In transport, in the office, in a cafe, in a crowd – the list of potential places to say goodbye to your wallet or mobile phone is endless. And if there may be nothing in the wallet, then the expensive device and the information stored in it are very, very sorry. Technological progress has played its cruel joke: the high cost and small size of modern gadgets have made them a tasty bait for all pickpockets. So, how to find the phone if it was stolen?
There may be several options, and the choice of one of them depends on whether you suspect someone or not:
Are you sure you know the thief
There are situations in which you can tell with almost 100% certainty who stole your phone. For example, if suddenly, after a loss, someone has a phone of exactly the same model, colors, and even all the native scratches in their places. Most likely, it will not be difficult for you to logically calculate how this phone got to the new owner, if at the time of the loss there was a mutual friend in the company with you. It’s harder to get it back.
You should not try to negotiate amicably or demand the return of the phone, this will only make it worse and you are guaranteed never to see this phone. Go to the police. The application must clearly describe the situation and indicate why you suspect this particular person. With a high degree of probability, the phone will be returned to you.
You don’t know who the thief is
If you need to call, you put your hand in your pocket with a habitual movement and … find nothing! The first thought is, of course, the phone is lost. You try to call your number from other devices and, having heard about the unavailable subscriber for the tenth time, you realize that the phone was simply stolen. You remember for sure that his battery was charged and the phone could not turn itself off like that. How to find the phone if it was stolen and turned off? Is it even possible?
And here the same technical progress comes to the rescue. There are also several search options:
With IMEI code
The IMEI code is a unique identifier for your phone, something like a passport number for a person. If you still have the packaging from the phone or the warranty card, then on the label you will find a 15-digit number – this is the IMEI. With the help of this code, it is quite possible to find the phone. You should file a police report because cellular operators only provide information related to IMEI to law enforcement agencies. With a serious search approach, cellular operators know how to find a phone if it is stolen by IMEI and can determine the position of your phone quite accurately. Of course, law enforcement officers will not be in a hurry to find your phone and it may take a long time before your mobile phone is returned to you, and there is a certain chance that you will never see it again. Moreover, with the development of Internet technologies, businessmen appeared,
With the help of special programs
Finding a stolen Android phone is possible if you take care of theft protection in advance. It is not difficult to do this – you need to install one of the special programs that are offered in sufficient quantities on specialized sites (for example, Cerberus or Anti-theft mobile). With their help, you can send commands to the stolen phone that block its hotel functions or the entire operation of the device, as well as find its location on Google Maps. Also, if a thief inserts a new SIM card into your phone, then a message will be sent to your spare number with the subscriber number of this card. And if at least one program is installed, then before going to the police, you must definitely collect as much useful information about your phone as possible.
But how to find an Android phone if it was stolen and you didn’t secure it in a timely manner? There is only one hope left – programs with post-installation (such, for example, are available on GooglePlay or in the Android Market). But you can perform a post installation only if you used these applications with your account from the stolen phone, that is, the application “remembers" the device itself. In this case, there is a small chance of finding the phone using Androidlost or Plan B. Of course, you need to act immediately, otherwise the phone will have time to reflash.
In any case, immediately after discovering the loss of your phone, do not be too lazy to change all the passwords that you used on the device, including passwords for your mailbox, social media accounts, and access to Internet banking. And be sure to block your sim card.