What to do if your phone is lost, how to minimize the consequences, can you locate a phone if it is turned off, what services are available to locate lost Android and iPhone, how to lock and delete data.

With your smartphone you can manage your money, pay bills and purchases in stores, store files, etc. Because of so many features, losing your phone becomes a serious problem. Certain services allow you to protect yourself and avoid negative consequences.

Android

The exact location (up to a few meters) of the Android smartphone can easily be determined if it has access to the Internet (Wi-Fi or mobile data) and geo-positioning is activated. If one of the two conditions is not met, the special services will not help to find a lost smartphone.

The most popular and frequently used service for losing a gadget is Find My Phone. It allows you to find any Android phone or tablet only if the device is signed in to your Google account. In this case, through Find My Phone you can not only find the location of your smartphone on the map, but also, if necessary, to lock it or delete all the data. Also through such a service you can turn on a loud beep to determine the exact location of the phone.

IPhone

The main way to find a lost iPhone is to use a specialized application "Find iPhone". The analog app Find My iPhone is also quite accurate, but the phone must be connected to the Internet for it to work.

To find your iPhone through the application, you must log into your iCloud and select the "Find iPhone" option, using a computer or other mobile device. Then, the app will open a map showing the location of the lost gadget. You can also use this map to track all its movements.

Via IMEI

IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is an international serial number that is not assigned to a specific smartphone, but to each radio module. If the phone supports the installation of two SIM cards, then it has two IMEI numbers.

The name of the serial number may vary depending on the cell phone model. A unique electronic number may be referred to as an IMEI, MEID (International Mobile Equipment Identity) or ESN (Electronic Serial Number).

The mobile operator can calculate the location of the phone by providing the SIM card number or the phone's IMEI. But the company can do this only at the request of law enforcement agencies.

What to do when you've lost your phone

Data locking

The first thing to do is to try to log into your account remotely (for example, through another phone or tablet) and try to locate the device - maybe it's just fallen off the couch. If the phone is turned off, geolocation won't help in that case.

Next, you need to lock all the data on the phone or delete it altogether. You can do this through the service Find My Phone. This is an extreme measure when you lose your phone. It is especially relevant in cases where the information stored on the smartphone, in any case should not fall into the wrong hands. This can be personal or corporate secrets, passwords to important services, access to accounts, and more.

But it will be possible to lock or delete all the data when the phone is connected to the Internet. If the device is not online, it will execute the command as soon as it gets access to the World Wide Web.

Blocking the SIM card

Having got hold of someone else's phone, and with it full access to the phone number, an intruder can pretend to be the owner of the smartphone and easily perform and confirm any operation, send SMS messages, change passwords, etc. Therefore, if you lose your phone, you need to contact the support service of the mobile operator as quickly as possible and explain your problem. Often an employee of the organization asks for certain information, which confirms that the subscriber is the owner of the SIM card. After successful verification, the phone number will be blocked.

Unblock bank cards

A smartphone stores personal information about a person. Often it has access to bank accounts through specialized applications or linking a bank card to a phone number. To transfer money to another card, you only need to send an SMS with a confirmation code. Therefore, when the phone is lost, the owner, in fact, gives the attacker access to their bank accounts.

In such cases, it is necessary to immediately unlink the bank cards from your account. This is relevant when the phone was stolen and it was impossible to block it via Find My Phone service.

Attackers can use the electronic wallet of the former owner, as in some cases bypassing the phone protection (password, pattern key) is not difficult for them.

Source: https://mrspyer.com/