Almost every person has a smartphone nowadays. But theft of gadgets is still a common occasion. Plus, everybody can simply lose a phone. A short span of inattentiveness – and your pocket is empty.
The main danger of phone loss is the information. Now we keep in gadgets a lot of important stuff: like passwords, documents and even credit cards. If you lose your phone, you also lose access to valuable personal information.
How to protect yourself – from a technical point of view? What to do when you have lost your phone?
Here are some simple tips.
Preventive Measures
Even if you think that the phone loss will never happen to you, it is always better to prepare.
To use the location services for a smartphone in case of loss, you need to give them some permissions in advance.
In particular, Android devices must have two important features enabled: Location and Find My Device. Also, of course, the gadget must connect with a Google account. Take the time to check the status of these functions right now. Often, users who are afraid of the idea of global surveillance turn off all possible geolocation services. It significantly reduces their chances of returning a lost smartphone in the future.
If you use Android, go to Google Settings, then to Security and activate the Find My Device option. If you use iOS, open Settings, then iCloud and activate Find iPhone. Then make sure Location Settings is on under Privacy settings.
Passwords Are Important
Always protect your phone with a password. Often, to transfer money to someone else’s card, it is enough to send an SMS. Someone will have access to all your messengers and social networks if you don’t set up a password.
It is even better to use different passwords for various apps. For example, banking apps, locked folders with photos and notes. No protection is extra – be careful about your personal information.
What To Do If You Already Lost Your Phone
If your smartphone is already lost, you need to act as quickly as possible.
1. Try to call the phone
The first thing you need to do is to try calling. Maybe the phone is still not far from you. Or someone has already found it and wants to give it back. If you don’t have another phone to call from – try using services like callmyphone.org. You can easily track a lost phone for free this way.
2. Locate phone
If you have lost an iPhone and you have another Apple device, you need to open the “Find My Phone” app. The phone location will be on the map. The same thing is possible on the website icloud.com/find in a browser. You will need to enter the Apple ID used on the lost phone, specifying your username and password.
In the case of Android, you need to open the site myaccount.google.com in a browser. Then select the “Security” tab, the “Your devices” section, the “Device management” item. It will show you where and when the device was last used.
3. Protect your phone
Geolocation may not help. You will see that the gadget is already far from the places you have been, or is completely turned off. In this case, through the same service with which you tried to detect the device, it is useful to block it or even delete all data.
No information on the phone should fall into the wrong hands. It may have corporate and personal secrets, passwords from Internet services, and so on. Still, blocking or deletion of data will be possible only if the gadget has Internet connection.
4. Protect your SIM
Also, if your missing phone hasn’t had a screen lock password set, try locking your SIM first. This will reduce the risks of a stranger using banking services associated with your number.
You can block your SIM card in three ways:
- call your provider;
- go to a nearby salon with a passport and ask an employee;
- through your personal account on the provider’s website.
By doing this, you will save money in your bank account and restrict access to data on your SIM.
You also need to block the SIM card if your phone has a password, but the SIM card itself did not. Someone can put the SIM into another gadget. If for some reason you are unable to block the SIM card quickly, and you have connected to this number bank accounts, urgently block them. You can do it by calling or otherwise contacting your bank.
5. Contact the police
If nothing worked, you need to file a complaint to the authorities. Don’t forget to give them the IMEI number – for each phone it is unique. It will help them to identify your phone if found.