A tech tip: Here’s what you need to do before and after your phone is stolen or lost

LONDON (AP) — Phones store so much of our digital lives — emails, social media and bank accounts, photos, chat messages and more — that a theft or loss can cause significant disruption beyond just losing one mobile phone device.

In some places, phone thefts have increased so much that they are now an everyday problem: thieves on electric bikes snatch them from pedestrians’ hands, steal them from restaurant tables or steal them on the subway.

In the UK, 200 phones are being stolen every day in “thefts”, the government has promised take tough action about the crime and meets with technology companies and device manufacturers to find solutions.

Here are steps you can take before and after your phone is lost:

Basic protective measures

There are some things you can do to make it less painful if your phone is stolen. Because some of these features are more technical in nature, they are often overlooked.

Block off as much as possible. At least a password or biometric scan is required to unlock the device. You can also add similar requirements for important individual apps – like your bank account, WhatsApp or Signal – to protect your finances or chats from thieves.

Also, enable the Find My Device feature, available for both iOS and Android. Samsung also offers its own service called SmartThings Find.

You will probably have a lot of valuable photos saved in your camera roll. It’s a good idea to back them up with contacts, calendar entries, and other files. Google and Apple offer cloud-based backup services, but the free versions have limited storage space. You can also back up your files to an external hard drive, memory card, or laptop.

Some police forces and phone companies recommend turning off message previews to prevent thieves trying to break into your accounts from seeing reset or login codes when the phone is locked. To do this on an iPhone, for example, go to the Notifications section of your Settings menu and tap Show Previews. You can also scroll down the app list to turn off previews for individual apps but leave them on for less risky apps like News or Weather.

Enable newer features

Recent iOS and Android updates include a number of new features designed to make theft less attractive.

IPhone users can tune in Protection against stolen devicesmaking it much more difficult for phone thieves to access important features and settings. Many thieves want to delete and reset the data so they can resell it. However, if this feature is enabled, they will need a facial or fingerprint scan to do so. Apple also recently announced its “ Activation lock ” feature designed to make it harder for thieves to sell parts of stolen phones.

Android phones can now use artificial intelligence to detect movements that indicate someone has snatched the device from your hand and is speeding away on foot or on a bike, and then immediately lock the screen. And there’s a feature called Private Spaces that lets you hide sensitive files on your phone.

Write down your device number

Write down your phone’s serial number, also known as the IMEI number. It can connect you to the phone when it eventually restores. Access it by typing (asterisk)#06# on your phone’s keypad. If you have already lost your phone, you can also find it in other places, such as in the box it came in.

If it is stolen

If you are unlucky enough to have your phone stolen, notify the police. Call your insurance company if you have a policy that covers the device. Inform your phone company so they can block your number and issue a replacement SIM card eSIM. Notify your bank so they can watch for suspicious transactions.

Track your device

Try it Find your phone with the “Find my device” function. For information about iPhones, see iCloud.com/find from a web browser while Android users should go to www.google.com/android/find. Samsung also has its own service for Galaxy phones.

These services show your phone’s current or last known location on a map, which is also handy if you’ve just lost track of it somewhere in the house. Apple says even if a phone Cannot connect When connected to the internet or turned off, it can use Bluetooth to ping any nearby Apple devices that use the same network behind its AirTags tracking devices. Google says Newer Pixel phones can be tracked for “several hours” after being turned off using similar technology.

You can set the phone to play a sound even when it is on silent. You can also put the phone in it lost modewhich locks it and shows a message and contact details on the screen to anyone who finds it. Lost Mode on iOS also blocks all Apple Pay cards and passes.

If the device appears in an unknown location on the map and you suspect it was stolen, experts say it’s better to notify the police than try to get it back yourself.

Cybersecurity firm Norton says, “Confronting a thief yourself is not recommended.”

Final steps

If you can’t find your phone, there are a few final steps you need to take.

Sign out of all accounts accessible through the phone, then remove it from your list of trusted devices that you use to obtain multifactor authentication codes. However, make sure you can get these codes elsewhere, such as via email.

Then, as a last resort, you can remotely wipe the phone so that there is no risk of data falling into the wrong hands. However, note: Apple says this when the iPhone is offlineRemote deletion will only occur the next time the device is online again. However, if you find the phone before it is erased, you can cancel the request.

Google warns that SD memory cards inserted into Android phones may not be able to be erased remotely. And after the phone is erased, it doesn’t show up in Find My Device.

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