{"id":2462,"date":"2020-04-16T21:40:50","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T17:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/?p=2462"},"modified":"2025-04-17T14:26:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:26:33","slug":"what-to-do-you-if-your-phone-is-lost-or-stolen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/what-to-do-you-if-your-phone-is-lost-or-stolen\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do if your phone is lost or stolen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Amer Owaida, Security Writer at ESET.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a Prey\nstudy<\/a> of 2018 reports from its customers of lost mobile devices, 69%\nare misplaced and 31% are stolen in various ways. Since smartphones have become\na centerpiece of our digital identities, where we check our emails, stay\nconnected on our social media, use them as our diaries, and pay with them, it\nis especially unnerving if we lose them. Essentially, these devices hold a virtual\ntruckload of sensitive personal information that can exploited should it fall into\nthe wrong hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Securing your device starts well\nbefore it goes missing, so what steps should you take before and after your\nphone goes missing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back up your phone, store the data somewhere safe <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This step should be a no-brainer\nbut if you haven\u2019t gotten around to it yet, then you should do it as soon as\npossible, like: now<\/em>. There are multiple ways to go about it, and we looked\nat backup\noptions for smartphones<\/a> in greater detail last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a nutshell, you can save a\nlocal backup file that includes all the bare necessities, such as contacts,\nmessages, and photos on your computer. Doing that once a month will probably\nsave from a headache, in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, you can enable the\nauto-backup feature on your phone that will regularly back up your data onto\nthe cloud, or you can back up your files to the cloud manually. To be safe: the\nbest way is to do both and make multiple copies; in case your computer fails\nyou or your files get wiped. The cloud option is also convenient since if your\nphone is stolen, you can easily set up a new phone using your stored data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lock it up like Fort Knox <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, smartphones<\/a> offer myriad ways to lock them down tight. The best option is to go with a combination of a strong passcode and a biometric lock, such as a fingerprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biometrics add an extra layer of\nsecurity, which is always helpful. As for the passcode itself, don\u2019t just go\nwith the default option: make it more complex. Some systems allow you to\nincrease the length of the passcode, while some give you the option to choose\nan alphanumeric code. The more complicated the password, the harder it is for a\nthief to break it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find my phone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Depending on your phone brand or\nsystem you\u2019re running, it almost certainly has a “find my phone”\noption installed on it. iPhones have the oddly named Find My app, Samsungs have\nFind My Mobile and Androids in general have Find My Device. All of them have to\nbe enabled to work, of course, so if you haven\u2019t done it yet, you know the\ndrill. Regardless of the brand you\u2019re using, we can\u2019t stress this enough: you\nshould have this option turned on. It not only helps you find your device, but\nthe app usually has multiple security features included as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can log into the associated\nservice through a browser and use the features from the menu. If you just\nmisplaced the phone, you can choose the ring option. This will make the phone\nemit a sound, so you can hear it if you\u2019re in the vicinity. If you haven\u2019t\nproperly secured your device, you can do that as well as display a message on\nthe lock screen to a good Samaritan willing to return the phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, you have the nuclear\noption of erasing your phone remotely. If you do that, you might not be able to\ntrack your phone any longer, so only use this option as a final resort. You\nwill lose your phone, but at least your data will remain private and nobody\nwith malicious intent can exploit it. Reputable security software, too, often includes\nlock, locate and remote-wipe functionalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re certain that you\u2019ll\nnever see your device again, you should contact your carrier and report that\nyour phone has been lost or stolen, they will deactivate your SIM card, so it\nwon\u2019t be misused. If your phone is insured, you can also file an insurance\nclaim and hopefully that will cover at least some of your losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be prepared<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Planning ahead can save you from\na lot of headaches in the event you do misplace your device. To sum it up \u2013\nsecure your phone, back up all the data, and set up the \u2018find my phone\u2019 feature.\nShould your device be stolen or lost, you can at least be certain that you\u2019ve\ndone everything possible to secure it and facilitate its return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can save a local backup file that includes all the bare necessities, such as contacts, messages, and photos on your computer. Doing that once a month will probably save from a headache, in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9621,9641],"tags":[453,1197,573,1198,814,637,1196],"contributor":[],"class_list":["post-2462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emerging-technologies","category-lifestyle-tech","tag-android","tag-backup","tag-eset","tag-fort_knox","tag-security_","tag-smart_phones","tag-social_media"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/phone_-lost-or-stolen-e1587058799492.png","author_info":{"display_name":"News Desk","author_link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/author\/rabab\/"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2462"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}