The IT Nerd

Samsung had an “oops” moment last night when they apparently accidentally blasted every Galaxy phone with a weird notification via the Find My Mobile app.  The alert, which several users reported, simply reads “1” with another “1” below it. Samsung’s Find My Mobile service allows owners of Samsung devices to remotely locate or lock their smartphone or tablet, back up data stored on the devices to Samsung Cloud, delete local data, and block access to Samsung Pay. Thus many users assumed that the they had been pwned by hackers.

@SamsungMobile So myself and many other Samsung users have all reported receiving a notification from the "Find My Mobile" app saying "1"… I clicked it and nothing happened. Check app info and it used 20% of my battery? Did all our phones just get hacked? pic.twitter.com/Qjg97N0h9Q

— Alex Rhynold (@alexrhynold) February 20, 2020

@SamsungMobile hey could y'all PLEASE explain why myself and a bunch of other samsung users just got a notification from "find my mobile" that just said "1 1" I'm spooked

— mel🍉 (@touchmyhobii) February 20, 2020

https://twitter.com/dieandsuffocate/status/1230381370704154624

I swear if I wake up tomorrow and Samsung release a statement saying they've had a security breach with Find My Mobile that'd be insane.

I've never been creeped out by a singular number before.

— Harvey (@hxoxcx) February 20, 2020

Well, Samsung did not have a security breach. Their UK branch served up an answer:

Recently, a notification about “Find My Mobile 1” occurred on a limited number of Galaxy devices. This was sent unintentionally during an internal test and there is no effect on your device. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our customers. ^LF

— Samsung Help UK (@SamsungHelpUK) February 20, 2020

I’d be interested to hear what Samsung corporate has to say on this. When they actually say something I will update this post. But in the meantime, it appears that you can relax as this was apparently an accident.

This entry was posted on February 20, 2020 at 7:43 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.