A chance for the police to recover a stolen phone - tracking process, IMEI, Google account

Hello. My phone was stolen. I went to the police and gave them my IMEI number, etc., and they said they would do what they could. What are the chances of me getting my phone back. If there is a chance, how long will it take the police to track down my phone and is it possible that if someone logged into my phone with their Google account, will the police know who it is? Thanks in advance, I don`t know if this is the right forum for such topics.


Ps. My name is not on the blacklist. I have to do it myself?

The police don`t give a damn about such reports. If they wanted to, they would find it in a few seconds - with time, someone will deal with the matter or not. After the burglary and theft, they only got around to it three weeks later - "after writing a complaint against them for not doing anything about the matter."
You can try to track it yourself via your Microsoft account. As long as the thief doesn`t change the IMEI number, it will always be possible to find it. The IMEI number can also be changed, although it is prohibited. He will sell it for parts. Report the theft to the operator.

gornik333 wrote:

How long will it take for the police to track down my phone?

:D

60jarek wrote:

The police don`t give a damn about such reports.

;)

Maybe one day, while checking your ID for a passer-by or arresting a criminal, your phone will accidentally fall into their hands.

By entering the IMEI number in the stolen database, the operator will make the thief`s life miserable.
Where do you think these frequently used original displays are on sale?
Start saving for a new one, and have you tried tracking it down using a Microsoft account?

ADB-6 wrote:

Maybe one day, while checking your ID for a passer-by or arresting a criminal, your phone will accidentally fall into their hands.

There was a hole in my house a few streets away - the police raided it.

They won`t track him because it`s too many cases for them to deal with in a day. One day, when it`s sold entirely by accident, maybe they`ll get their hands on it and that`s all they`ll do.

gornik333 wrote:

My phone was stolen.

If you can guess the circumstances and place of the theft, run around pawn shops. The phone is probably waiting for you there.

The operator will block the IMEI and that`s a problem for petty thieves. Nowadays, it is not so easy to change the IMEI number in a new phone "according to art".

If it is an Android phone and there was a Google account, you can try to search the location history if you consented to the application recording such data.

gornik333 wrote:

How long will it take the police to track my phone and is it possible?

The police won`t look for him because it`s too trivial. They only deal with it when it comes to a serious crime.

60jarek wrote:

If they wanted, they could find it in a few seconds

It is not that simple, because the court`s consent must be obtained for such a search and only then the police turn to the operator and the operator analyzes the logins to the bts of a given IMEI number and then searches for possible connections.

I had several dozen phones stolen and they only found one, and that was by accident.

tino2003 wrote:

It is not that simple, because the court`s consent must be obtained for such a search and only then the police turn to the operator and the operator analyzes the logins to the bts of a given IMEI number and then searches for possible connections.

I guess I live in ignorance - I have never heard such an interpretation of the law in my life, I think you made a mistake when you meant eavesdropping (except for Pegasus). You`re quite far from reality. Show me this alleged recipe -though nothing surprises me in this country anymore.

I forgot to add to this interpretation that the court consents to the prosecutor`s request.

As for procedures, I had two company break-ins, wandering around the courts and one, as I wrote above, with a recovered phone.
For more information, contact a lawyer.

tino2003 wrote:

For more information, contact a lawyer.

I took the trouble and called my lawyer friend - I`m sorry, but he said: "You`re writing nonsense and heresy."
Once it is reported, the police initiate the search for stolen equipment ex officio.
The fact that the police discontinue the investigation - e.g. due to the low harmfulness of the act or the failure to detect the perpetrator or the insignificance of the phone. There is no explanation for this.
The loss of the phone is reported with a police certificate in order to block it from mobile networks throughout the EU - new law - this is done by the network operator.

I just checked the Android phone and it can be traced from the Gmail account, and the Windows phone from the Microsoft account.
How the Internet works on the phone even without a SIM card in the case of Android - interesting fact.
I haven`t checked on a Windows phone - it`s unlikely.

Change your lawyer then, he`s a genius just like you. 😃

tino2003 wrote:

Change your lawyer then, he`s a genius just like you. 😃

This is why the police can`t find anything because they need the court`s consent for everything, including searching for a stolen phone - which is getting more and more interesting.

The police are searching, conducting activities, etc., etc., but the police do not search for phones or trace them by IMEI, they undertake such activities, as I wrote earlier, in serious cases.
Do you understand it or do you have to write it in capital letters?

tino2003 wrote:

etc etc, but the police don`t look for phones or track them by IMEI

Something new - so why did they buy such expensive equipment and hire technicians for it?
So when you report theft, is it for statistics?
-although this happens in our country (at least they show off a bit as punishment).

tino2003 wrote:

I take such actions, as I wrote earlier, in serious cases

So what are these issues? Write to us and we`ll be happy to find out?
We are waiting for further discoveries, it is interesting.

IMEI tracking equipment? Hmmm, if you have a lawyer friend, you definitely have a policeman, call and ask what model they have to track down.

tino2003 wrote:

The police are searching, conducting activities, etc., etc., but the police do not search for phones or trace them by IMEI, they undertake such activities, as I wrote earlier, in serious cases.

It depends. They are able to find something sometimes. Some time ago, I received a summons to the police station to give an explanation because my phone - note - Xiaomi Redmi 4X, which basically has sentimental value, was stolen. After logging in to the network, it turned out that we had the FRP lock removed and a SIM card was inserted (registered). After talking to the investigator, I found out that they had recovered the phone after searching another person`s apartment. It`s a matter of will.

Everything else is also correct, i.e. you report the matter to the police and only then contact the operator to block the IMEI number, which in turn reduces the chances of recovering the device.

60jarek wrote:

I just checked the Android phone and it can be traced from the Gmail account, and the Windows phone from the Microsoft account.
How the Internet works on the phone even without a SIM card in the case of Android - interesting fact.

Doesn`t work. Either it provided the last known location, or the phone was connected to the Internet, e.g. via WiFi. The WiFi option, of course, is no longer available after restoring factory settings because the old account on the phone no longer exists.

60jarek wrote:

Something new - so why did they buy such expensive equipment and hire technicians for it?

What equipment are you talking about, probably not the famous Pegasus?

blahfff wrote:

...
Doesn`t work. Either it provided the last known location, or the phone was connected to the Internet, e.g. via WiFi. The WiFi option, of course, is no longer available after restoring factory settings because the old account on the phone no longer exists.

...

The first thing the phone will do after restoring factory settings is to ask for the password for the previous Google account. Unless this account is deleted from the phone BEFORE the restore is performed and you must have an unlocked phone.

The question is, did the phone have any screen lock? PIN or fingerprint or anything else that will make the thief`s life a little more difficult? Either way, it will probably go for parts, although the motherboard itself is probably trash.

Android phone, WiFi enabled, internet connected. Without the card, I turn on tracking from my computer in my Gmail account and it finds it without any problems. I did it for the first time with Gmail, with the card removed, and there was a surprise and the screen showed that the phone was tracked by Gmail. So it works on an ongoing basis. I don`t have this screen lock on. It`s just a new phone and I`m testing it in every way, that`s a different topic. What`s more interesting, I also pre-configured it without a SIM card. (pure coincidence that I did it this way).

badboy84 wrote:

The first thing the phone will do after restoring factory settings is to ask for the password for the previous Google account. Unless this account is deleted from the phone BEFORE the restore is performed and you must have an unlocked phone.

The fact that it will ask for login details to the previous account does not mean that the phone is still visible and possible to locate on the server side. In fact, it is not, because the FRP lock is a lock only on the device side, so the factory settings deactivate the tracking options anyway.

60jarek wrote:

Android phone, WiFi enabled, internet connected. Without the card, I turn on tracking from my computer in my Gmail account and it finds it without any problems.

This is completely normal behavior. Approximate location based on WiFi network data, surrounding networks, IP number, etc.

blahfff wrote:

that is, you report the matter to the police and only then contact the operator to block the IMEI number, which in turn reduces the chances of recovering the device.

So if you want to get your phone back, it is better not to report the IMEI block to the operator. Blocking the IMEI will only make life more difficult for the thief, but will also reduce the chance of finding it. We can only hope that the thief is so unwise that he will only change the SIM card. I think that if it`s an iPhone for 3-4 thousand. you can report the search to a detective agency. They operate more effectively than the Police, and often people from the Police or other services work there.

Mierzejewski46 wrote:

So if you want to get your phone back, it is better not to report the IMEI block to the operator. Blocking the IMEI will only make the thief`s life miserable but will reduce the chance of finding it.

Theoretically yes. In both cases, of course, the phone will log in to the network and leave a trace, but if you do not block the IMEI, you have a greater chance that someone will insert the card there and maybe start using it. Maybe in a week, maybe in a month, maybe the phone will be sold to a pawn shop somewhere and then it will go to the guilty person...

Hi,

If the phone went to a local "Sebek" and the phone itself was not password protected, it will be in use and therefore you will be able to track it by its IMEI. However, if it was password protected and Google blocked, and "Seba" had a familiar "service" service, the phone could be sold for pennies for parts and forget about tracking it down. (especially when it was e.g. Samsung on AMOLED).

Regards