Categories
Blog Archives
How to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone
Posted by Joe on July 29th, 2008
Apple's iPhone, like any smart phone with the capability to store significant amounts of personal information, can put you at risk for identity theft if it is lost or stolen. Fortunately, there are many precautions you can take to ease the pain of a lost iPhone. If your iPhone has already been lost or stolen and you have not taken these proactive measures, your options are more limited, but there are still steps you should take to mitigate the risks and costs of iPhone loss.
What to do BEFORE your iPhone is lost or stolen
Guard against identity theft with an identity theft protection service. To an identity thief, a lost or stolen iPhone is a potential goldmine of information. Losing your iPhone could expose your online bank account, online brokerage account, name, address, telephone number, and email address, passwords, e-mails and other personal data to a criminal. If your iPhone does go missing, an identity theft protection service will help prevent and detect identity theft.
Password protect your iPhone. Setting a a password on your iPhone is very simple and adds an immediate layer of security should it be stolen.
From the home screen of your iPhone:
- Click on the Settings button
- Click on General
- Click on Passcode Lock
- You will be prompted to enter and confirm a four digit passcode for your iPhone
Your iPhone passcode is now set and you will be prompted to enter the four digit number any time you attempt to access your phone. This simple step can greatly decrease the chance that a criminal is able to access your personal information on your iPhone if it is lost or stolen. While having a passcode will potentially prevent unauthorized access to information stored on your iPhone, it is still possible to make outbound calls. So, it is important to alert your wireless carrier immediately after you discover that your iPhone is lost or stolen so you are not potentially liable for calls made by someone else.
Download GadgetTrak from the iTunes App store. GadgetTrak is a free iPhone application that can geo-locate your phone from any web browser. GadgetTrak is available for all versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch. This application is probably more useful for cases where your iPhone is lost rather than stolen because a knowledgeable thief could simply disable the application. Despite this downside, we strongly suggest that iPhone owners download GadgetTrak since it is a free application and could be very helpful if your iPhone is lost or stolen. You can visit the GadgetTrak website for more information.
Write down your iPhone's IMEI Number. Your iPhone's IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, is a fifteen digit number that can be used by wireless carriers to identify your specific device. It is located on the back of your iPhone near the FCC ID and serial number (you may also want to write down your iPhone's serial number for your records, although this information is not really that useful in helping with recovery). Keep the IMEI number in a safe place so you can easily find it if your iPhone is ever lost or stolen.
Keep your iPhone backed up by frequently synching with iTunes. It is a good idea to always make sure that all of the information on your iPhone is also backed-up on your computer by frequently syncing through iTunes. This will make the process of recovering the data from your lost or stolen iPhone relatively painless. For even more protection you may want to consider using an online backup service to store copies of all of the files on you computer. This way you still be able to restore your files if both your iPhone and computer go missing at the same time.
Treat your iPhone like its cash equivalent. You wouldn't leave two crisp hundred dollar bills lying around so don't be as careless with your $199 iPhone. Treat your phone with the same level of security and care you use when safeguarding your wallet, purse or other important items.
What to do AFTER your iPhone is lost or stolen
Guard against identity theft with an identity theft protection service. If you didn't sign up for a service before your phone went missing, we recommend you do this as soon as possible since identity thieves will usually start working as soon as they get your information. Losing your iPhone could expose your online bank account, online brokerage account, name, address, telephone number, and email address, passwords, e-mails and other personal data to a criminal. If an identity theft does try to use information from your iPhone, an identity theft protection service will be your best defense as well as provide you the services you need to recover from identity theft should the worst happen.
Notify your cellphone carrier. You should contact AT&T, the exclusive cell phone carrier for the iPhone, as soon as you realize that your phone has gone missing. AT&T will be able to deactivate the wireless account associated with your iPhone which will prevent criminals from running up big cell phone bills in your name that you could potentially be held liable for.
File a police report. While some police will not be particularly interested or concerned about helping you recover your iPhone, others are surprisingly helpful. We have read online accounts from a police detective that claims to have recovered four out of five stolen iPhones in cases brought to his attention. This is when it is useful to have the IMEI number available.
Notify your contacts. All of the personal information stored on your lost or stolen iPhone is now potentially accessible by anyone, especially if it is not password protected. It is important for all of the contacts stored in your phone to know that their personal contact information is potentially in the hands strangers. It is not uncommon for criminals to perpetrate crimes against those listed in the phone's contact list by posing as the rightful owner.
Notify your employer. If your iPhone is linked to your company's network or has confidential business information stored within, you need to notify your employer immediately. It is a good idea to let your supervisor or other company official know as soon as you realize your phone is missing. Make sure to change the password on your work email address immediately if it is linked to your iPhone. This will prevent the phone from being able to download additional email messages.
Change all your online passwords. Your iPhone has a powerful web browser with the ability to store any of your online passwords for easy access to web based accounts. Whoever has your lost or stolen iPhone in their possession can now potentially gain access to your online bank and brokerage accounts, email, PayPal, eBay, Amazon and any social networking websites you belong to. Change those passwords now to prevent your online accounts from being compromised.
You may also be interested in our lost or stolen laptop recovery guide.
26 Responses to “How to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone”
Leave a Reply
About Us Blog Contact UsTerms & Privacy PolicyAffiliate ProgramSite map
Copyright© 2006 - NextAdvisor.com - All rights reserved.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:07 am
What an excellent, detailed, blog. You have covered all possible problems that might occur. Your are correct. Taking a proactive approach instead of reactive will take the stress out of owning an iPhone.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
[...] How to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
[...] How to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Hey Joe,
Great post! I wanted to share with you and your readers a company that saved my life and got me my lost iPhone back. http://www.RewardingReturn.com
Believe it or not, I've lost my phone twice. And both times they returned my phone to me for free.
Its seriously awesome and is cheaper than #&%! compared to buying a new iPhone.
You won't regret checking it out
http://www.rewardingreturn.com/
January 30th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Anybody have experience with the facebook app on a lost/stolen iPhone or iPod touch? It looks like the app continues to have access to my facebook profile even after changing the profile password.
January 31st, 2009 at 6:33 am
I just lost my iphone. And i changed all my passwords. Will they still be able to access my facebook?
February 10th, 2009 at 12:39 am
I also lost my iphone and had the facebook app installed. What I did is that I went in to iTunes and searched for the facebook app, and then pushed the "facebook support" link (inside the app info), which should lead you to your facebook site to the "facebook for iphone" app. There you can "Block the Application". Once you block it, the app logs you out from your phone. You can also unblock it, but either way you have to enter your password to log in from the phone. This should do the trick from anyone logging in to your facebook profile other than yourself. Hope this helps!
February 16th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
All apps on the iPhone need to be clicked on before they work: Apple/iPhone does not allow background processes. So for GadgetTrak to work, the passcode should not be set on the iPhone, otherwise the person who found/stole the iPhone cannot click the app and you won't know where it is.
So people have to choose: protect their data and diminish the chances of finding it back, or open up the iPhone and making sure that the person who found/stole it does something stupid (like entering their contract and syncing with MobileMe), so you can call their contacts.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Good posting.Do u want to see online reviews ? u can visit my blog friend
.ow yeah your blog has alread bookmarked by me
March 29th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
could anyone please explain clearly and in a detailed manner how to change the settings in facebook in order to block the person who stole/found my iphone from accesing my facebook.
Thanks
April 13th, 2009 at 11:10 am
You neglected to mention that if your phone is setup to sync with Microsoft Exchange Email server, your administrator can send a "Wipe" command to the phone to wipe all personal data – the next time it syncs, it will wipe the phone.
Wipe initiated 1/11/2009 10:03:45 PM
Sent to device 1/11/2009 10:16:04 PM
Device acknowledged 1/11/2009 10:16:04 PM
Wipe operation completed successfully!
May 29th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
my boyfriend bought me an iphone 3g and put me on his plan. he got mad at me and turned off my service. he also reported the phone stolen. idiot. can i activate it in my own name with a new sim card, or will it not work with that imei? thanks.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I got a question… if you set a password for your iphone, the person who finds it can't unlock it and use it to browse the internet. How can you use GadgetTrak to locate your iphone?
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
[...] you do lose your iPhone, check out our guide on how to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone. Remember, this is as much about information theft as it is about the loss of your device. You can [...]
September 26th, 2009 at 5:11 am
I made this comment longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short.
September 26th, 2009 at 5:18 am
the video get more share from the visitor also the web marketers try to make the video for share not for individual use.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I had my iPhone stolen when out to dinner the other week.
I reported my stolen iPhone here:
http://www.stolen-property.com/report-stolen-iPhone.php
It makes me feel better knowing there's a permanent record of the serial number on a global data base of stolen property.
Hopefully this helps anyone else having to deal with iPhone theft.
December 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Great posts. However I am in a pickle. My son by mistake set up a password on my iPhone and forgot the password. Now I have an unusable phone. Any suggestion on how I can restore it so I can actually use my phone again
January 2nd, 2010 at 10:32 am
Yea "Lost Phone Recovery" in the app store is the way to go. bout a month ago they shipped my lost iphone back to me for free. sooo sick
January 4th, 2010 at 7:53 am
I am starting my own blog too, your is really nice!
January 13th, 2010 at 2:50 am
The iphone is still on my shopping list. I wish the price would go down a bit so I could afford one.
February 11th, 2010 at 6:12 am
frequentlyhello everyone
i have bought an iphone few month ago and i kept using it after few month it stopped working as soon as i tried to update the new itunes update . now it keep asking me to jailbrake it so i tried to blackrain it but it does not work exactly when the logo of black rain shows up mine stop working and screen turns black and the black rain logo never comes up………..
i afraid that maybe the iphone i bought was stolen and i bought it so thats why its happend apple might have block the serial number..
i dont know .. i need help to solve this matter
pls contact me at rickofelori@hotmail.com
February 27th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
My ipod touch 1G is our most valuable iPod, Personal digital assistant and even more, and even has has been ever since I purchased it. It continues to run the latest iPod system software program, and also any application I might want it to operate. I'm working with it to leave this remark at this moment. I'd personally say it is a lot more compared to just an "excellent hobbyist system" — it is really an great iPod
February 28th, 2010 at 10:44 am
I aspiration getting on a wrecked center can be so relaxed as following a only some steps.. But its not?
March 7th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Hello. My iPhone 3Gs is really great, but the iPad looks just so great that I can't decide which one to get? What do you think I should get next?
March 17th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
I lost my phone recently when mountain biking, I use it with Motionx GPS and recovered it by using my mobile me account to locate the phone on Google maps. After my fast pace 1 hour, 14km cross country weekly ride I left my iPhone on the roof of my car. Getting home I realized what I had done and went into panic mode. Logged into my dot me account and clicked on find my phone. It showed a picture not of the car park but 6 kms down the road, so I took the laptop and my partners phone 27 kms back to the scene of the disaster at around 9:30pm. On the google satellite map it showed someone's drive way, but the target on the map is at least 10 meters in diameter. I rang my iphone with the other mobile and within 3 minutes saw a glow on the side of the road. The leather case also protected it very well with only some very minor scratches on the corners. GO GO Gadget phone.