clawing hands, never to return again. At that very moment, I made a decision that never will I let another phone be stolen again (iA). So I decided to make my phone theft-proof, not theft-resistant but theft-proof. The phone in question is the Moto X.

This is how I did it. First you need the following:

- A handset whose battery cannot be removed (at least very easily like the Moto G/Nexus 5/Moto X)
- Root
- Xposed Framework
- Xposed Framework Gravitybox module
- Anti-theft app (the one that I use is cerberus https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lsdroid.cerberus&hl=en)
- Bringrr or any other bluetooth perimeter based tracker (optional but recommended)

It's a fairly straight forward procedure. I'll lay it out in steps.

Step 1:
- Buy a phone whose battery cannot be removed

Step 2:
- Root the phone

Step 3:
- Set a pattern or number lock on your phone.

Step 4:
- Install XposedFramework

Step 5:
- Download and install Gravitybox module from within the Xposedframework

Step 6:
Go into the Gravityox module from the app drawer, then go into "Power Tweaks" and then check the "Disable power menu on lockscreen" option. This ensures that when your phone is locked (assumption is that you keep your phone locked or secured), nobody can turn it off or lower the volume. This is crucial when it comes to theft. Usually when a thief steals a phone, the first thing he does is he turns it off or removes the battery or reduces the volume to zero, but if he can't do any of these then the thief has a tracker in his hands and he's in deep ****za.

Step 7:
- Install an anti-theft app. I recommend cerberus. It's very versatile and wholesome. I really like the fact that you can actually make it into a system app which means that even if the thief were to somehow turn off the phone and then turn it on again and crack your pass code or pattern lock and factory reset the phone from the settings, the cerberus app will still be there doing it's job of tracking your phone.

There's only one way of getting around this as far as I can tell but I don't think I'm going to tell you how. That would defeat the purpose of this little guide

Step 8:
- Get a bluetooth location trackr. I like bringrr. It seems to get better reviews than the others one floating out there. It's a bluetooth device that plugs into your car's cig lighter socket and connects to your phone's bluetooth. If you leave your phone in a cafe and come back to the car, the bringrr will warn you or alert you that your phone isn't with you. It also has small little tags which you can put in your wallet and then your wallet and your phone and your car, all can communicate with each other. So, it's a nice preventive measure.

 

[Riverdales27]

Even if you disable the power menu you can just hold down the power button until it turns off.

 

[AlternativeWater]

True....but that's not true if you havent confirmed it yet.

Sent from my GT-I9295 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[Alpha_wolf]

also if they have a pin they can eject the sim
than hold power til it shuts down
hold down and power get to recovery and wipe the phone
after that if they are really good change the imei and bam
cant track or black list it
i know imei is hard to change but i know it can be done

 

[mufakir]

also if they have a pin they can eject the sim
than hold power til it shuts down
hold down and power get to recovery and wipe the phone
after that if they are really good change the imei and bam
cant track or black list it
i know imei is hard to change but i know it can be done

holding down the power button does turn it off but you gotta keep your finger there for a while. and I'm betting that an opportunistic thief really won't have his wits about him to figure out why the power menu isn't showing up and might freak.

and yes! these are the two flaw in this plan, the removal of the sim. however, if they insert another sim into the phone, cerberus sends a message to the designated numbers. also, imei changing IS hard and can't be done on the fly so there's a window of opportunity between the theft of the phone and the subsequent IMEI change (if there is one) to trace and recover it.

Also wiping the phone won't remove cerberus. you'll have to flash a new rom to get rid of it. so they can change the imei and whatnot but you'll still be able to trace it once they've booted it back up.

however, it'll give you and your phone a fighting chance

 

[Alpha_wolf]

holding down the power button does turn it off but you gotta keep your finger there for a while. and I'm betting that an opportunistic thief really won't have his wits about him to figure out why the power menu isn't showing up and might freak.

and yes! these are the two flaw in this plan, the removal of the sim. however, if they insert another sim into the phone, cerberus sends a message to the designated numbers. also, imei changing IS hard and can't be done on the fly so there's a window of opportunity between the theft of the phone and the subsequent IMEI change (if there is one) to trace and recover it.

Also wiping the phone won't remove cerberus. you'll have to flash a new rom to get rid of it. so they can change the imei and whatnot but you'll still be able to trace it once they've booted it back up.

however, it'll give you and your phone a fighting chance

i agree with you i was just throwing those out there cause there are people like us that use their power for evil lol

 

[mawells787]

I've had my phone stolen more times than I'd like. Given the fact that I've had my phone stolen this many number of times may suggest to some that I'm careless. Well, that would be a correct assumption to make. However, I don't equate being careless with deserving to have my phone stolen by some low lying piece of koopa. Anyway, the last one was a Moto G and the thing that pissed me off was the fact that the device had achieved an equilibrium in all areas that are important; the right balance of applications, just the right battery time etc. It knew me and I knew it. We were familiar to each other and then it was ripped from my clawing hands, never to return again. At that very moment, I made a decision that never will I let another phone be stolen again (iA). So I decided to make my phone theft-proof, not theft-resistant but theft-proof. The phone in question is the Moto X.

Just out of curiosity how many phones have been stolen from you? And how were they stolen? Maybe there's something that you change to not get your phone stolen.

 

[mufakir]

Just out of curiosity how many phones have been stolen from you? And how were they stolen? Maybe there's something that you change to not get your phone stolen.

Well the first phone was Iphone. The very first Iphone. It was stolen from my car while I was sitting in it. Happens a lot where I am; Pakistan. I was waiting for the light to turn green at a signal when this guy showed up on the passenger side door, and in what seemed like a flash, opened the door (which unfortunately was not locked), snatched the phone (which was lying on the passenger seat), ran around the car and on to the other side of the road where there was a guy on a bike (who I had not noticed before) revving it. The thief got on to the bike and they were gone. I had in the meanwhile only gotten out of the car and managed to shout out an expletive but it was too late by then. The phone was gone.

Ever since, I keep my car doors locked at all times.

The 2nd phone was also stolen from my car while it was parked in my garage. Probably the driver. It was a Nokia.

The 3rd phone was the Moto G. Went to this cafe to get some ice cream for wife and kid. Rush hour traffic in the cafe. Some seedy types were at the counter as well and I was wearing baggy clothes and got pick pocketed. Didn't feel nothing. Last known location of the phone was the cafe according to Life360.

 

[mawells787]

Well the first phone was Iphone. The very first Iphone. It was stolen from my car while I was sitting in it. Happens a lot where I am; Pakistan. I was waiting for the light to turn green at a signal when this guy showed up on the passenger side door, and in what seemed like a flash, opened the door (which unfortunately was not locked), snatched the phone (which was lying on the passenger seat), ran around the car and on to the other side of the road where there was a guy on a bike (who I had not noticed before) revving it. The thief got on to the bike and they were gone. I had in the meanwhile only gotten out of the car and managed to shout out an expletive but it was too late by then. The phone was gone.

Ever since, I keep my car doors locked at all times.

The 2nd phone was also stolen from my car while it was parked in my garage. Probably the driver. It was a Nokia.

The 3rd phone was the Moto G. Went to this cafe to get some ice cream for wife and kid. Rush hour traffic in the cafe. Some seedy types were at the counter as well and I was wearing baggy clothes and got pick pocketed. Didn't feel nothing. Last known location of the phone was the cafe according to Life360.

1. Sucks that people just walk up to cars and steal while you're in the car. But like you said windows and doors locked will help.

2. Sucks that people steal. But assholes work everywhere. But never leave your personal property unattended.

3. Keep your wallet and phone in front pockets its harder to pick pocket. Or wear pants that are not too baggy so that pick pockets cant easily get their hands in.

I'm not sure how crime is in Pakistan but it sounds worse than here in the states. But even if you can track someone, remember its not worth getting seriously hurt or worse over property.

 

[fury683]

I guess I'd add that another step no matter what theft prevention you have, is to make a backup. Once you find that great balance of perfect apps and configurations, take screen shots of your app drawer at the very least so you know what apps you had installed. Take screenshots of your home screen so you know what icons you had where for that instinctive muscle memory of unlocking and tapping email in the lower right without really looking or thinking about it.

I've never had a phone stolen, but I've bricked and wiped enough times to know that backups are important even if your phone doesn't get stolen.

 

[buschris]

carry AK47 in front seat of car, problem solved!

 

[jco23]

Turn in android device manager with location reporting. It will track your phone down for you.

 

[mufakir]

I guess I'd add that another step no matter what theft prevention you have, is to make a backup. Once you find that great balance of perfect apps and configurations, take screen shots of your app drawer at the very least so you know what apps you had installed. Take screenshots of your home screen so you know what icons you had where for that instinctive muscle memory of unlocking and tapping email in the lower right without really looking or thinking about it.

I've never had a phone stolen, but I've bricked and wiped enough times to know that backups are important even if your phone doesn't get stolen.

yea, but it's such painstaking work man. gonna do that today.

 

[mufakir]

1. Sucks that people just walk up to cars and steal while you're in the car. But like you said windows and doors locked will help.

2. Sucks that people steal. But assholes work everywhere. But never leave your personal property unattended.

3. Keep your wallet and phone in front pockets its harder to pick pocket. Or wear pants that are not too baggy so that pick pockets cant easily get their hands in.

I'm not sure how crime is in Pakistan but it sounds worse than here in the states. But even if you can track someone, remember its not worth getting seriously hurt or worse over property.

Well, all I know about crime in the States is what I see in tv shows, but yea, it's everywhere. crime and criminals that is.

 

[Darth]

I prefer keeping my phone by my side at all times....to battery sucking theft solutions.

But to each their own!!

Good info here for sure! ?

 

[perri.etb]

In my opinion it's better to leave the phone without a pin because, if i were an average theft who doesn't know that much about phones, I'd just remove the accounts, the Sim card and apps. Maybe I would do a factory reset and with that I'd be happy so cerberus would survive.

Also I'd recommend you to hide cerberus from the drawer and make it only available from the dialer.



Sent from my Moto X using XDA Free mobile app

 

[treyf711]

Does holding the power button for 8 seconds still turn off the device with the gravity box module disabling power? if someone could force the phone off then turning it off from the lock screen is the least of their worries.

 

[fury683]

Does holding the power button for 8 seconds still turn off the device with the gravity box module disabling power? if someone could force the phone off then turning it off from the lock screen is the least of their worries.

I thought that just rebooted, similar to holding POWER and VOL DOWN for a while to simulate a battery pull on Moto devices.