Phone Taken, Recovered, what to do?

Ok, this topic is a little strange, and I may be a little paranoid, but this is the story.

I went out for some sushi last night, and left my phone behind on the table. My fault completely. By the time I noticed the phone was gone, the restaurant was closed. I called the phone frequently, but whoever had it kept hitting ignore - it would ring a few times, then go to voice mail. I sent a text offering a cash reward from another phone.

I stopped by the restaurant today after work, and asked about it politely. I am a rugby player, and somewhat intimidating looking I guess, because right after I left he replied to text. He said he would drop the phone off at the restaurant, and I could pick it up later - so I would not see him. He did not want any reward.

So I pick up the phone, it looks normal, except for two things:

-he somehow changed the settings so that his name appears as the owner in the contacts list.
-in the internet history, he has visited literally hundreds of gay porn websites.


Is there anything I should be worried about? I'm not too worried about the data usage, and it's a personal phone so I don't need to worry about work checking the history, but are there any viruses on those sites? Could he have signed me up for anything?

And how do I change it so that my name is back?

Do I have anything else to worry about? He was obviously on the phone for a while.

For reference, phone is HTC Rezound, carrier is Verizon.

Thanks, and if this is in the wrong category, please let me know.

Quote from jrandall : -in the internet history, he has visited literally hundreds of gay porn websites.

...hold on I'll answer your question in a second. I just need to stop laughing for a few seconds..

This is kind of like getting a virus on a computer. Yes it's cleaned off but can you really trust it? If it was me I would do the following.

#1 change the password on all of the accounts the phone was logged into. Email, Twitter, Facebook, Mint, etc.
#2 Backup photos and music on the phone to a computer.
#3 Format the SD card if it has one.
#4 Do a factory restore on the phone.

Set everything back up like it was a new phone. A little excessive maybe but you know he messed with things so this way you have a solid place of where to start fresh from. As far as bills you might go on line on verizon and poke around and monitor your financial accounts.

Quote from dzap : ...hold on I'll answer your question in a second. I just need to stop laughing for a few seconds..

Quote from jrandall : Ok, this topic is a little strange, and I may be a little paranoid, but this is the story. I went out for some sushi last night, and left my phone behind on the table. My fault completely. By the time I noticed the phone was gone, the restaurant was closed. I called the phone frequently, but whoever had it kept hitting ignore - it would ring a few times, then go to voice mail. I sent a text offering a cash reward from another phone. I stopped by the restaurant today after work, and asked about it politely. I am a rugby player, and somewhat intimidating looking I guess, because right after I left he replied to text. He said he would drop the phone off at the restaurant, and I could pick it up later - so I would not see him. He did not want any reward. So I pick up the phone, it looks normal, except for two things: -he somehow changed the settings so that his name appears as the owner in the contacts list. -in the internet history, he has visited literally hundreds of gay porn websites. Is there anything I should be worried about? I'm not too worried about the data usage, and it's a personal phone so I don't need to worry about work checking the history, but are there any viruses on those sites? Could he have signed me up for anything? And how do I change it so that my name is back? Do I have anything else to worry about? He was obviously on the phone for a while. For reference, phone is HTC Rezound, carrier is Verizon. Thanks, and if this is in the wrong category, please let me know.

Do a factory restore on the iphone. Do not attempt to copy anything from that iphone or anything. Just reset it and start anew.

Quote from LiquidRetro : This is kind of like getting a virus on a computer. Yes it's cleaned off but can you really trust it? If it was me I would do the following. #1 change the password on all of the accounts the phone was logged into. Email, Twitter, Facebook, Mint, etc. #2 Backup photos and music on the phone to a computer. #3 Format the SD card if it has one. #4 Do a factory restore on the phone. Set everything back up like it was a new phone. A little excessive maybe but you know he messed with things so this way you have a solid place of where to start fresh from. As far as bills you might go on line on verizon and poke around and monitor your financial accounts.

He shouldn't have to worry about viruses. He sounds like he wasn't going to give it back by what he's done with it.

Malware is virtually non-existant on Android, and I doubt he would know how to sideload an app capable of doing so.

But .

Before formatting though, go to the Google Play Store on your phone and see if he downloaded any apps with your account.

Then follow what LiquidRetro said, and backup anything you deem important (Use https://play.google.com/store/app...kupRestore for backing up sms messages), and sync your contacts to your gmail account so when you factory reset they'll automatically appear (as long as you setup a gmail account on your phone it should already be synced. Check your gmail account online and your contacts lists there to see if it matches your phone contacts if you're unsure).

For future reference OP use something like Cerberus..
https://play.google.com/store/app...erus&hl=en
...which can remotely take pictures of who has your phone, get it's location, lock the screen and send an alarm, wipe all data on the phone, etc.

It's what I use in case my phone ever gets lost or stolen.

And of course just check your billing with Verizon to make sure he didn't call Russia all night long or something. Other than that, you should be fine.

Quote from daniel32 : Do a factory restore on the iPhone. Do not attempt to copy anything from that iphone or anything. Just reset it and start anew.

I love how you automatically assumed it was an iPhone. Because I was thinking the same thing until he mentioned it was a HTC Rezound at the bottom.

Quote from dzap : He shouldn't have to worry about viruses. He sounds like he wasn't going to give it back by what he's done with it. Malware is virtually non-existant on Android, and I doubt he would know how to sideload an app capable of doing so. But . Before formatting though, go to the Google Play Store on your phone and see if he downloaded any apps with your account. Then follow what LiquidRetro said, and backup anything you deem important (Use https://play.google.com/store/app...kupRestore for backing up sms messages), and sync your contacts to your gmail account so when you factory reset they'll automatically appear (as long as you setup a gmail account on your phone it should already be synced. Check your gmail account online and your contacts lists there to see if it matches your phone contacts if you're unsure). For future reference OP use something like Cerberus.. https://play.google.com/store/app...erus&hl=en ...which can remotely take pictures of who has your phone, get it's location, lock the screen and send an alarm, wipe all data on the phone, etc. It's what I use in case my phone ever gets lost or stolen. And of course just check your billing with Verizon to make sure he didn't call Russia all night long or something. Other than that, you should be fine. I love how you automatically assumed it was an iPhone. Because I was thinking the same thing until he mentioned it was a HTC Rezound at the bottom.

I was not suggesting viruses but you get the point. Malware is real on android and ios but just not very common. One note about contacts, since he has verizon and its a little older phone they may be in verizons cloud not googles as it was the default for a while. Silly Verizon.

Quote from dzap : ...hold on I'll answer your question in a second. I just need to stop laughing for a few seconds..

Haha, my face was slightly different when I opened my history... more describes it.


Thanks for all of your input everyone, I will definitely change all of my passwords, I already got the important ones.

It seems like he wasn't trying to mess with me, he just was planning on keeping the phone and had a change of heart.

Is the factory reset really necessary? I had a buddy root the phone a while back and it would be nice if I didn't have to reroot.

be thankful that he gave the phone back.

call the restaurant in a couple of days and ask for the person with that name. =P

Quote from ReverseHandedJO : be thankful that he gave the phone back. call the restaurant in a couple of days and ask for the person with that name. =P

I am very thankful he gave the phone back. I'm not even that mad about all the gay porn. It was my fault I left it sitting there.

I just want to make sure that moving forward, I have nothing more to worry about.

I mean, I have his name and number, It wouldn't be hard to find him. But I'd rather not.

Quote from jrandall : I am very thankful he gave the phone back. I'm not even that mad about all the gay porn. It was my fault I left it sitting there. I just want to make sure that moving forward, I have nothing more to worry about. I mean, I have his name and number, It wouldn't be hard to find him. But I'd rather not.

but you should find him, just in case 6 mos. down the road you get some kind of legal letter from verizon saying that something was illegally done with your account while he had the phone. you know, just to be safe.

most likely it was someone that worked there in the restaurant.

gay guy in the closet that doesnt want to lose his job for not turning in a found cell phone.

wonder it he was touching himself while visiting all those gay websites.

you wiped down the phone right?! O.O

Quote from ReverseHandedJO : but you should find him, just in case 6 mos. down the road you get some kind of legal letter from verizon saying that something was illegally done with your account while he had the phone. you know, just to be safe. most likely it was someone that worked there in the restaurant. gay guy in the closet that doesnt want to lose his job for not turning in a found cell phone. wonder it he was touching himself while visiting all those gay websites. you wiped down the phone right?! O.O

Gross.

But yes, I used ample amounts of denatured alcohol.

Quote from jrandall : gross. But yes, i used ample amounts of denatured alcohol.

hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =]

maybe now youll use the security lock features?

Quote from jrandall : ...I am very thankful he gave the phone back. I'm not even that mad about all the gay porn.

Can I quote you out of context for my "funny siggy of the month" on SD? (my current siggy quote of the month is from January lol). This thread just made my day.

For crying out loud people - PUT A SECURITY LOCK ON YOUR PHONES!

Yes, you have to type it every time you want to use it, but just ask yourself if that's better than having a stranger use it to surf gay porn?