Criminals Breaking Their Phones in Movies

JustDave

JustDave

Well-known Member
In films, bad guys using a phone to plan and coordinate crimes are always shown breaking the flip screen from the phone and throwing it away, well pre smart phones, anyway. Is that a sure fire way to make data in the phone irretrievable? I've always wondered about that. Throwing it in a burning trash barrel sounds like a better idea, and the part of town where these guys operate usually has burning trash barrels every other block.
 

Hmm I've often wondered if sometimes there's a ploy to bring unthinking criminals undone by showing behaviour that could hasten a successful investigation. This way copycat criminals come undone smartly, pun intended.
 
Burning them is absolutely a good way to destroy the phone. I understand some criminals pour acid on their phone. I guess the idea is to destroy the chip that acts like a hard drive. I can see using acid would or should destroy any information on a phone. I had read once that a man that had his wife murdered took his phone and the phone from the killer and put them in a microwave to destroy the information. I’m not sure about that. The book I was reading was a true crime novel, so believe what you want, I guess.
 

Perhaps I am confused but destroying a phone won't stop law enforcement from retrieving phone calls or texts. Even back when flip phones were popular. And flip phones never had enough storage capacity to store much on the phone. I suppose if a criminal paid cash to use a burner phone and a prepaid cell plan , then destroying the phone could help help thwart investigations some. The first time I watched a show that brought up the concept of burner phones was The Wire.
 
If they break their phones to prevent tracking that would make more sense to me, I think but I don't know enough about the technology.
 
JustDave said:
In films, bad guys using a phone to plan and coordinate crimes are always shown breaking the flip screen from the phone and throwing it away, well pre smart phones, anyway. Is that a sure fire way to make data in the phone irretrievable? I've always wondered about that. Throwing it in a burning trash barrel sounds like a better idea, and the part of town where these guys operate usually has burning trash barrels every other block.
Click to expand...
I often catch myself getting all twisted about things in movies and whatnot... and then have to laugh at myself.
I was shown how the writers/presenters of our entertainment will often use "devices" that are meant to convey
an idea rather than an actual depiction of the "thing" occurring. So, with criminals destroying a cell phone... the
idea is what's supposed to be conveyed, and the audience (you and me) are supposed to play along with the "device"
which is the simplicity of how it was done.
That is, you're right... it's much too easy, can't be done like that.
But then again, it's just pretend and make-believe.

Er, that's how I see it.
 
A few years back I was dating someone who used to be a programmer before he retired. When he was done with whichever personal electronic device contained sensitive or private info, he’d take it out back and shoot a couple holes in it. He said that was more effective than the various programs used to wipe the data from the devices.
 
Ted01 said:
I often catch myself getting all twisted about things in movies and whatnot... and then have to laugh at myself.
I was shown how the writers/presenters of our entertainment will often use "devices" that are meant to convey
an idea rather than an actual depiction of the "thing" occurring. So, with criminals destroying a cell phone... the
idea is what's supposed to be conveyed, and the audience (you and me) are supposed to play along with the "device"
which is the simplicity of how it was done.
That is, you're right... it's much too easy, can't be done like that.
But then again, it's just pretend and make-believe.

Er, that's how I see it.
Click to expand...
There's always a look of finality on the criminal's face after he breaks his phone like, "No one can touch me now! Screw you coppers."
 
JustDave said:
There's always a look of finality on the criminal's face after he breaks his phone like, "No one can touch me now! Screw you coppers."
Click to expand...
Yeah... and inevitably, a script writer will write something where they catch the bad guy and say something like;
"Seriously, you thought that would keep you safe... that only works in Hollywood!" LOL
 
A factory reset and total obliteration of the SIM card will eradicate cell phone history for most practical purposes, but does not prevent recovery of cloud storage data through the use of specialized software available to law enforcement which can be coordinated via the carrier and Google Cloud Services for the phone number being scrutinized.
 
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