Last Updated on 08/12/2021 by TheDigitalHacker
Jane McGonigal a game designer and author had sent her Pixel 5a to Google for repair purposes. However, someone took her phone and actually hacked her device. This is the second report in a few weeks from someone who claims to have sent their Google phone for repair only to have it used by some individual to expose important personal information and photos to the public. On Saturday, McGonigal revealed this issue on Twitter, advising other users not to give their phones for repair to the company.
McGonigal submitted her shattered phone to a Pixel repair centre in Texas in October. She then tweeted that Google had never received the phone, and she was charged for a replacement device in the weeks that followed.
“THEY OPENED PHOTOS OF ME IN BATHING SUITS, SPORTS BRAS, FORM-FITTING DRESSES, AND STITCHES AFTER SURGERY.” As stated by her.
According to FedEx tracking information, the device arrived at the facility weeks ago, according to McGonigal. Someone appears to have used the “lost” phone late Friday night, a few hours after she claims she finally received a refund for the device, to complete two-factor authentication checks and log in to many of her accounts, including Dropbox, Gmail, and Google Drive.
McGonigal’s backup email accounts were triggered several times by all these activities that were taking place. She also shared her thoughts on this mentioning that whoever had her phone at that point, might have used it to access her backup email address and after that dumped the security alerts into her spam section
“We are examining this claim,” Google spokesperson Alex Moriconi said in an email to The Verge. It’s still unknown if the item was intercepted within the repair facility or while in transit, or who currently owns it. Before sending a gadget in for repair, Google recommends backing it up and then wiping it. Still, as Jane McGonigal points out, depending on the damage, this is either difficult or impossible.
Now, whenever we hand over our phones for repair suppose this kind of event will keep bugging us. Apple compensated a lady millions of dollars in June after repair employees exposed her naked images on Facebook. Apple recently announced that it will begin offering DIY repair kits, allowing consumers to fix their own phones, or at the very least have the task completed by someone they trust, rather than shipping it in or dropping it off at an Apple Store.
No, matter what phone we use, the option for repair with the protection of our information is still somewhat limited. We can only hope that anyone with bad intentions does not get their hands on our phones.
