Is it possible to lock a stolen dji drone

[Hayds]

Hi all had a mavic air 1 stolen is anyway of locking the drone via serial number??

 

[Starz]

Not that I have read anywhere. If there is a way, possibly someone with more knowledge in that arena will chime in. As long as you reported the theft to the local Law Enforcement folks, you should be off the hook for any infractions that develop courtesy of the thief or who they peddle it off to.

 

[EagleHead]

Did they steal the system or just the aircraft?

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Unfortunately I think the short answer is no.
With the more modern drones that have been tied/bound to the original owners DJI account it may be part and parcel of the system but as that binding is a recent innovation I doubt it is applicable to the Ma1.

 

[Hayds]

Did they steal the system or just the aircraft?

My Hardcase with everything in it

 

[Hayds]

Unfortunately I think the short answer is no.
With the more modern drones that have been tied/bound to the original owners DJI account it may be part and parcel of the system but as that binding is a recent innovation I doubt it is applicable to the Ma1.

I did have to register it with my dji account when I bought it in able to use it

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Besides local law enforcement, let local pawn shops know about it, serial #'s etc, and keep an eye on the places like Craig's List, ebay, gumtree, and such, not sure what you have in that way in NZ.
Probably just a junkie wanting a quick $100, happens all too often . . . from a vehicle or home / other place ?

You could let DJI know, but don't hold you breath for a lock out.

Maybe the thief will try flying it and take their eye out, hopefully no one elses.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I did have to register it with my dji account when I bought it in able to use it

I suspect you are thinking of activation rather than the process that I am thinking of. I believe the latter came into existence when DJI introduced the Flyaway insurance. DJI Care Refresh Launches Flyaway Coverage: Enjoy Worry-Free Flights - DJI Guides

 

[Captain J Case]

Ask DJI for its last location, or perhaps there is a way for you to see the last turned on location from your app..

 

[Lob's Falcon]

*>Not helpful<* I always put a voodoo hex on my stuff. If anyone touches it without permission then they die of an amoebic dysentery infection. Just for future reference.... (in all seriousness)->Good luck with retrieving it and prosecuting the perpetrator.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Ask DJI for its last location, or perhaps there is a way for you to see the last turned on location from your app..

The app can, and will, ONLY report the last place where the App and phone were connected to the controller and the controller was connected to the drone....whilst the motors were running.
I use multiple phones with the Go4 App all logged into the same DJI account and one phone knows nothing of the flights flown using another phone. (I do not sync, see below)

With regards to DJI being able to locate the drone, unless the Mavic 1 differs from the Mavic 2, the drone itself has no direct means of communicating with DJI. Any communication is via the controller and the App which in turn is via the phone's wifi...... or from the drone via USB and the Assistant 2 program on a computer.

If the thieves or the eventual owner uses their own DJI account and sync their flight logs then perhaps DJI could trace the drone but it would likely need a court order or similar for them to release location details since it might otherwise be an invasion of the 'next flyers' privacy.

HOWEVER your post did bring one thing to mind.........if the thieves stole the screen-device/phone used with the drone as well as the equipment i.e. the 'phone' was in the case, and the thieves can and do use the 'phone' then, if Hayds had the app set to sync, it might be worth Hayds installing the App on another phone, logging into their account and sync'ing the logs to the new phone. As I understand things that should download a copy of all previously sync'd logs to the new phone and that would include the logs of any flights flown by the thieves etc. (It's a slim hope but.....)
If that happens I'd be inclined to seek the assistance of the cops if visiting any new locations.

 

[GFields]

so sorry for your loss.

 

[dcsplicer]

I’m thinking about hiding an AirTag in my drone bag, but the bad guys might be notified if they have an iPhone. Has anyone done this?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I’m thinking about hiding an AirTag in my drone bag, but the bad guys might be notified if they have an iPhone. Has anyone done this?

I have never had any sort of notification my phone has found a device of others nearby.

Not a bad idea, and think it'd be relatively safe.
You have to add the tag to your "find my" items list, and if you haven't done that (other parties phone or i device) then it doesn't show up.
If however they clicked on add item on their device when near the drone bag, to check if any tags there, it should show up on their device . . . then they'd know one is in there.

Are the crims that smart ?
Not all (many), but some perhaps.

The good thing is you have such a big network of i devices in most regions / towns etc, eventually something should pop up.
I'd do it for sure if you kept it somewhere it might be stolen from, and heck yeah sadly even in ones home is not immune from that happening.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Hi all had a mavic air 1 stolen is anyway of locking the drone via serial number??

The following is a post I did some time ago for loss of a drone, but I believe the same situation may apply. You personally cant lock it but DJI may be able to using your account email address. Not sure for the MA1 but certainly can for other models. DJI can also get the #no from your registered account by using your email. Again, I am not sure when they enabled this function but its been around for a while.

I realise they have your controller as well but this info might help. Binding does not only mean the drone to the controller, but also to your account on DJI. For some time now, they have been able to lock out drones from flying more than 30 metres (100 feet) if they are not bound. Not sure for the MA1 but reporting the theft to DJI may enable them to severly reduce its flying capability or totally disable it by disconnecting the binding between the drone and controller.

This is all done on line.

Try emailing your situation to the following. I cant guarantee anything but they may be able to help.

Coco.Ren (DJI Support) <[email protected]>

Hope this helps.

From a former post.
"How it works:
Your drone is / was bound to the controller under your accounts email address. Anyone finding / stealing the drone will have to bind and register the drone to a controller under their own DJI accounts email address. So they will already need to be a DJI owner. Binding cannot take place without a DJI account. DJI are very strict on changing aircraft bind email addresses to the point where it is a detailed task even to change your own binding email address to a new email address, as they send a binding change verification code back to the old, or original owners, email address, not the new owners. (sorry for the many uses of the word binding)

I am not an expert but my understanding is that the old drone wont bind / register because its serial number was listed against your accounts email address and (maybe) has been recorded as being lost / stolen. DJI may / should have deactivated its binding ability, and therefore it wont fly, particularly if your drone was replaced under warranty.

Many people don't realise that, if you change email addresses, you really should go through the process of binding the drone to your new email address as it can cause confusion later on when claiming care refresh, informing of lost drones, warranty claims etc.

However, in the wonderful world of hackers, who knows.

A second post I submitted for general info on the topic of changing binding:

"Yes. The seller must unbind the drone from his email address otherwise the new owner cant fly more than 30 metres. When you bind to a new account, dji send a verify code to the old address / owner for confirmation. Thats why when you buy used from lets say ebay, you must make sure that the seller unbinds from his email address and sets your email address as the new binding address otherwise you are stuffed. See the attached screenshot of the binding confirmation page on DJI. When you slide across the verify slider, it sends a verify code to the existing email address. The seller must then enter the verify code in the box shown on the screenshot. Its a bit complicated but it does work.

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[Hayds]

The following is a post I did some time ago for loss of a drone, but I believe the same situation may apply. You personally cant lock it but DJI may be able to using your account email address. Not sure for the MA1 but certainly can for other models. DJI can also get the #no from your registered account by using your email. Again, I am not sure when they enabled this function but its been around for a while.

I realise they have your controller as well but this info might help. Binding does not only mean the drone to the controller, but also to your account on DJI. For some time now, they have been able to lock out drones from flying more than 30 metres (100 feet) if they are not bound. Not sure for the MA1 but reporting the theft to DJI may enable them to severly reduce its flying capability or totally disable it by disconnecting the binding between the drone and controller.

This is all done on line.

Try emailing your situation to the following. I cant guarantee anything but they may be able to help.

Coco.Ren (DJI Support) <[email protected]>

Hope this helps.

From a former post.
"How it works:
Your drone is / was bound to the controller under your accounts email address. Anyone finding / stealing the drone will have to bind and register the drone to a controller under their own DJI accounts email address. So they will already need to be a DJI owner. Binding cannot take place without a DJI account. DJI are very strict on changing aircraft bind email addresses to the point where it is a detailed task even to change your own binding email address to a new email address, as they send a binding change verification code back to the old, or original owners, email address, not the new owners. (sorry for the many uses of the word binding)

I am not an expert but my understanding is that the old drone wont bind / register because its serial number was listed against your accounts email address and (maybe) has been recorded as being lost / stolen. DJI may / should have deactivated its binding ability, and therefore it wont fly, particularly if your drone was replaced under warranty.

Many people don't realise that, if you change email addresses, you really should go through the process of binding the drone to your new email address as it can cause confusion later on when claiming care refresh, informing of lost drones, warranty claims etc.

However, in the wonderful world of hackers, who knows.

A second post I submitted for general info on the topic of changing binding:

"Yes. The seller must unbind the drone from his email address otherwise the new owner cant fly more than 30 metres. When you bind to a new account, dji send a verify code to the old address / owner for confirmation. Thats why when you buy used from lets say ebay, you must make sure that the seller unbinds from his email address and sets your email address as the new binding address otherwise you are stuffed. See the attached screenshot of the binding confirmation page on DJI. When you slide across the verify slider, it sends a verify code to the existing email address. The seller must then enter the verify code in the box shown on the screenshot. Its a bit complicated but it does work.

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  Screenshot 2022-01-23 131408.jpg"
  175.3 KB · Views: 40

Extremely good info thanks I'll keep u updated

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Welcome. Always willing to help a fellow "dronie"

Hope they can sort something out for you.

Just remember DJI now do almost all their customer support out of Hong Kong so things can take a little while, but not too long, a day or so.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

DJI can also get the #no from your registered account by using your email

The serial numbers for the drone, the controller, the camera and the battery-being-used are recorded in the txt flight logs...........or should be. If you have the txt flight logs for all the flights you likely have the all the battery serial numbers in there.
In some cases these numbers do not correspond to the on paper numbers on the drone but to internal bits of the equipment but they are fairly easy to access, normally* unique and I suspect not easily changed.
*I have a couple of Phantom 3 batteries with the same serial number.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

If your phone used with this system was in the case, did you try the "Find My Phone" function for the phone. If you get a hit on the phone you will most likely find your drones location.

 

[nobsyogi]

I leave my iPad mini 6 in my drone/camera backpack. Whenever my iPad moves more than 100m from my iPhone I get an alert on my iPhone. This only works when my iPad is not located at my home address. So, if I’m travelling & leave my backpack at the hotel or in a car as soon as my iPhone gets more than 100m away I receive an alert. I love this… especially when your backpack has over $10K worth of gear in it.