Case examples where the results of "search" function when smart phone is lost gather at a specific house

ByAlexander Lyubavin

Since smartphones can locate where they are based on the location of the base station they are communicating with and the built-in GPS, there are quite a few cases where you can find them by yourself even if you lose them. However, the position indicated by the function is not necessarily correct, and there are several cases where visitors unrelated to a specific house come by "search for smartphone" function.

Why do people keep coming to this couple's home looking for lost phones? | Fusion
http://fusion.net/story/214995/find-my-phone-apps-lead-to-wrong-home/


The most recently reported case is the case of Christina Lee and Mr. Michael Saba living in the suburbs of Atlanta, which is published in Fusion. The two began a common life from February 2015, but in the moon that started living, it seems that an angry family came, "Please return the stolen smartphone". Another two weeks later another group of friends came in the same way, and at one time there were 4 pairs of visitors per month.

Every time Lee and Mr. Saba explain "I am there frequently" and they are returning, but there are also people who suspected that they are lying, of course, Mr. Saba says, "Someday It is the greatest concern that dangerous people may come in the same way. "

Fortunately fortunately it has not become a reality, but in June 2015 we received a police visit. This was searching for a missing teens girl and the two were inspected outdoors for over an hour. At that time, Mr. Saba asked if he could enter the house for the toilet and said, "The house is a crime scene, you are an official and you can not afford to put it in," he said.

In this way, both "iOS" and "Android" terminals are said to be "in the house of two people", and carriers also fall apart from AT & T, Verizon, T-mobile, Sprint and Boost Mobile. Although I consulted the local police with something, I could not help anything and I have already received 2 visits in 2016.

Actually, the same thing happened in Las Vegas in 2013.

If you lose your cell phone, do not blame Wayne Dobson | Las Vegas Review-Journal
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/if-you-lose-your-cellphone-dont-blame-wayne-dobson


Lost phones keep being tracked to house in Vegas - to owner's frustration - TODAY.com
http://www.today.com/money/lost-phones-keep-being-tracked-house-vegas-owners-frustration-1B8003116


Wayne Dobson who lives in the northern part of Las Vegas, like Lee & Saba, has been experiencing many times being questioned by those who lost their smartphone. Mr. Dobson began to receive such a visit from around the year 2011, and when he got his first visit, a young couple who claims to have "smartphone stolen" and Dobson who received a stranger's visit Both developed into a situation calling the police.

Also, at one time, "A photograph of a grandchild that is on a smartphone is a thing that can not be replaced by anything, please return," a woman who begs to visit also visits. Dobson called a woman police and told him to look for freedom inside the house. This woman's mobile phone carrier was Sprint and Mr. Dobson told the Sprint engineer that the problem was "The GPS system of the mobile phone may not be able to provide accurate location information", he said.

In the case of Mr. Dobson, the center of the irradiation area of ​​one sector out of the systems used by Sprint is this house, default = center place is displayed when accurate position information is not available It turned out to be because it was.

However, in the case of Mr. Lee & Mr. Saba, as mentioned above, the career is divided into several. Kashmir Hill of the news site · Fusion may be able to help two people, although I tried inquiring from the fact that it was the base station of T-mobile that was in the nearest house, I got a reply I heard he did not. Likewise, I also contacted Apple and Google, but no response. The Federal Communications Commission, which is responsible for the regulation of wireless communication terminals, said that this type of problem was not in the jurisdiction of the judiciary.

Digital forensic expertsJonathan ZdziarskiHe says that if the same MAC address is used in different places or the GPS information can not be successfully acquired, it is possible that the bad data is registered in the database, the possibility that the Wi-Fi mapping is caused Pointed out. However, since Saba realized this problem,Sky HookAlthough I registered accurate information on the site, I told that it was not improved, still correct answer is unknown.