Having your telephone stolen is a frustrating and hard experience. Whether you’re at home or traveling overseas somewhere, it’s important that you try as soon as possible to recover the stolen phone. Current mobile phones and smartphones can be recovered through the use of a tracking app, or by a pre-installed tracking plan. These apps and programs have varying levels of practicality, and some require your telephone to end up being on and connected to the internet. You can also find a missing telephone manually, by phoning or texting the number and retracing your methods.
Method 1:Reclaiming Your Missing Phone
1 Call your phone.
If you’ve lost a traditional phone that does not have internet connectivity, you won’t be able to track the phone online and will have to use other methods. Begin by calling the phone. If you’re lucky, the person who stole your telephone may answer. Alternately, if your telephone has basically been misplaced, someone might answer who can meet you at a location to exchange the phone.
2 Text the phone.
Even if no-one answered when you called your phone, it’s still worthy of texting it. The thief may eventually switch their mind, and decide to return the phone to you, its owner. Send a brief text that provides your contact details and asks for the phone to be returned. If you believe it would help, you could also promise a reward to the individual if they return your phone.
To do this, you’ll need access to another cell phone. Request a friend to borrow theirs. If you’re not near a friend, a sort stranger may permit you to borrow their cell phone to text yours.
3 Take safety measures if you meet to swap the phone.
If someone-whether or not it’s the thief who initially took your phone-agrees to meet with you to give your telephone back to you, take safety precautions. Arrange to meet with the individual in a public place-such as a populous city square or transit station-during daylight hours. If possible, don’t go only; bring a detailed friend with you for the sake of companionship and safety. Ask your friend to bring their phone, in order to call the police if anything illicit occurs.
Even if the individual returning your telephone sounds friendly over the phone (or over text), you should still intend to take precautionary measures.
Method 2: Notifying Authorities and Your Service Provider
1 Contact the authorities.
If the police is informed by you that your phone has gone missing, they may be able to provide small assistance locating it. Call 911, or the non-emergency police number, to contact your local police office. Local law enforcement will likely inquire you for the serial number for your phone. The Android ID amount functions as a serial amount; you will find your Android ID by removing the battery from the back of your telephone and looking beneath. The Android ID will be a series of amounts preceded by the identifier “IMEI” (International Mobile Products Identity).
Read How to Track IMEI Number and Trace IMEI.
2 Alert your service provider.
If you’ve called your telephone and looked for it without results, you should call your telephone service provider and inform them that your telephone has been stolen. The ongoing service provider may be able to run a GPS search to locate your missing phone.
If a GPS search is not an option-or if the results are fruitless-ask your service provider to suspend services to your phone. This will prevent the thief from making phone calls and potentially accumulating an expensive phone bill.
3 Look for the phone in person.
Think back to where you might have been when your phone was stolen, and then retrace your steps in that area. The thief may have quickly changed their minds after taking your telephone and, if you’re lucky, may have dropped the telephone within a few hundred yards of where they stole it.
Walk through areas where you spent time before your phone was stolen, and continue calling your telephone while looking for it