I don’t know what reason you have for reading this article, but for me, one of the most awful experienced that I had to go through is getting my phone stolen. Now, I didn’t really care about the device itself (even though it was expensive), instead, I cared for all the pictures, videos, contact, banking info, and data stored on the device.
So, what did I do? Did I manage to get it back? To answer these questions right away, yes, I did manage to get my phone back and I’ll be mentioning what I did in the article above. Here are 7 things that you should try if you ever get your Android receiver stolen or lost:
1. Before Anything Else – Call it!
Source:techcrunch.com
Before you read the rest of the tips in this list, the very first thing that you must do is to call your phone. Why should you do this? Well, you shouldn’t assume that it got stolen right away, instead, it might simply be somewhere in your home or someone might have found it on the streets and has been waiting for you to call your number so that they could give it back to you. After all, they probably won’t be capable of unlocking it, thus, answering a call might be the only way that you can meet up with them.
2. Retrace Your Movements + Make it Play a Sound
Whether you’ve been to a supermarket before realizing that it is misplaced or if you simply did some gardening around your home, you must retrace all your steps. While going back to the places you’ve been to throughout the day, you need to make it play sounds. Why? Well, you might not have a way to call it, thus, by doing this, you could guarantee that you hear it and locate it if you’ve misplaced it.
Since we’re talking about Android OS’s in this list, you should use your computer, laptop, or tablet for accessing the “android.com/find” platform. Once you open it, you’ll need to connect with your account, and from there, you should opt for the receiver you’re looking for. You’ll then see the “Play sound” option and by pressing on it, you could locate it. Apple smartphones have the same feature too.
3. Don’t Forget to Lock it
If you went through the 2 steps from above with any success, your next step is to lock it. Why should you do this? Well, it’s quite simple, by doing so, you could make sure that no one can open the sensitive data on the receiver – which can cause additional and bigger problems, especially if you’ve installed banking applications on it. Again, you’ll need to access the aforementioned platform for successfully locking it.
The steps are the same, however, instead of clicking on the “Play Sound” option, you should click on “Secure Device”. This will immediately lock it if it’s still turned on, and besides this, you could also decide to completely disable it or wipe all the info located on it from a remote location. Once you do this, your next step is to follow where it is, which leads us to the next point of this article…
4. Use an App to Locate it
Another option that you could try for getting it back is to use a wide range of tracking applications such as find-my-phone.org. Hence, if you think someone has taken your receiver from you, you need to use an app that’ll reveal its location in real-time, however, it’s quite important that you don’t go to the device’s location by yourself, instead, you might want to go there with a police officer that’ll protect you.
5. Inform The Law Enforcement
If you’ve successfully tracked your device, the next step is to inform law enforcement. By doing so, you’ll be capable of protecting yourself, but more importantly, the individual that has stolen your phone might face prosecution – however, this will only be applicable if you want to take action against the person. Thus, if you located it, never head there alone, instead, ask for a little help from the police.
6. Call Your Carrier Provider
You should inform your carrier about your missing phone, mostly because you’ll want them to turn off the services on it. By doing this, you’ll ensure that the person that found the device or that has stolen it cannot use it for their own needs. Though most people have unlimited packages and plans, you probably won’t want someone to call anyone in your contact list if they manage to unlock the device, even if you have a password.
7. Delete Everything From it
Source:youtube
Unfortunately, if you think that you won’t manage to get it back, the only thing that you can actually do is to wipe all the data from it. After all, you don’t wish for anyone to snoop around your info and potentially use it against you, thus, wiping it might be the only thing that you could do to make sure that you’re safe. Yes, it’ll be hard to say goodbye to all the pictures, content, and videos on the phone, but it’s better to be safe than sorry later on.
Although you could do this by accessing a pre-installed app on the receiver, you could also use the “android.com/find” feature. The steps are the same, you log in to your account, choose the receiver you wish to wipe, and then simply click on “Erase”. Now, if you somehow manage to get it back after you’ve wiped it, it won’t have any data on it, which is exactly why it might be wise for you to backup everything.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s quite possible that you find your smartphone device, no matter if it has been stolen or if you simply lost it somewhere. By following all the steps I’ve mentioned above, you’ll certainly make the entire process easier, less daunting, and more importantly, less time-consuming – which is quite important because of the battery life of the phone.
Since you now know what you have to do to get your device into your hands, don’t lose time. Instead, you should go back to the beginning of my list and start with the first tip I’ve mentioned – which is calling your phone and ensuring that you simply didn’t leave it somewhere in your house.
