Did someone give me a CUSTOM ROM?

[DoraIzchi]

I purchased a brand new Boost LG-K51 phone at Walmart. Put it in my safe, moved, & 11 days later opened it & added my $60 unlimited card. 7 days later my 35 GB high data was gone without any good reason. (My last 3 phones Ive had this same problem) Ive spent 13 days now on the phone with Boost & LG & online with Google ..that Play Protect is not certified due to custom rom. I've had 6 extra data packs added, & while on the phone with LG is disappeared!
I went in Walmart and discover something I found at the LAST store (Dollar General) where I got the PREVIOUS PHONE! ONLY THE PARTICULAR PHONE THAT IS ON SALE (that gone was a Verizon Avalon Alcatel) HAS THE BOX TURNED AROUND! WITH THE STICKER with all the codes & numbers including IMEI# FACING THE ISLE & CUSTOMERS. The last phone all my data was stolen also, by the 8th day EVERY MONTH!. ISNT THERE ALOT SUSPICIOUS ABOUT THIS? & WHAT DO I DO? The tech people they have at Walmart from noon-6pm, I caught lying twice about the IMEI having no use! What do I do?
& isn't the STORE responsible to protect the devices IMEI# until it is in the hands of the new owner?? & Why did the tech person lie and say she can stack the boxes anyway she wants the IMEI has nothing to do with my problems! But they're ONLY doing it with the sale phones. Almost targeting data theft on those with lower incomes!

 

[ocnbrze]

first off imei has nothing to do with your data. imei only has to do with what network you are on and whether you are blacklisted or not.

how do you know your data was stolen? and what do you mean by that?

 

[DoraIzchi]

The Boost $60 card comes with 35GB high speed then drops to a lower after that. I added the card about 11 days after purchasing the phone. 9 or 10 days later the data was gone, when I had adjusted all of my settings properly. To shut off tethering after 10 mins. To shut shut down the phone after 15. Etc. (BTW I was moving into my RV full time and barely had time to sit down let alone use that amount of data!) None the less, I had things that needed done so I added data. SIX TIMES I HAD 1GB ADDED. The 5th & 6th time Boost compt me because they time and use didn't seem right to them either. WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH BOOST HE ADDED 1 GB, and 3 minutes later I received another text "You have used up all of your data". I told him. He checked. Added another, and passed me off to LG. I spoke to that guy for an hour (this was one of the 3 days I spent the 7 hours on the phone about problems) He promised to have the issue fixed whether by exchanging phones or whatever means necessary. I never heard back. & yesterday LG TALKED TO ME LIKE CRAP & DISCONNECTED ME TWICE

 

[DoraIzchi]

I went to add, Idk a lot about ROM & IMEI ..just the basics. But there HAS TO BE some correlation with the fact that these last 2 phones were doing the exact same thing, and BOTH TIMES I went back to the store to try to resolve this. ONLY THAT SPECIFIC PHONE had every box turned with their stickers facing the public, while EVERY SINGLE OTHER BOX (especially when you consider how many phones Walmart has in the cases behind the electronics counter!) HAS THE BOX TURNED THE PROPER WAY WITH THE STICKER HIDDEN. But the custom ROM is what throws me off the most, after reading about it for 3 weeks. Its me & my dog, in an RV. Nobody has touched this phone except me since I purchased it.

 

[puppykickr]

First, and I may catch some flack for this, but if you are in a low income situation {as I am as well}, why are you not taking advantage of the government free phone plan?

I did not really want to, but after being pestered endlessly about it {HEY, DID YOU KNOW YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE PHONE BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH} I finally got to the point where I said "JUST SEND ME THE BLASTED PHONE!"

Actually, the service is quite good.
Some slight hickups now and then, but I hear that from most peope with cellphones.
Sure, the device is lacking in most ways, but I pride myself on being able to do things with it that my sister cannot do with her Pixel.

Anyway, the type of phone you are talking about is ocked down by the carrier pretty darn tight.
Moreover, Wal-Mart has to scan the device at the register before the IMEI number or any other number about the device can be used for anything at all.

In fact, I highly suspect that part of your problem is the amount of time between when you purchased the device and when you started to use it.

I cannot remember how long you have, but I purchased a phone from Wal-Mart for my ol'lady, and she hemhawed around and piddled with her broken phone for about two weeks before she decided to use the new device.

Well, by then the time had run out, and Straight Talk did not want to activate it.
She had an account with Straight Talk for a long time, and the phone is a Straight Talk device.

Still no dice.
So she looked behind the battery, and it is actually a TracPhone device.
So then she spent another 2-3 days trying to get TracPhone to activate the device.

According to them, the IMEI number did not match any of their records.

So in the end, I had to go back to Wal-Mart and if I remember right I had to talk to a manager because we had to act like the phone was returned and then sold again- so that it could be scanned at the register and then activated in a timely manner.

Pretty sure the policy is that a phone cannot be returned if the box has been opened, or something like that.

At any rate, it may be worth going back to Wal-Mart and going to Customer Service and seeing if you can speak with a manager.

My ol'lady's phone has been going strong for around three years now.
Not bad for a $40 device.

As far as your data goes, try setting the data useage warning on your device to your actual data limit.

I had the same constant 'YOU ARE OUT OF DATA' notifications whenever I tried to use the data with my government plan phone.

I had to use data at work, for work, and so was conserving it and had set a data warning to go off at a point that would still leave enough for me at my job.

Well, that did not work out as planned, because the warning on the device actually cut off the data!
The really weird part is that with my browser the site with my account would say that I was out of data, but if I sent a text request for my account status it showed that I had used hardly any data at all.

After a couple difficult conversations with overseas customer service, someone clued me in as to what the issue may be.
Sure enough, as soon as I got rid of that data warning, it worked just fine.

Kind of a bummer, because now I have to pay close attention to how much data I use- but I have done without things more important than a data warning, and I might be better for it.

 

[DoraIzchi]

First, and I may catch some flack for this, but if you are in a low income situation {as I am as well}, why are you not taking advantage of the government free phone plan?

I did not really want to, but after being pestered endlessly about it {HEY, DID YOU KNOW YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE PHONE BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH} I finally got to the point where I said "JUST SEND ME THE BLASTED PHONE!"

Actually, the service is quite good.
Some slight hickups now and then, but I hear that from most peope with cellphones.
Sure, the device is lacking in most ways, but I pride myself on being able to do things with it that my sister cannot do with her Pixel.

Anyway, the type of phone you are talking about is ocked down by the carrier pretty darn tight.
Moreover, Wal-Mart has to scan the device at the register before the IMEI number or any other number about the device can be used for anything at all.

In fact, I highly suspect that part of your problem is the amount of time between when you purchased the device and when you started to use it.

I cannot remember how long you have, but I purchased a phone from Wal-Mart for my ol'lady, and she hemhawed around and piddled with her broken phone for about two weeks before she decided to use the new device.

Well, by then the time had run out, and Straight Talk did not want to activate it.
She had an account with Straight Talk for a long time, and the phone is a Straight Talk device.

Still no dice.
So she looked behind the battery, and it is actually a TracPhone device.
So then she spent another 2-3 days trying to get TracPhone to activate the device.

According to them, the IMEI number did not match any of their records.

So in the end, I had to go back to Wal-Mart and if I remember right I had to talk to a manager because we had to act like the phone was returned and then sold again- so that it could be scanned at the register and then activated in a timely manner.

Pretty sure the policy is that a phone cannot be returned if the box has been opened, or something like that.

At any rate, it may be worth going back to Wal-Mart and going to Customer Service and seeing if you can speak with a manager.

My ol'lady's phone has been going strong for around three years now.
Not bad for a $40 device.

As far as your data goes, try setting the data useage warning on your device to your actual data limit.

I had the same constant 'YOU ARE OUT OF DATA' notifications whenever I tried to use the data with my government plan phone.

I had to use data at work, for work, and so was conserving it and had set a data warning to go off at a point that would still leave enough for me at my job.

Well, that did not work out as planned, because the warning on the device actually cut off the data!
The really weird part is that with my browser the site with my account would say that I was out of data, but if I sent a text request for my account status it showed that I had used hardly any data at all.

After a couple difficult conversations with overseas customer service, someone clued me in as to what the issue may be.
Sure enough, as soon as I got rid of that data warning, it worked just fine.

Kind of a bummer, because now I have to pay close attention to how much data I use- but I have done without things more important than a data warning, and I might be better for it.

First, and I may catch some flack for this, but if you are in a low income situation {as I am as well}, why are you not taking advantage of the government free phone plan?

I did not really want to, but after being pestered endlessly about it {HEY, DID YOU KNOW YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE PHONE BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH} I finally got to the point where I said "JUST SEND ME THE BLASTED PHONE!"

Actually, the service is quite good.
Some slight hickups now and then, but I hear that from most peope with cellphones.
Sure, the device is lacking in most ways, but I pride myself on being able to do things with it that my sister cannot do with her Pixel.

Anyway, the type of phone you are talking about is ocked down by the carrier pretty darn tight.
Moreover, Wal-Mart has to scan the device at the register before the IMEI number or any other number about the device can be used for anything at all.

In fact, I highly suspect that part of your problem is the amount of time between when you purchased the device and when you started to use it.

I cannot remember how long you have, but I purchased a phone from Wal-Mart for my ol'lady, and she hemhawed around and piddled with her broken phone for about two weeks before she decided to use the new device.

Well, by then the time had run out, and Straight Talk did not want to activate it.
She had an account with Straight Talk for a long time, and the phone is a Straight Talk device.

Still no dice.
So she looked behind the battery, and it is actually a TracPhone device.
So then she spent another 2-3 days trying to get TracPhone to activate the device.

According to them, the IMEI number did not match any of their records.

So in the end, I had to go back to Wal-Mart and if I remember right I had to talk to a manager because we had to act like the phone was returned and then sold again- so that it could be scanned at the register and then activated in a timely manner.

Pretty sure the policy is that a phone cannot be returned if the box has been opened, or something like that.

At any rate, it may be worth going back to Wal-Mart and going to Customer Service and seeing if you can speak with a manager.

My ol'lady's phone has been going strong for around three years now.
Not bad for a $40 device.

As far as your data goes, try setting the data useage warning on your device to your actual data limit.

I had the same constant 'YOU ARE OUT OF DATA' notifications whenever I tried to use the data with my government plan phone.

I had to use data at work, for work, and so was conserving it and had set a data warning to go off at a point that would still leave enough for me at my job.

Well, that did not work out as planned, because the warning on the device actually cut off the data!
The really weird part is that with my browser the site with my account would say that I was out of data, but if I sent a text request for my account status it showed that I had used hardly any data at all.

After a couple difficult conversations with overseas customer service, someone clued me in as to what the issue may be.
Sure enough, as soon as I got rid of that data warning, it worked just fine.

Kind of a bummer, because now I have to pay close attention to how much data I use- but I have done without things more important than a data warning, and I might be better for it.

I really do appreciate all of your input. I've answered all of your questions on previous replies. So please dont be upset if re-writing them on this (as well as other sites) site gives me anxiety. Its the phone not you! I am poor becuz the initial 1st hack is had on my laptop, tablet & phone wiped out my online store. So hopefully its this finances are fix when I got a working phone.
I admit you are correct about lagging to add my minutes (I discovered after the fact) but I made that deadline is guess. The phone was properly activates. Moving makes you crazy sometimes!
I just don't understand HOW I ENDED UP WITH A CUSTOM ROM, ON A BRAND NEW DEVICE, WHEN ITS JUST ME & MY DOG IN AN RV?
** Does anyone know what it takes to get the original ROM on here if the Hard Reset w Power & Volume says "DENIED. CONTACT DEVELOPER" ??

 

[Hadron]

First things first: knowing the IMEI does not give someone magic control over a phone. It seems to be a widespread internet myth, but it is just that, a myth. The "tech" who told you that the IMEI being visible is nothing to do with your problem was not lying, they were absolutely correct. So just forget that, it's a distraction that's stopping you from seeing the real problem (and, by giving you a false grievance, actively gets in the way of working with people to understand the problem and find a solution).

I just don't understand HOW I ENDED UP WITH A CUSTOM ROM, ON A BRAND NEW DEVICE, WHEN ITS JUST ME & MY DOG IN AN RV?
** Does anyone know what it takes to get the original ROM on here if the Hard Reset w Power & Volume says "DENIED. CONTACT DEVELOPER" ??

If it's a brand new, sealed device and you've not let someone else take it away and connect it to a computer with it you won't actually have a custom ROM. What that message means is that you have something that Play Protect doesn't like, and that the person who wrote that message decided to report as there being a custom ROM installed. That doesn't necessarily mean that you actually do have a custom ROM, just that a particular test has failed and the developer decided that when that test is failed it will report this message. (Note that I speak from experience, as I have written code that needs to report errors to users (albeit a smaller and more tech literate group than smartphone customers) and know that the developer does not always anticipate all of the ways that a particular condition can be triggered).

Now the first 7 words of that paragraph are important: if it is not genuinely a brand new device then all bets are off. And if it is new I don't know what might have happened that would trigger this (it's tempting to blame something the carrier did, because they do mess with the phone and never in a good way, but that is actually still very unlikely). I'm really just saying that the idea that a genuinely new phone actually has a custom ROM is so utterly implausible that the real answer is almost certainly either that it's not a new, sealed, untampered phone (maybe a return that wasn't properly checked) or that there is some other (unknown) technical problem that is triggering this error message.

Note that a hard reset or factory reset will not change the system software, so if you did have a custom ROM that wouldn't help you at all. You'd need to find the original firmware for that model of device, connect it to a computer and re-install the system firmware. All that a reset does is erase user-installed apps and data. I should add though that denying you access to that function is also kinda weird - I'm not familiar with US carrier handsets so don't know if this is something they commonly do (I know that they often do lock out some technical menus, but a reset is something that may be needed in order to fix a problem so it would be very silly indeed to lock that out).

As for data usage, have you considered installing an app that will monitor what is using your data? Or even seeing whether your phone already has that: most phones have something in their settings that will tell you which apps have been using how much data has been used and by which apps, though often a third party app can do a better job). If you could see what is using it (assuming it's not a misreporting issue) that would give a clue how to fix it.

 

[DoraIzchi]

Thank you for your detailed and experienced answer. Although now I am just as confused. I did consider the fact they accidentally sold me a refurnished phone, but the very rude & unhelpful tech (this Walmart started having techs from noon to 6pm daily) insisted it was my fault and not their problem. I purchased this brand new. I was moving, so the minutes were added around 10 days later. I checked & it did activate properly. Less than 2 weeks later the 35GB were gone (I barely had time to use the phone while moving full time into my RV.) The phone just keeps loading on specific sites or says "this site doesn't exits". My NORTON account being one & my provider!
So, yesterday, I again contacted Boost about the Custom ROM question (which was a box in ? Red or Orange?) that was on the Google help page for Google Play Protect. It wasn't a notice to me per se'. Just a box on that page. "Your Custom ROM is not Play Protect certified. Contact your developer" The custome service rep told me she was going to reset my phone.... and once I turned it off for 20 minutes, I would have any original OS that came with the phone.
I FOUND THIS VERY VERY STRANGE. ALTHOUGH I DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ROMS, CUSTOM OR OTHERWISE. Does this sound normal to YOU?
LAST BUT NOT LEAST.. "IF" someone had a key to my RV, and was able to access the phone (I had a neighbor who owns a computer repair shop & was cyber stalking me for almost 3 years! My reason for leaving in my RV after he destroyed my $1200/week online sales business) how much control could he have over this phone? & could you elaborate on how exactly i would go about getting rid of it. Where do I find what I need to get the phone back to its original state?

 

[DoraIzchi]

I purchased a brand new Boost LG-K500UM from Walmart. I was moving & didn't add the minutes right away (I've checked & it is definitely certified) I was having ALOT OF PROBLEMS so I went into Google help where a reddish box was across the top which stated "Custom ROM is not Play Protect certified. Apps downloaded from Play Store may not be authentic". I attempted a reset and then also a hard rest using Power & Volume which took me to the reset screen but ended with "ACCESS DENIED. CONTACT YOUR DEVELOPER."
I thought maybe I was sold a refurnished phone.. or one which had been returned? But they insisted it was my problem & I could use my warranty to send it in if I wish! Ugh!!!!! WTH?
In the event someone somehow got into my place (again) IS THERE AN AUTHENTIC WAY TO KNOW IF A CUSTOM ROM HAS BEEN PUT ON MY PHONE? I had a creepy neighbor that had every device I owned hacked. He destroyed my $1200/week online sales business, and almost gave me a nervous breakdown. (the things some creeps will do when the dont get what they want is shocking!) He targeted me for almost 3 years! This is my 13th phone since moving next to him.
I no longer leave the door unlocked to go next door, or even out back & NEVER leave my keys out in the open!

 

[Unforgiven]

Duplicate topics merged.

 

[ocnbrze]

I purchased a brand new Boost LG-K500UM from Walmart. I was moving & didn't add the minutes right away (I've checked & it is definitely certified) I was having ALOT OF PROBLEMS so I went into Google help where a reddish box was across the top which stated "Custom ROM is not Play Protect certified. Apps downloaded from Play Store may not be authentic". I attempted a reset and then also a hard rest using Power & Volume which took me to the reset screen but ended with "ACCESS DENIED. CONTACT YOUR DEVELOPER."
I thought maybe I was sold a refurnished phone.. or one which had been returned? But they insisted it was my problem & I could use my warranty to send it in if I wish! Ugh!!!!! WTH?
In the event someone somehow got into my place (again) IS THERE AN AUTHENTIC WAY TO KNOW IF A CUSTOM ROM HAS BEEN PUT ON MY PHONE? I had a creepy neighbor that had every device I owned hacked. He destroyed my $1200/week online sales business, and almost gave me a nervous breakdown. (the things some creeps will do when the dont get what they want is shocking!) He targeted me for almost 3 years! This is my 13th phone since moving next to him.
I no longer leave the door unlocked to go next door, or even out back & NEVER leave my keys out in the open!

in order to have a custom rom, the phone needs to be rooted. so your best bet is to get the Root Checker

this will let you know if your phone is rooted or not.

 

[DoraIzchi]

in order to have a custom rom, the phone needs to be rooted. so your best bet is to get the Root Checker

this will let you know if your phone is rooted or not.

Like I said.. I dont know a lot.. but ive been reading up for the 6 weeks since activating this phone.
CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG... PLEASE. BUT, IF IN FACT someone got into my place while I was busy on a ladder or talking to someone... and MALICIOUSLY PUT A CUSTOM ROM ON MY PHONE.... wouldn't that mean that ANY APP I ADD FROM THE PLAY STORE IS NOT CERTIFIED? POSSIBLY NOT EVEN THE APP I BELIEVE IT IS? OR COULD BE A FAKE? Couldn't any app being installed.. possibly be A MALICIOUS APP ALSO?

 

[ocnbrze]

Like I said.. I dont know a lot.. but ive been reading up for the 6 weeks since activating this phone.
CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG... PLEASE. BUT, IF IN FACT someone got into my place while I was busy on a ladder or talking to someone... and MALICIOUSLY PUT A CUSTOM ROM ON MY PHONE.... wouldn't that mean that ANY APP I ADD FROM THE PLAY STORE IS NOT CERTIFIED? POSSIBLY NOT EVEN THE APP I BELIEVE IT IS? OR COULD BE A FAKE? Couldn't any app being installed.. possibly be A MALICIOUS APP ALSO?

no just because your phone is rooted does not mean the apps you get from the play store is not certified......it just means that your phone is rooted. certain apps like banking apps for example will not work on rooted phones. but most apps will run the same as it would on non rooted phones.

and rooting these days is not as simple as it used to be in the past. rooting will require access to a computer and have the proper files already downloaded in order for the commands to work. so it is not a quick or easy as it used to be.

if the phone was rooted, yes a malicious app can be installed and will have access to sensitive data......but it has to be rooted. it will not work on a non rooted phone. and it will not need a custom rom....just a rooted phone.

so i'm not sure where you are getting your info from, but so far everything that you have read is wrong.

 

[The-Truth]

in order to have a custom rom, the phone needs to be rooted. so your best bet is to get the Root Checker

this will let you know if your phone is rooted or not.

No true actuallly. One needs an unlocked bootloader. Methods to accomplish are online, CPU/Drivers/Commands/etc. With unlocked bootloaders one can flash a custom recovery img. You can then proceed to flashing zip files. A custom OS/ROM comes in a zipfile format in order to flash/apply from within a given devices custom recovery. You need to flash Magisk or the SuperSU zip/apply from within ROM as in Magisk Manager/SuperUser.APK in order to have/grant elevated permissions/SU Binary root rights for a given device.

 

[The-Truth]

no just because your phone is rooted does not mean the apps you get from the play store is not certified......it just means that your phone is rooted. certain apps like banking apps for example will not work on rooted phones. but most apps will run the same as it would on non rooted phones.

and rooting these days is not as simple as it used to be in the past. rooting will require access to a computer and have the proper files already downloaded in order for the commands to work. so it is not a quick or easy as it used to be.

if the phone was rooted, yes a malicious app can be installed and will have access to sensitive data......but it has to be rooted. it will not work on a non rooted phone. and it will not need a custom rom....just a rooted phone.

so i'm not sure where you are getting your info from, but so far everything that you have read is wrong.

Ones phone does not need to be rooted/rom'ed etc. For someone to be 'messin' around with ones phone in whatever way. And Certified as in Playstore versions etc. are/is a beta versions of Play markett apk/along with outdated beta versions of applications you DL from The Playstore Markett.

 

[The-Truth]

Lol As you can see I have a few apks that have like idfK! Root 'alowable' yet not for me to be able to grant other than these 'allowable,' permission wise/yet no root features that I myself can manipulate on my own device ofcourse! And yes my phone has locked bootloader (AS IS BECAUSE I NEEEEEED AN F'IN PC! UGHHHH.... LOL. Custom ROM as in 'came factory custo,' as all my devices come. WOW! SUUUUURE WISH I COULD PUT SWEET ELEVATED PERMY GOODNESS USE TO/WITH ALL THESE NEAT HACKS & HMMMMM. HMMMM.(TWEAK'$) LMAO!🥶