I lost my phone and I have questions.

[Deedee0529]

Hi, I'll try to keep this straight to the point to save time.

So, I accidently left my phone (Samsung A52) in the taxi on April 3 2022 around 1am. I attempted calling a few times since it's on vibrate mode, bt it jst kept on ringing. So I resorted to using Samsung's FindMyMobile instead.

I made a HUGE mistake here, I tapped the Ring option first before clicking the Lock and Trace icon. It was a huge mistake on my end as I was panicking at that time. I thought that making the cab driver know that a phone was left (thru Ring option) would make him want to reach out to me and return the unit, but he didnt. God, I hate human beings sometimes.

Yes, it rang once but was no longer accessible afterwards.

I already filed a report at the police station, tried checking thru their command centers (CCTV footages) on the streets. Yes, the potential taxi unit was identified but the details are unclear due to poor camera footage. Also, not all CCTVs are functional due to the recent Typhoon Odette so that limits my chances of tracking down. So I'm still in the process of checking establishments one by one for alternative CCTV records, but no luck here yet.

However, I'm still able to identify phone's location thru Offline Finding. I know the location and already went there with a police, but that's pretty much looking for a pin in a haystack. So I'm stuck at this point.

My phone's location is only identified thru Offline Finding up to now.

Here are my questions:

Does being tracked thru 'offline finding' mean my phone is ALWAYS off?

I assumed the simcard was already removed since its network status is always offline OR the phone wasn't turned on at all at this point.

If the culprit inserts a simcard, it will automatically connect to that sim's network, right?

Will this trigger the Lock option to disable the culprit from turning off the phone again? Or does it need to connect thru internet/mobile data for the Lock option to work?

Can someone please clarify this one to me? Thank you.

[Deedee0529]

I've also made the necessary backups and change of passwords, except for that main gmail account which i enabled 2FA and requires the lost mobile number for me to get in. God I hate Gmail. So inconvenient.

Makes me want to use Outlook as my main email services moving forward. Yes, I do have existing Outlook account bt it's not my main one, however it's much more convenient because I can use a registered alternative email instead to access an account.

[butete]

It would be triggered when connected to net, sadly tech can also be easily unlocked.

[Deedee0529]

so, to clarify... it's only triggered when connected to net? but not when any sim is inserted and phone is turned on? can you pls clarify? because i find that particularly vague.

that's the part where i get confused how the trigger actually works. i'd like to know in details how it really functions based from its setup and not just by guessing.

it already like 5 days and i can deduce that the person who is in possession hasn't figured it out yet. the reason i hvent gave up is because i can still track the phone and the cctv footage gathering isn't done yet. otherwise, i would have had its IMEIs blocked so they can't use the phone.

[butete]

Not yet but eventually with sheer will will fimd a way

[Deedee0529]

that's beyond my control and i totally understand that.

what i'd like to know is how the trigger actually functions.

i'm also confused what the 'network status: offline' really means.

does it mean:
a) the phone was never turned on OR
b) the simcards were removed, hence it has no access to connect to any network OR
c) both

[butete]

More likely sim card was removed already

[fruit_user]

If Network Status: Offline, then possible the sim card is remove since its easy to do and to remove internet access to your phone making it harder to track.