Mobile Phone Tracking

Cell phones have become increasingly important in this day and age. It is one of the inventions that have greatly revolutionized the communication industry. You can be able to communicate with some one as you move from place to place. They are very desirable pieces of technology, especially when they are popular models. The amazing thing is that mobile phones have no demarcation in terms of wealth i.e. both the rich and the poor can use and purchase a mobile phone.

But the risks that come with this are that they can be easily stolen or lost. Since they are small and portable you can move with it from place to place but you can get mugged or some one may pick pocket you. You will end up losing your valuable phone with all the great text messages, photos and your large collection of mp3 music. What a loss!!!

But wait, there is good news: there is mobile phone tracking software that has been created to be able to track your phone! That's wonderful news! So you your next question would be 'how does it work?' Here's how:

You first have to download the software on your phone. In the installation instructions, one of the most important pieces of information you have to give in is the number of someone else (should be someone you meet regularly, relative or someone you trust). This is because when you lose your cell phone a text message is usually sent to this number detailing location of your cell phone. Once you have the software installed you also have to purchase an activation code for the software to activate and work properly.

So when your cell phone is stolen or is lost and someone replaces your sim card, a text message is sent immediately to the cell phone number you had earlier registered with.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Teka_Mullwani

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Free Reverse Cell Phone Search

Have you ever found a phone number saved on your cell phone or written down on a piece of paper, but didn't know who that number belongs to? Or have unknown phone numbers call your house only to hang up on you immediately or say "wrong number" before hanging up? All these thoughts go through your mind: "is it someone trying to see if we are home, and if no one answers they will break into our house?" "Is it someone calling my teenager son/daughter but panicked when they heard an adult voice?"

The white pages cannot help because the phone number is a cell phone number, not a land line number, and internet search on the popular search engines do not yield any result. What other options do you have?

Free Reverse Cell Phone Search

This is where free reverse search cell phone services can be of great help. Usually these services will give you a limited amount of information on the inputted number, such as the location of that number. However, there is much more information that these services' databases can give you, including:

• The name that the cell phone number is registered under
• The city, state, country of that cell phone number
• The address (current and history) of that cell phone number
• Whether this phone number is a cell or land line
• The family members of that phone number's registered owner

There are usually a few options for these services. You can pay a one-time fee to get a comprehensive report on the phone number that you enter. Or you can pay a yearly fee and do unlimited amounts of reverse phone number searches over one year. It will definitely come in handy when you notice your son or daughter receive phone calls and immediately go to their room and close the door before chatting on the phone.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tracy_Ma

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The Spy At Your Finger

Don't talk: your cell phone may be eavesdropping. Thanks to recent developments in "spy phone" software, a do-it-yourself spook can now wirelessly transfer a wiretapping program to any mobile phone. The programs are inexpensive, and the transfer requires no special skill. The would-be spy needs to get his hands on your phone to press keys authorizing the download, but it takes just a few minutes—about the time needed to download a ringtone.

This new generation of -user-friendly spy-phone software has become widely available in the last year—and it confers stunning powers. The latest programs can silently turn on handset microphones even when no call is being made, allowing a spy to listen to voices in a room halfway around the world. Targets are none the wiser: neither call logs nor phone bills show records of the secretly transmitted data.

More than 200 companies sell spy-phone software online, at prices as low as $50 (a few programs cost more than $300). Vendors are loath to release sales figures. But some experts—private investigators and consultants in counter-wiretapping, computer-security software and telecommunications market research—claim that a surprising number of people carry a mobile that has been compromised, usually by a spouse, lover, parent or co-worker. Many employees, experts say, hope to discover a supervisor's dishonest dealings and tip off the top boss anonymously. Max Maiellaro, head of Agata Christie Investigation, a private-investigation firm in Milan, estimates that 3 percent of mobiles in France and Germany are tapped, and about 5 percent or so in Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain. James Atkinson, a spy-phone expert at Granite Island Group, a security consultancy in Gloucester, Massachusetts, puts the number of tapped phones in the U.S. at 3 percent. (These approximations do not take into account government wiretapping.) Even if these numbers are inflated, clearly many otherwise law-abiding citizens are willing to break wiretapping laws.

Spyware thrives on iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smart phones because they have ample processing power. In the United States, the spread of GSM networks, which are more vulnerable than older technologies, has also enlarged the pool of potential victims. Spyware being developed for law-enforcement agencies will accompany a text message and automatically install itself in the victim's phone when the message is opened, according to an Italian developer who declined to be identified. One worry is that the software will find its way into the hands of criminals.

The current predicament is partly the result of decisions by Apple, Microsoft and Research In Motion (producer of the BlackBerry) to open their phones to outside application-software developers, which created the opening for spyware. Antivirus and security programs developed for computers require too much processing power, even for smart phones. Although security programs are available for phones, by and large users haven't given the threat much thought. If the spying keeps spreading, that may change soon.

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Important things about protecting your cell phone

Many people don't know how important their mobile phones are until the time they lose them. There are some things you can do to either reduce the risk of your cell phone getting lost or being stolen. Here are some things you can try out:

Make sure you register your cell phone with your network operator: There are some mobile service providers that automatically register your cell phone whenever you activate the sim card. For others, you have to go to the mobile phone service providers and get your sim card registered. Another thing to note is your cell phone's serial number (you can know it by dialing *#06#). If your phone is stolen, report the loss to them immediately and also give them your serial number. With this they will be able to block your hand set and account details. Once the phone is disabled, it may not be able to be used again

As soon as you lose your cell phone make sure you have your cell phone number disabled. In addition to reporting your phone lost or stolen, you should also disable your phone number (not account) so that no further charges can be applied. This you may use together with the above method of locking your phone.

Something many people don't know about these days is that there is mobile phone tracking software that can be used to recover your stolen or lost phone. All you have to do is download the software on your phone. You also have to provide the cell phone number of someone you trust or meet regularly. Inform this person that you have registered with their number. This is because if your phone is stolen or lost, and someone replaces your sim card, a text message is sent to that number with the mobile number of the person with your phone. You will then be able to track him because every 30 minutes, the message is sent to the phone.

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Is Your Life Being Monitored?

It connects you to the world, but your cell phone could also be giving anyone from your boss to your wife a window into your every move. The same technology that lets you stay in touch on-the-go can now let others tap into your private world — without you ever even suspecting something is awry.

Long gone are the days of simple wiretapping, when the worst your phone could do was let someone listen in to your conversations. The new generation of cell phone spying tools provides a lot more power.

Eavesdropping is easy. All it takes is a two-minute software install and someone can record your calls and monitor your text messages. They can even set up systems to be automatically alerted when you dial a certain number, then instantly patched into your conversation. Anyone who can perform a basic internet search can find the tools and figure out how to do it in no time.

But the scarier stuff is what your phone can do when you aren’t even using it. Let’s start with your location.

1) Simple surveillance

You don’t have to plant a CIA-style bug to conduct surveillance any more. A service called World Tracker lets you use data from cell phone towers and GPS systems to pinpoint anyone’s exact whereabouts, any time — as long as they’ve got their phone on them.

All you have to do is log on to the web site and enter the target phone number. The site sends a single text message to the phone that requires one response for confirmation. Once the response is sent, you are locked in to their location and can track them step-by-step. The response is only required the first time the phone is contacted, so you can imagine how easily it could be handled without the phone’s owner even knowing.

Once connected, the service shows you the exact location of the phone by the minute, conveniently pinpointed on a Google Map. So far, the service is only available in the UK, but the company has indicated plans to expand its service to other countries soon.

2) Advanced eavesdropping

So you’ve figured out where someone is, but now you want to know what they’re actually doing. Turns out you can listen in, even if they aren’t talking on their phone.

Dozens of programs are available that’ll turn any cell phone into a high-tech, long-range listening device. And the scariest part? They run virtually undetectable to the average eye.

Take, for example, Flexispy. The service promises to let you “catch cheating wives or cheating husbands” and even “bug meeting rooms.” Its tools use a phone’s microphone to let you hear essentially any conversations within earshot. Once the program is installed, all you have to do is dial a number to tap into the phone’s mic and hear everything going on. The phone won’t even ring, and its owner will have no idea you are virtually there at his side.

3) Recover deleted text messages (SMS) and last dialed numbers from any SIM cards and smart cards

Did you know that with the help of a simple, inexpensive device, anyone with access to your phone could read your private text messages (SMS), even if you have deleted them previously? This device can even recover contacts and a good number or previously dialed numbers.

4) Legal loopholes

You might be asking how this could possibly be legal. Turns out, it isn’t – at least, not in the ways we just described. Much like those fancy smoking devices designed “for tobacco use only,” the software itself gets by because of a disclaimer saying it doesn’t endorse any illegal use.

I did a little digging with our friends from Flexispy. You won’t find it on the flashy front page, but buried a bit further in the site, the company says you’re fine to use their program only “on aphone that you own, for protecting your children,” or for purposes like “archiving data.” It’s a bit of a contrast from the bold suggestions of “uncover[ing] employee espionage,” “catch[ing] cheating husbands,” and “bug[ging] meeting rooms” that fill the company’s materials. After a little more explanation, their answer as to the legality of the service ends with a broad statement: “Please consult a qualified lawyer in your country for the correct answer to this question.”

Let me make it easier for you: Once you get into listening in to private conversations without either party’s consent, you’re treading rough water that could sweep you straight into jail. Whether it’s an employee or a spouse on the receiving end of your mission, neither federal nor state privacy laws take violations lightly in America. Getting caught could cost you several years behind bars, among other serious penalties.

5) Detecting and protecting

Finding spyware on your phone isn’t easy. There are dozens of bug detectors available from surveillance companies, but the only true fix is taking your phone to your provider and having them wipe it out altogether. That will restore the factory settings and clear out any hidden software that’s running on your phone.

Security experts say there may be some subtle signs your phone is invaded:

You seem to have trouble shutting it off, or it stays lit up after you’ve powered down.

The phone sometimes lights up when you aren’t making or receiving a call, or using any other function.

You regularly hear odd background noises or clicks when you’re on the phone.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to safeguard your cell just yet. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until we see McAfee-style programs to firewall your phone and keep intruders out. For now, though, the only sure-fire form of protection is to keep a close guard on your phone. Don’t accept Bluetooth connections unless you know what they are. Most important, make sure no one has access to install something when you aren’t watching. Otherwise, they may soon be watching you when you least expect it.

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