The secret life of lost smartphones

Have you ever lost a mobile phone and wondered where it went? Security company Avast had the same thought and deliberately 'lost' 20 phones to find out what happened to them.

Avast installed three security apps on all the phones, the free Avast Anti-Theft app, Lookout Mobile Security, and Clean Master. It then randomly placed 10 phones in San Francisco and 10 in New York. Each phone was marked with contact information on where to return the device if found.

Of the 20 phones only four were returned, so what happened to the rest? Avast analysts used the Avast Anti-Theft app to track the devices and find out. They discovered that the majority of lost devices were wiped clean using the factory reset feature, Avast Anti-Theft was the only security app that survived the reset.

Using this app they found that one device appears to have traveled via a transatlantic cargo ship before settling in India where the phone is currently being used. One flew to the Dominican Republic, one arrived in a pawn shop, and one seems to be with a taxi driver meandering the streets of San Francisco.

"More than 3 million phones are lost each year," says Gagan Singh, president of mobile at Avast, "Fortunately with Avast Anti-Theft, users have the means to track and recover a lost phone -- or remotely wipe the data on it if it's not recoverable. With all the personal data we store on our phones today, it's a good idea to have a way to either find your phone or delete the content if you lose it".

The small bright spot in all this is that four people did return the phones they found to Avast. One of the finders, Quiana W from Brooklin, says, "I know how it feels like to lose things -- wallet or phone -- so I was trying to pay it forward".

Image Credit: cunaplus / Shutterstock