It can happen to anyone. The phones get lost or sometimes stolen. It is an unfortunate event, but there are things you can do to minimize the damage. If you find yourself in this situation, it is important to stay calm and take immediate action. Here are several things you can do in case this happens.
Prepare Beforehand
Of course, no one knows whether they are going to lose their phone or not. However, there are certain preventive measures everyone can take. The main goal is to protect information stored there and to make sure it can be brought back in case a good person finds it.
Today smartphones hold a lot of sensitive and crucial data, especially for students. All your accounts, from social media to banking, are there. All your files are also there – from group projects to essays and research papers.
Of course, in case any of your assignments get lost, there is a way to beat that. For example, you can get help from the write my essay service immediately. Experienced authors can assist with any type of paper in the shortest time. They can help to keep the grades up in any case, whether you’ve lost your phone or simply need qualified assistance with editing, proofreading, or writing.
Apart from planning the ways for how you can outsource your tasks, keep in mind that there are more preventive measures you can take:
- Have GPS on so that the phone can be tracked;
- Have it locked ideally with fingerprints because the face recognition technology is far from being perfect;
- Synchronize the storage with the cloud so even if your files are erased, they can be easily restored and accessed from another device;
- Get to know the “find my phone” policies for your specific model.
All of these measures will make the next steps easier in case the device goes missing.
Call Immediately
As soon as you realize that it is nowhere to be found, call yourself from another device. In the best-case scenario, it is somewhere you cannot see, and this will help to find it.
Also, there are decent people who will answer the call and return the phone if they’ve found it. If you are worried that the device is on silent, you can contact the mobile’s carrier and reverse the settings remotely to the sound alert.
Send a Text
If no one answers the call and the device is not yet found, the next thing to do is send a text message. If your phone is locked, the person who finds it cannot open anything and contact you. Send a text message saying that you’ve lost it and with the contact information.
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So that if it is found by a person, they can see the text on the lock screen and contact you to return the device. Keep it short and provide instructions that can be read through the lock screen.
A preventive measure is to set a lock screen with contact information beforehand in case the phone gets lost. However, if it is stolen, it will not help.
Lock It Remotely
If someone stole your phone or found it and doesn’t want to hand it back, there is a function to lock it completely. If you have a somewhat new phone, you can do it remotely. For example, if you have a password with a face/fingerprint identification set, another person can guess it. But if you lock it, a thief won’t have a chance to guess your password.
To lock the device remotely, use another Apple device, for example, the one your friend has. Click the find my iPhone option, log into your Apple account, and choose Active Lost Mode. Now all the data is protected.
Those who have Android also can do similar things. Go to Android Device Manager and find the recent location your smartphone was pinged at. With your Google ID, you can block the device. And there is also an option to put the display message remotely here.
All of that brings us to the next step.
Use Find My Phone Feature
The same functionality can be used to locate the device. It is a great in-built security measure that can sometimes save the day. Of course, these features should be enabled on the item beforehand. It is always recommended to activate them as soon as you buy a new device. Also, make sure to have GPS on; otherwise, none of this will work.
Following the instructions from the previous steps, you can see the last place it was tracked to. You can go there in case you dropped it somewhere and it’s still lying there.
Call the Police
In case none of the previous actions work, you need to call the cops. Whether it will be found or not, it is good to write a report on the matter.
It is especially important if it was stolen rather than lost. So if someone uses it for fraudulent activity, you can prove that it wasn’t you and dispute those actions.
Truth be told, the chances of it being found this way are very slim.
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But it is a necessary step to protect yourself in case someone uses your accounts or number for malicious actions. And such a report will help to get insurance. Usually, you need a police report number to access it.
Erase Data
Meanwhile, one can make sure all the data is protected from unauthorized use. With the same Find My Phone functionality, you can remotely erase all the data from the device.
Do it when you are rather certain that it was stolen, and none of the mentioned above info helped. You can do it online through your laptop. Even if a thief has removed the SIM card, you can still erase any sensitive data from the cloud storage.
Contact Mobile Carrier
After that, call the cellular plan service. They can:
- Disable service for the lost/stolen device;
- Suspend SIM card;
- Mark the phone as stolen/lost in the system.
The third step makes sure that it cannot be used even with a new SIM card.
Protect Online Account
When you deactivate your SIM card, the account linked to it won’t be accessed. But still, there are many online accounts linked to the phone itself. When you get to your laptop or tablet, make sure to protect them as soon as possible.
From banking and up to social media accounts – log in and change the passwords and connected phone number. Also, remember to change the Google account password as well as the email one.
It is a crucial step to protect yourself from identity theft and possible malicious activity with the use of your accounts.
It is also possible to manually unlink all the accounts from the device. For example, one can unlink Google Drive or Dropbox as well as social media platforms.
The synchronization will stop, and you can be assured that the information is safe.
In Summary
Losing a smartphone is an extremely stressful situation one can find themselves in. However, preventive measures, as well as a fast response, can significantly reduce the damage done. Make sure to activate GPS and Find My Phone features beforehand. Protect or erase data remotely. If you think that it is stolen, notify the police to protect yourself and get insurance.
Don’t forget to safeguard all the linked or accessed online accounts by promptly changing the passwords.
