Phone stolen: what to do right away, and what phone protection adds

The phone is gone: left on the train, taken off the table in a café, pulled from a jacket pocket. In the first shock people often act without a plan. Yet the order matters, and some steps only work if you prepared them beforehand. The notes below follow the recommendations of consumer advocates such as the European Consumer Centre. Phone numbers and authorities named here refer to Germany.

The steps when it has happened

1. Search and call. Check all pockets and call the number from another device. If the phone is switched on and online, you can look for it with your manufacturer's locator (on Android “Find My Device”).
2. Wipe remotely if necessary. If the phone does not turn up and holds sensitive data, wipe it with the manufacturer's function. Do this before blocking the SIM, because afterwards the phone often no longer gets onto the network and does not receive the wipe command.
3. Block the SIM card. With your mobile provider or via the central blocking hotline 116 116 (from abroad +49 116 116). For that you need the phone number or customer details.
4. Secure bank and payment services. Block banking and payment apps, watch your account and report misuse to the bank immediately.
5. Change passwords. First for email and for accounts where the phone serves as a second factor.
6. File a report. In case of theft you go to the police. The 15-digit IMEI number helps there; you find it on the packaging or have it displayed with the key combination *#06#.

What you can do beforehand

Set up a screen lock, activate location and remote wipe, note the IMEI and make regular backups. This is unspectacular, but it decides how bad the loss becomes.

Where VintageCam can help

Phone protection in VintageCam Ultimate comes in before that. When you switch it on on the phone, it reports its route to the server and can be armed. The phone can also arm itself if it lies still and unattended for a while (Auto-arm explained). If it is then lifted, you as the owner have a few seconds to unlock it before the siren sounds and your household gets a message.

If it is gone, you can arm it from another device and set off the siren as long as it has a connection. On the map you see the last reported position and its track. The track can be saved as a GPX file or opened in Google Maps, which can be useful for the police. Do not go after the phone yourself, though; that is a matter for the police.

Honest about the limits

A thief who switches the phone off straight away or puts it into airplane mode is out of reach of any software. In that case you get an “offline” message with the last known position. If the thief knows your PIN, he can also cancel auto-arm by unlocking. VintageCam therefore does not replace the steps above but adds an early alarm and a track to them. More in the article Phone alarm system: the honest limits.