FollowAn interesting fact that 3 out of 5 people would not have been prepared for their phone to get stolen. Even though most of us might have taken careful handling and precaution of our phone, this misfortune can happen. Based on statistics, more than 70 million mobile phone theft is reported with only 7% recovery of their phone.
With extra precaution that you can take earlier on, you might be able to be among that 7% who can recover your phone in the case of your phone got stolen. Here is some extra precaution you can take earlier on when you still have your phone with you.
1. NOTE DOWN ALL THE PHONE’S DETAILS IN ANOTHER PLACE BESIDES YOUR PHONE
If you do lose your phone and you want to file a police report, the first thing that the authorities would want is the phone’s IMEI number. This is because the IMEI number is unique to your phone only. So, this information is helpful if they can track your phone to somebody. The thief might have wipe off all the data on your phone, but the IMEI number would remain the same.
It is similar to the chassis number for a car. You can repaint the whole car and disguise it as a different car, but the chassis number will still be there in the engine and car body. The same with the IMEI number. The thief might have changed all the settings in your stolen iPhone, but the IMEI number is unique to that particular phone.
Another number that might be handy when you report is your phone’s ICCID number. The ICCID number is the number that represents your SIM card. So, it might be useful also if your phone still has your sim card in it.
If you use iPhone, here are the steps on how you can obtain the IMEI and ICCID numbers
Step 1
In your iPhone, go to Settings
Step 2
In the Settings, go to General Settings
Step 3
In the General Settings, tap “About”
Step 4
In the “About” section, scroll down and screenshot the IMEI and ICCID numbers.
You can then print out the screenshot and save it someplace safe. You can also email the screenshot to your email account for safe keeping as well.
2. ENABLE LOCATION SERVICES IN YOUR PHONE
Nowadays, most people own a smartphone. With a smartphone, you have a mini computer on your hand. Among the standard function that a smartphone has is the Global Positioning System or GPS. What is a GPS? GPS is used as a way for your phone to communicate with satellites and therefore pinpoint your exact phone location.
This feature serves many uses in today’s application. This also involves tracking your phone location if you lost it. However, it is essential that you enable the function or else you would not be able to track your phone if you got it stolen or lost.
Here is how you can enable the location services in your iPhone
Step 1
In your iPhone, go to Settings
Step 2
In the Settings, go to “Privacy”
Step 3
In “Privacy”, go to “Location Services.”
Step 4
In “Location Services”, enable it by tapping the button at the right side
3. ENABLE TRACKING APP
For iPhone
If you have an iPhone, there is the app called “Find iPhone”. Even though it is installed in your iPhone by default, it will not work unless you enable your iPhone location services. Make sure to test it out to see whether it can track your phone or not.
Here is a quick way to check.
Step 1
In your iPhone, go to Settings
Step 2
In the Settings, go to “Privacy”
Step 3
In the Settings, go to “Location Services”
Step 4
In the “Location Services”, go to “System Services”
Step 5
In the “System Services”, go to “Find My iPhone”.
If the button is already green, it means it is already enabled.
For Androids
If you have an Android-based phone, make sure that you have your phone already registered at the Android Device Manager. This way, you can always track your phone even if got lost.
You can quickly go to the Android Device Manager website here to see whether your devices are active or not.
4. USE “FIND FRIENDS” AND PAIR WITH SOMEONE YOU TRUST
In the iPhone, there is an app called “Find Friends”. This app enables you to know the location of your friends who also used this app. You can share your location as well as they can share their location. So, in case your phone got stolen or lost, you can call up your friends whom you had your location and asked him or her to track your phone’s location. It will show a live location update instantly.
Here is how you can enable your friends to see your location using this app.
Step 1
In your iPhone, ta at “Find Friends”. It is installed in your iPhone by default.
Step 2
In the app, tap at “Me” below
Step 3
In the “Me” section, go to “Share My Location” and enable it.
Once this function is enabled, friends that you added in the app can see your location.
So, if you do get your phone lost someday, you can ask the help of your friends that you have shared location with using this app.
5. BACKUP EVERYTHING
From a survey, the most precious thing that people would value in their phone is the pictures. Just imagine all the memories whether it is by video or images that you have captured in your cellphone gone forever. The contact details in the phone can be retrieved back, but all the captured memories will be gone forever with the stolen phone. So, it is better that you backup everything.
There are software that you can use to back up your photos and files automatically. You can use Dropbox and also Google Drive. This software will automatically backup your pictures and data in the cloud storage. Therefore, if you do lose your phone, you can automatically retrieve back all your photo memories in the cloud.
However, Dropbox and Google Drive have its space limitation if you are using for free. If you want more space, there is a certain fee you need to pay on a monthly basis. Google Drive offers 15GB for free. Therefore, it can be a good option for you as long as you are not using much data in all of your Google account including in your Gmail.
So, there you have it. The top 5 things that you need to prepare just in case you lost your phone. If you have done this preparation, the chances of you getting back your lost phone would be high.
However, if you feel that your phone got stolen and you manage to track it to someone, it is best that you report to the police and let the police make the recovery of your phone. Never do it by yourself as it might put you in a dangerous situation.
Please leave us a comment below on how you feel this tips might help you. Please also read our previous article on the ultimate guide on how to track a phone.