Aspects of the disclosure provide a method for detecting false movement of a device. The method includes receiving acceleration signals from a 3-axis accelerometer of a mobile device that are indicative of a movement of the mobile device over a window of time. The acceleration signals can include a first signal, a second signal, and a third signal corresponding to three axes of the 3-axis accelerometer. The method further includes calculating a standard deviation (SD) value for each of the acceleration signals over the window of time, determining whether the movement of the mobile device is a false movement that does not substantially change a geographic location of the mobile device based on the calculated SD values, and when the movement of the mobile device is not a false movement, triggering a location updating process for the mobile device.