SMS commands overview

avast! Anti-Theft allows you to remotely control your phone using simple SMS commands. For this, the Anti-Theft protection needs to be enabled within the Anti-Theft basic settings. Please note that it is also possible to remotely control your phone by using our new web interface on my.avast.com, but even if using the web, the SMS way of controlling things is still available as well.

If in the remote control settings, you specified certain friend's phones from which SMS commands can be sent, SMS commands will only be accepted if they are sent from a phone number that matches one of the friend's phone numbers that you specified. All SMS commands sent from other numbers will be ignored.

SMS command structure

All SMS commands must begin with your avast! PIN. For example, if your avast! PIN is set to 2222, a lock command should look like this:

2222 LOCK

SMS command list

LOST

Sample: 2222 LOST
Marks the phone as LOST. This command initiates the same actions as a SIM card change, depending on the protection behavior settings.

FOUND

Sample: 2222 FOUND
Marks the phone as FOUND. This command disables the phone lock as well as the siren alarm and adds the currently inserted SIM card to the trusted SIM card list.

LOCK

Sample: 2222 LOCK
Locks the mobile phone.

UNLOCK

Sample: 2222 UNLOCK
Unlocks the mobile phone and adds the currently inserted SIM card to the trusted SIM card list.

MESSAGE <message text>

Sample: 2222 MESSAGE Give back my phone!
Will display a message on the phone. However, such a message can simply be dismissed. Or use SET LOCKTEXT to create a "sticky" message that will be displayed when the phone is locked, then use "LOCK" to lock the phone and trigger the message.

SIREN ON

Sample: 2222 SIREN ON
Turns the siren on.

SIREN OFF

Sample: 2222 SIREN OFF
Turns the siren off.

LOCATE

Sample: 2222 LOCATE
Locates the device.

LOCATE <interval duration in minutes>

Sample: 2222 LOCATE 5
Continously tracks the device every 5 minutes.

LOCATE STOP

Sample: 2222 LOCATE STOP
Stops continous tracking.

GEOFENCE <radius in meters> [SMS]
(premium feature)

Sample: 2222 GEOFENCE 20 SMS
Geofence your device on its current location, within a given radius. If the optional SMS argument is given, SMS will be sent to your friend numbers whenever the geofence is violated. If you skip that argument no such SMS will be sent.

GEOFENCE OFF

Sample: 2222 GEOFENCE OFF
Remove of the currently defined geofence.

CALL [phone number]

Sample: 2222 CALL
Sample: 2222 CALL +43660333555

If no phone number is given this command causes the phone to call you back. If you give the phone number the phone will call the given number.

FORWARD SMS [phone number]

Sample: 2222 FORWARD SMS
Sample: 2222 FORWARD SMS +43660333555

If no phone number is given, incoming SMS will silently be forwarded to the phone that sent the command and deleted (will not be delivered) on the original target phone. If a phone number is given, incoming SMS will be forwarded to the given phone number. This command overrides all previously issued SMS-forwarding-settings.

The forwarding can be cancelled by issuing the FORWARD SMS STOP command or you will have the option to cancel the instruction whenever you launch the avast! Anti-Theft interface.

CC SMS [phone number]

Sample: 2222 CC SMS
Sample: 2222 CC SMS +43660333555

Same as FORWARD SMS, but will not delete the SMS after forwarding which means that the forwarded SMS will still be delivered to the target phone (CC means carbon copy). This command overrides all previously issued SMS-forwarding-settings.

The forwarding can be cancelled by issuing the CC SMS STOP command or you will have the option to cancel the instruction whenever you launch the avast! Anti-Theft interface.

CC CALLS [phone number]

Sample: 2222 CC CALLS
Sample: 2222 CC CALLS +43660222333

By issuing this command you can request SMS notifications about incoming calls. The notifications will be sent to the phone that issued the command if no other phone number is given. This command overrides all previously issued call-forwarding-settings.

We did not implement direct forwarding of calls as this works differently in the networks around the world. Also it is not possible to reliably hide the forwarding settings from being seen by the thief.

The forwarding can be cancelled by issuing the CC CALLS STOP command or you will have the option to cancel them whenever you launch the avast! Anti-Theft interface.

CC ALL [phone number]

Sample: 2222 CC ALL
Sample: 2222 CC ALL +43660222333

Combines the CC SMS and the CC CALLS command. This command overrides all previously issued SMS- and call-forwarding- settings.

The forwarding can be cancelled by issuing the CC ALL STOP command or you will have the option to cancel the instruction whenever you launch the avast! Anti-Theft interface.

WIPE

Sample: 2222 WIPE
Wipes all data from the phone.

DATA ON
(only for rooted devices)

Sample: 2222 DATA ON
Turns enforcement of data connectivity on e.g. if you need it for web remote control.

DATA OFF
(only for rooted devices)

Sample: 2222 DATA OFF
Turns enforcement of data connectivity off.

GET <query limit> SMS

Sample: 2222 GET 10 SMS
Gets the last 10 SMS messages.

GET <query limit> INBOX SMS

Sample: 2222 GET 10 INBOX SMS
Gets the last 10 received SMS messages.

GET <query limit> SENT SMS

Sample: 2222 GET 10 SENT SMS
Gets the last 10 sent SMS messages.

GET <query limit> SMS FOR <phone number>

Sample: 2222 GET 10 SMS FOR +43660333555
Gets the last 10 SMS messages matching the phone number given.

GET CONTACTS

Sample: 2222 GET CONTACTS
Gets the contacts from the address book.

GET LOG <query limit>

Sample: 2222 GET LOG 10
Gets the call and SMS log.

LAUNCH

Sample: 2222 LAUNCH
Launches the avast! Anti-Theft user interface.

CLOSE

Sample: 2222 CLOSE
Closes the avast! Anti-Theft user interface.

REBOOT
(only for rooted devices)

Sample: 2222 REBOOT
Reboots the device.

SET OWNER <name of owner>

Sample: 2222 SET OWNER Charles Chaplin
Will change the device owner name.

SET PIN <PIN>

Sample: 2222 SET PIN 3333
Will change the avast! PIN. You will need to provide a PIN of 4-6 digits.

SET FRIEND 1 <phone number>

Sample: 2222 SET FRIEND 1 +43660122220192
Will change the phone number of the first friend. Provide a valid mobile phone number.

SET FRIEND 2 <phone number>

Sample: 2222 SET FRIEND 2 +43660122220192
Will change the phone number of the second friend. Provide a valid mobile phone number.

SET ONLYFRIENDS <friends mode>

Sample: 2222 SET ONLYFRIENDS 1
Will change the SMS command authorization mode (0 = allow all numbers, 1 = allow only friend commands).

SET LOCKMODE <lock mode>

Sample: 2222 SET LOCKMODE 1
Will change the phone lock protection behavior (0 = do not lock, 1 = auto lock).

SET SIRENMODE <siren mode>

Sample: 2222 SET SIRENMODE 1
Will change the siren protection behavior (0 = no siren on lock, 1 = siren on lock).

SET APPLOCKMODE <app lock mode>

Sample: 2222 SET APPLOCKMODE 1
Will change the program manager or phone setting protection behavior (0 = no setting active, 1 = deny program manager, 2 = deny phone settings).

SET USBLOCKMODE <USB lock mode>
(only for rooted devices)

Sample: 2222 SET USBLOCKMODE 1
Will change the USB debugging access protection behavior (0 = do not lock USB debugging access, 1 = lock USB debugging access).

SET FORCEDATAMODE <force data mode>
(only for rooted devices)

Sample: 2222 SET FORCEDATAMODE 1
Will change the force data connection protection behavior (0 = do not force data connection, 1 = force data connection).

SET BATTERYMODE <battery mode>

Sample: 2222 SET BATTERYMODE ON
Will change the low battery notification protection behavior (OFF = never notify on low battery condition, ON = notify on low battery condition if device is marked as lost or untrusted SIM is present in device, ALWAYS = notify on low battery condition even if the device is not lost).

SET LOCKTEXT <lock text>

Sample: 2222 SET LOCKTEXT Please call me back at +4313283483
Will change the custom lock text.

SET AUTOGPS <gps mode>

Sample: 2222 SET AUTOGPS 1
Will enable or disable automatic enablement of GPS (0 = turn off, 1 = turn on).

SET HIDEGPS <hide gps mode>
(not available on Android 4.4 and above)

Sample: 2222 SET HIDEGPS 1
Hide GPS icon when tracking the device (0 = do not hide, 1 = hide). Disable this option if your device crashes when you try to track your device.

SET WIPEMODE <wipe mode>

Sample: 2222 SET WIPEMODE 1
Will enable or disable thorough wipe (0 = turn off, 1 = turn on).

SET CDMAMODE <CDMA mode>

Sample: 2222 SET CDMAMODE 1
Will enable or disable CDMA SMS splitting (0 = turn off, 1 = turn on).

SET PORTALSMS <portal SMS mode>

Sample: 2222 SET PORTALSMS 1
Allow (portal SMS mode 1) or disallow (portal SMS mode 0) avast! Anti-Theft to report SIM card changes to the avast! portal by SMS in order to identify new SIM phone numbers. These sent SMS may be international SMS, depending on your location.

SET PASSLOSTMODE <password check loss mode>
(premium feature)

Sample: 2222 SET PASSLOSTMODE 1
Mark the device as lost (mode 1) or do not mark the device as lost (mode 0) if the Android lock screen password has been wrongly entered more than 3 times.

SET PASSSMSMODE <password check SMS mode>
(premium feature)

Sample: 2222 SET PASSSMSMODE 1
Send notification SMS (mode 1) or do not send notification SMS (mode 0) if the Android lock screen password has been wrongly entered more than 3 times. Note that enabling the password check SMS mode will also enable the password check loss mode as this is required for correct operation.

SET PASSPICMODE <password check take picture mode>
(premium feature)

Sample: 2222 SET PASSPICMODE 1
Take a picture (mode 1) or do not take a picture (mode 0) if the Android lock screen password has been wrongly entered more than 3 times.

SET PROTECTION <protection mode>

Sample: 2222 SET PROTECTION 1
Will enable or disable Anti-Theft protection (0 = turn off, 1 = turn on).
Caution: By using this command you will completely disable the avast! Anti-Theft system thus rendering the Anti-Theft protection useless.

Implement own remote commands

avast! Anti-Theft is able to launch any programs on the phone and pass data to the launched program.

SMS command: <Activity or service name, fully qualified> <arguments>

Samples:

2222 at.domain.package.Activity Test will start the activity OR service at.domain.package.Activity and pass Test as an parameter to it.

2222 at.domain.package.Activity This is my command line will start the activity OR service at.domain.package.Activity and pass This is my command line as an parameter to it.

The activity or service needs to be positioned on the root of the package (sub-packages are NOT supported).

Data transfer is done via Intent:
Intent i = new Intent();
i.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
i.putExtra("number", origNumber);
i.putExtra("cmd", data);
i.setComponent(cName);

This means you can then read (in your service or activity) the sender number in the String extra number and the command from the String extra cmd.

Anti-Theft always tries to start an Activity first, if none is found it tries to start a Service, if this fails it will reply with an error SMS.