North Carolina man buys 150 old phones and shares the main takeaway that shocked him
Published on Jan 19, 2026 at 2:11 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Jan 19, 2026 at 2:11 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Claire Reid
A man bought 150 old phones and has issued a warning after noticing one worryingly common trend on many of the old handsets.
Selling your old phone is a great way to make a bit of extra cash and a much more sustainable option than simply chucking it in the bin.
And for buyers, getting a used phone is a whole lot cheaper than forking out for something new.
However, YouTuber Smokin’ Silicon has revealed one shocking thing many people seem to overlook when getting rid of their old tech.
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He bought 150 old phones online, and one thing stood out to him
The YouTuber regularly buys untested old phones off eBay and has amassed around 150 in total.
As you might imagine, with them being untested, many of the phones aren’t in the best condition, including an original Motorola Razr that had some water damage and wouldn’t even power on.
However, most of the other phones, like a blue C5L Max and a Asus Zenfone, did switch on.
And once he had managed to turn the phones on, the YouTuber was left shocked by what he found.
Many of the old phones had no password protection, but the truly eye-opening part was just how many of the phones hadn’t been cleared of their old data and how much he was able to find out about the previous owner.
After powering on the C5L Max, he was able to access dozens of old text messages, job notifications, and the previous owner’s browsing history.
Not only that, but after opening up the photo gallery, he had unfettered access to more than a thousand photos and videos, including one of the former owner’s driving license.
“I want to remind you, phone with no passcode and driver’s license on it,” the shocked YouTuber said.
“I’m sure no one will ever do anything bad with that…”
It was a similar story after firing up the Asus Zenfone, with the previous owners texts, photos and even old voicemails also easily accessible.
And the same for the old AT&T ZTE, which held a whopping 695-message conversations, and had a fully viewable browser history.
So, what should you do before selling your old phone?
Of course, selling your old phone can still be a smart way to get rid of your old tech and make a bit of money.
If you send it away to be refurbished by a legitimate company, like if you trade it in with Apple, then all your personal data should be safely deleted before the phone is sold on.
But, if you’re opting to sell it yourself then it’s important to get rid of everything on there.
Before you do, make sure you create a backup to a cloud system, and then sign out of all of your accounts, like Google and YouTube, and then delete all your personal data.
On an iPhone, you can remove your personal data by opening the Settings app, tapping your name, scrolling down and hitting Sign Out.
Then choose Erase this [Device].
For Android phones, head to Settings, tap System, scroll to Reset Options and then hit Erase All Data.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
