[ngllgn]

My BB Torch is lost, or has been stolen. I have used Blackberry Protect to lock it remotely, but because the battery had little or no charge left when the BB disappeared, have neither been able to call it nor locate it, since, I assume, it is not turned on.

Does Blackberry Protect looks for a phone by its phone, IMEI or Blackberry PIN number? The most likely scenario is that someone will simply buy another SIM card and use this in the Torch: will Blackberry Protect still be able to locate the phone if this happens?

Thanks for your help.

Nick

[hrbuckley]

Protect uses BlackBerry data, so it would be tied to the PIN. Even without protect, if someone tries to wipe and activate the device with another SIM they won't be able to activate BlackBerry data on it until you (or your carrier) release it from the current account.

The best thing to do at this point is report the loss to your carrier and see if they will block the IMEI so it can't be activated on a new account. They may do that anyway.

[ngllgn]

Thank you. It is great news that BB Protect is tied to the PIN. I have duplicated the SIM card which apparently inactivates the old SIM, and can use the duplicate in an older phone until I decide whether I can afford to get a replacement BB Torch, or not. I have also reported the loss to the carrier, but not yet asked them to block the IMEI...the phone is already unlocked, so I imagine that any carrier's SIM card will now work in it, and that blocking the IMEI will not be possible. Since the BB's battery will also now be flat and its new 'owner' does not have the PIN, I'm unsure that s/he will be able to do anything with it.

The interesting question to me now about its recovery is whether BB Protect will be able to locate the phone through the GPS if the phone is turned on with a new SIM card (with a different number) in it. I would love to get it back...and my hands on its new owner.

I have been 'watching' the phone on BB Protect, but there is no sign of it yet.

Nick

[Medic48]

Originally Posted by ngllgn

Thank you. It is great news that BB Protect is tied to the PIN. I have duplicated the SIM card which apparently inactivates the old SIM, and can use the duplicate in an older phone until I decide whether I can afford to get a replacement BB Torch, or not. I have also reported the loss to the carrier, but not yet asked them to block the IMEI...the phone is already unlocked, so I imagine that any carrier's SIM card will now work in it, and that blocking the IMEI will not be possible. Since the BB's battery will also now be flat and its new 'owner' does not have the PIN, I'm unsure that s/he will be able to do anything with it.

The interesting question to me now about its recovery is whether BB Protect will be able to locate the phone through the GPS if the phone is turned on with a new SIM card (with a different number) in it. I would love to get it back...and my hands on its new owner.

I have been 'watching' the phone on BB Protect, but there is no sign of it yet.

Nick

Blackberry Protect is an application and since it's an application, once the application is wiped from the device, the program ceases to function.

Since you initiated a Remote Lock from Blackberry Protect, the "new owner" will be forced to enter an incorrect password 10 times thus causing the device to security wipe itself.

(See: http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...y-protect.html)

--Phil

[devnull]

And once the wipe has completed, Blackberry Protect will no longer exist on the device.

[hrbuckley]

Security wipes don't remove software. That said I don't know if Protect would still work.

In any case, the purpose of the BlackBerry security and BlackBerry Protect is to protect the data, and maybe find a lost phone. There isn't much you can do to recover a stolen phone unless you make it possable for the thief to use it so you can track them down. But that puts the data at risk.

Even protect can't do much for a stolen phone that doesn't already have a password on it. The battery and SIM can come out before you really have a chance to send the lock command. The OP has already invalidated the SIM in the device so lost or stolen it is gone, unless someone turns it in to the carrier who could find him from the IMEI, if they cared enough.