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We found a phone in the park and would like to return it to the owner.

  • Samsung Galaxy S10
  • Battery was dead
  • Charged the phone, its locked by pin code, not registering on network
  • Took off SIM card and installed to another phone to wait and receive a call from someone/owner
  • SIM card not registering in the network, looks like it was locked/reissued

Is there any way to find Android or Samsung account tied to this phone, so we can send an email to owner to return it?

Thanks.

End Anti-Semitic Hate
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latonita
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  • There was this question once where I asked the OP to check if the stolen phone's SIM card had any useful contacts. It had. Did you check the contacts in the SIM and is it also a dead end? – Firelord Mar 23 '21 at 09:47
  • Now, this would not be possible for everyone to do, but if you ever happen to find a lost item somewhere and if you somehow has a pen and paper or can quickly arrange it, write your contact information (try using Firefox Relay to prevent abuse of email by any random person who might want to send you an email) on it and leave it there. Even though the hope is very feeble a lot many folks try to retrace their path when they have lost something in the hope that their item just might still be lying there. Your paper can give them the right hope. – Firelord Mar 23 '21 at 09:51
  • @Firelord good point, i didnt check any contacts on SIM card, will try to. however, modern phones typically don't keep anything there.... – latonita Mar 23 '21 at 09:52
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    If possible, you can try creating a open access wifi (no password needed) and keep the device in its range. Don't setup any captive portal. See if the device gets automatically connected to it. For howsoever long you can afford to, keep the wifi open so that the owner has the chance to locate the device on their Find my phone web interface. Some routers allow hosting both a protected and open wifi access and limiting access through MAC (just saying if you have a neighbor who might abuse your open wifi). – Firelord Mar 23 '21 at 09:57
  • It's definitely mine... send it to me. ;) Just kidding, of course, but I wanted to say that I think it's really great that you want to return it to the owner. A few years ago, I returned a nice phone I found to its owner, and I know it really made their life a lot easier. – End Anti-Semitic Hate Mar 23 '21 at 13:00

1 Answers1

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Keep mobile charged. Owner may send message or call. Try to restore mobile, it ask for google account. May be you can see email id.

Find IMEI number, contact service center for owner or police station for lost complaint.

Try to backup mobile use adb of usb debugging is on. You can find some contact from mobile.

aliz lopaz
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  • adb backup won't give anything useful if the device remain encrypted. Also, it would frustrate the user to make sense of backed up data. – Firelord Mar 23 '21 at 09:46
  • Owner can't call or send message since phone can't register in cellular network and apparently can't connect to wifi as well. – latonita Mar 23 '21 at 09:51