I’m running Graphene on a Pixel 6. I lost it and someone opened it somehow and called two of my contacts to give it back.
I’m a bit confused how this even happened. When I got the phone back, they were going through my contacts. I checked app usage stats and they went through a banking app (not missing money), maps, signal, etc.
Is there a way to figure out how they even unlocked my phone?
Gonna need to know more. What method do you use to lock your phone? Is it rooted?
Also: did they return the phone to you, or to your friend? Could it be your friend who went through these apps?
Fingerprint and pin code. They left the phone at a store nearby and I went to pick it up
Odd suggestion, but do you still have their contact info? Could you ask them? 😄
You could also send them a small thank you gift and ask them with that, so not to make it seem like you’re accusing them of anything
It’s a reasonable request, you could say that you need to keep your phone secure for work, and while it was great that the stranger was able to get it to you, you’re following up on if there is some bug you need to look into
Unrelated, it might be good to set up a “If lost, call ____” type message. If you don’t have another number, email also works.
Yeah. Definitely setting that up now haha. They used my phone to call my contacts, so I don’t have their number
Is your pin simple? If you hold your phone up to the light can you see the smudge marks where your pin usually goes?
Do you have people set up as emergency contacts via the lock screen?
Was it perhaps unlocked when you lost it?
I know I’ve set my phone down unlocked a few times; particularly at work (in a warehouse).
Unless you have it set to never lock its not possible. All phones lock automatically after 30-60 seconds by default.
This person is clearly well-intentioned, so I don’t think an exploit was the cause of your phone being unlocked. If they knew an exploit it’s likely that by now everything about you would’ve been compromised already, like you would’ve lost access to your accounts and all your money would be gone. This person probably unlocked your phone by using your pin code, so either it was a very common pin code, or something suggested here, like smudges on your screen revealing the pin code, or highly unlikely, they guessed your pin code. Anyway, it’s better safe than sorry so check if your OS’ been tampered with using the GrapheneOS auditor app. Even if it hasn’t, you should back up everything and factory reset it just to err on the side of caution. And in the future, use an 8-10 digit pin code with pin scrambling enabled.
Is your pin something like 1234? Do you have emergency contacts set up? Do you have a setting to not lock the phone until very long? Or a smart unlock based on location or any other automation setting? An easy password hint pops up or something? Perhaps your parents forgot to mention you had a twin, who face unlocked it.
Regarding app usage, my guess is they tried to see whom to contact to give your phone back, or map history, the banking app could be a touch by mistake too.
Do those contacts happen to be your ICE? Some phones will allow those from the emergency dialer without unlocking. Don’t know about grapheme.
