When you lose your phone or it comes to you stolenit is essential to know all the Things to do as soon as possible.
Anyone who has ever lost or had their smartphone stolen knows it well: no longer being able to have that device that accompanies us every day in our hands can generate panic, especially if we think about all the photos in the gallery (which, perhaps, , we have not made a backup, and sensitive information and data, such as access data to your current account.
If your phone is lost or stolen, it’s important not to waste time.
What do I risk if my phone is stolen or I lose it?
If your phone is lost or stolen, it is essential not to waste time. Yes, it is important – if there is one – to find a way to recover it, but in the meantime we need to limit possible other damage.
Smartphones contain a large amount of personal information and sensitive data that are of great interest to criminals. If thieves gain access to the device, they can carry out various attacks and crimes, including:
- Steal money from linked bank accounts
- Make unauthorized purchases with stored credit cards
- Access login credentials for various accounts
- Block the owner’s access to their email accounts, social media or banking apps
- Steal personal data for identity theft
- Bypass multi-factor authentication on linked accounts
- Launch phishing, smishing or vishing scams with your contacts as victims
- Blackmail the owner with sensitive photos or other information
- Track the location of the owner
- Use the recovered data to carry out financial fraud.
It now becomes clear that losing your phone constitutes a much more serious potential damage than having to spend money to buy another one.
How to find your lost or stolen phone
As soon as you notice that your phone has disappeared, we recommend taking the following actions immediately:
- call the device: someone could answer.
- use a tracking app: Apps like Apple’s Find My can help you locate your phone or make it ring
- lock your phone: Prevent access to the phone and only show a message containing the owner’s contact details.
At best, a good Samaritan will answer the phone and agree to return it to its owner.
If your phone is in a familiar location, you may be able to recover it easily. However, if the location of your smartphone changes frequently or no one answers your calls, it may have been stolen. In that case, we recommend involve the authorities.
I lost my phone. What should I do?
Considering how essential phones are to our daily lives, no longer having your smartphone with you can be unnerving. If the device search is unsuccessful, you should immediately take some measures to protect all sensitive data on the device and prevent further consequences.
1) Lock your phone
The most important thing to do is to immediately lock and erase everything on your phone. This is easy to do remotely via your phone’s finder app, so even if a hacker tries to bypass your passcode or biometric authentication, they wouldn’t be able to access your device or the information stored on it.
3) Change all stored passwords
Even after resetting your phone, another thing to do when your phone is stolen is to reset all passwords stored on the device. From passwords for social media accounts, to those for emails and banking apps. It’s also worth changing passwords for any accounts stored on your phone’s browsers, such as streaming services like Netflix and e-commerce sites like Amazon. This way, even if a hacker manages to access the stolen phone, they are less likely to be able to hack into these accounts. If you use a password manager, be sure to change your master password as well.
3) Call your service provider
After the initial shock of losing a phone, it is fair to wonder whether it is appropriate to notify someone specifically. One party that should be immediately notified is the telephone service provider. They can quickly disable your phone’s SIM card, cutting off access to mobile network and data services, thus preventing bad actors from misusing your account or receiving PINs via SMS to bypass two-factor authentication.
4) Call the bank
Most smartphone owners regularly use banking apps to easily manage their money. Therefore, it can be easy for bad actors to access these apps and accounts on a lost or stolen phone. Owners of a lost phone should notify their bank to prevent this from happening. Banks can help monitor the accounts in question for any suspicious activity and offer advice on any further action to take.
5) Block stored cards
Most people use digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay, without really considering what would happen if they lost their phone. The fact is that anyone who physically has the device can use the cards saved in their wallet. So when thinking about what you should do if your phone is stolen, remember to alert your bank or credit card provider about any cards stored on your phone. You may need to block these cards or, if they have already been used, dispute fraudulent charges. Even after blocking these cards, it is important to monitor your accounts regularly for unexpected charges.
6) Notify your contacts
It’s helpful to alert friends and family that you’ve lost your phone, if only to warn them that you may be unreachable until you get another one. However, it is important to inform all contacts on your phone, so as to alert them to possible attacks by scammers.
7) Contact the insurance company
Replacing a stolen phone can be expensive, especially with a high-end smartphone. Some phones are covered by manufacturer’s warranty, for example Apple offers AppleCare+ while Samsung has Samsung Care+. In other cases the owner of the smartphone may have taken out an insurance policy during the purchase phase. If there is a possibility that your lost phone may be covered by insurance, it is worth contacting the insurance company concerned to see if they can pay for the replacement of the phone, or at least part of the cost.
8) Report to the police
While the police may not be able to do much to recover your phone, filing a report can mean you can be contacted if your phone is ever recovered. Insurance companies may require the police report to process the claim, as may the bank when reimbursing fraudulent charges.
Conclusions
Bottom line, lost or stolen phone goes beyond mere inconvenience: It poses a significant threat to personal safety and privacy.
The potential consequences, ranging from loss of money to identity theft, highlight the importance of quick and decisive action. While your immediate instinct may be to find your lost phone at all costs, it’s equally vital to prepare for the worst-case scenario. By leveraging phone locator apps, implementing security measures, and taking proactive measures like remote locking, you can mitigate the risks associated with a lost phone. In addition to these measures, notifying service providers, banks and contacts is essential to prevent further damage.
As technology continues to play a fundamental role in our lives, being responsible and following security best practices becomes essential to protecting your personal information.
