Our iPhones are a well-known extension of ourselves and losing our dear device can really be traumatic with all the personal information we store on it.
Here’s what you need to do if your iPhone is stolen.
- Report the incident at the nearest police station. If your iPhone is found, there is a possibility that someone would return it to the nearest police station. The police might request your serial number. You can find your serial number on the original box or receipt.
- Erase your data to prevent anyone else from accessing your personal information. You can do this using Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone’ tool but you can only do this if ‘Find My iPhone’ is turned on.
- If ‘Find My iPhone’ is not enabled on your missing device you can change your Apple ID password to prevent anyone else from accessing your iCloud data or using other services such as iTunes or iMessage.
- If you use Family Sharing, you can get any family member to help locate your missing device. Just have your family member sign in to iCloud with their Apple ID, and you can find any device associated with your Family Sharing account.
- Contact your network provider to let them know what has happened to avoid potential data, text and call fees.
- Call your insurance company to inform them of your stolen or lost iPhone.
- Protect your reputation by informing your boss, colleagues, family and friends of your missing iPhone.
If you would like to be protected in the event that your iPhone is stolen, here are tips to take heed of while you have your iPhone:
- Ensure that you sign up for insurance for your iPhone. This will not only be handy in the event of your device being stolen or lost, but it also helps when your iPhone requires repairs.
- You will need an iCloud account (it’s free) and to have enabled ‘Find My iPhone’ on your iPhone to use the ‘Find My iPhone’ tool. Here’s what you can do if ‘Find My iPhone’ is enabled on your missing iPhone.
- Set your iPhone so that if someone tries your password 10 times and fails to unlock it, the phone will automatically delete all the data.
Sources
karryon.com; support.apple.com
