So there you were at that party, snapping pictures of people you hardly knew, and you set your phone down on the table. The next morning—no phone!
The good news is, all is not lost! We'll show you some tips that will help you find your phone, recover your digital life, and find the person who stole your phone. Read on!
STEPS
- Call yourself. Yes, you're absolutely 100% certain it was stolen. But just in case, call your number. Your friend may have seen the phone laying around, and dropped it in her purse. Or, you may find the back pocket of your jeans buzzing and howling with your personal ring tone.
Call yourself.
Yes, you're absolutely 100% certain it was stolen. But just in case, call your number. Your friend may have seen the phone laying around, and dropped it in her purse. Or, you may find the back pocket of your jeans buzzing and howling with your personal ring tone.
Offer a reward.
Sure, you're not feeling generous to the person who stole your phone, but there's more to it than just a lost phone or hurt feelings. You've also lost your contact list, your memos, your texts, your account access, and yes—even those pictures you took at the party.Keep in mind that people who steal do it for either food, money, or a thrill. Since you know the thief is not going to eat your phone, it's a safe bet that it was pilfered either for a cheap thrill or a way to get a few bucks on eBay. Try this:
- Borrow a friend's phone, and send a text to your phone offering the thief a cash reward if they call you back and arrange a meeting to return your phone. Make it clear that if they return the phone, all is forgiven, and make the reward commensurate with the value of the phone.
- A basic "go phone" that you use to make a few calls now and then may not be worth the effort, whereas a spiffed up feature phone with all your info on it may be worth $50-$100 to you. It's your call!
Find out whether anyone else on your phone plan uses a family tracking app.
It may be that your parents or a nosy spouse uses a program to track the whereabouts of your phone. If so, pass the location on to the police, who should be able to retrieve the phone for you. AT&T and Sprint also have "family locator" plans that somebody may have signed up for.
METHOD 1
Windows Phone
- Microsoft implemented a software on the official site of the phone, which allows you to track down your phone, to ring, to lock your phone, or to erase all your data from the phone, to protect you and your data.
Click Ring to make your phone will ring until you press the lock screen button.
Click Lock to lock your phone.
A custom message will be shown, and the phone cannot be unlocked until you enter your custom password.
Click Erase to delete all your data.
You will not be able to use tracking or anything else!
METHOD 2
iPhone
Log into your iCloud account.
Do this as soon as you discover your phone is missing (and after you've done the pants check described above).
- Click on Find My iPhone. The service will list all your Apple devices. If you have enabled Find My iPhone on your phone—you did, right?—and your phone is powered on, it will show you the location of your phone.
- Click on the Info icon in the locator bar, and you'll be given the option to play a sound or send a message, lock your phone down, or wipe out all data on it.
Lock your phone!
If your phone is found, and you don't recognize the location, it's a pretty safe bet that the phone was not "rescued" by a friend. So lock your phone now, before the thief has a chance to log into your accounts and disable Find My iPhone (among other things).
- Pass the location information on to the police, who should be able to retrieve the phone for you. Don't be a hero and go rescue the phone yourself. Thieves are not always kind to people who are trying to recover their stolen property.
METHOD 3
Android
Download Plan B.
While there are dozens of apps designed specifically to track stolen smartphones, this one can be installed after your phone disappears!
- Go to the Android Market, log into your account, and install the app to your missing phone. If you are able to install the app and it runs, you will receive emails to your registered Gmail, containing the location information.
- Simply pass this information along to the police and they should retrieve your phone for you.
If all else fails:
Add your phone’s IMEI number to a free global database. If your phone is found, the IMEI number then can be used to contact you.
