Did you just have your mobile phone stolen or lost? Find out below what the right reflexes to adopt are and the steps to take in such a situation.
Try to locate your smartphone
Don't know where your phone is? Do you think you lost it or someone stole it from you? Before you request the suspension of your mobile line, you can try to geolocate your mobile phone if possible. Indeed, the majority of recent smartphones have a geolocation system that allows you to see where your mobile is via an application or the website of the phone brand.
To locate a mobile phone under Android, go to the Android device manager. This allows you to locate your device, lock it, ring the bell or delete the data it contains. Be careful, you must first have enabled this feature in your Android smartphone settings (Settings > General > General > Google > Security and enable "Locate this device remotely" and "Allow locking and deletion".)
To use the "Locate my iPhone" function in case of loss or theft of your Apple device, connect to the icloud.com/find web page or use the app on another Apple brand device. You can locate your mobile phone, delete the data, ring the bell or display a personalized message on the lock screen of the lost device.
Suspend your mobile line and file a complaint
In addition to locating your smartphone, in the event of theft or loss, one of the first things to do is to suspend your mobile line to block your SIM card and prevent a malicious person from using your phone.
To suspend your line in case of loss or theft of your smartphone, contact your operator's customer service or go to your customer area.
In case of theft, you must then file a complaint with the police station or the gendarmerie. Please note that you will be asked for the IMEI number of your phone. And in order to block your mobile and prohibit its use by a third party, you must then send the report of your complaint to your mobile operator.
Good to know: to find the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number of your phone, go to your subscriber area or contact your customer service. For information, this identification number of your phone is on the back of the phone (or on its battery) but also on its packaging box.
Contact your mobile insurance company
If you have purchased mobile insurance for your smartphone, you must report your claim to it. Be careful, most often a mobile insurance can only work in case of theft and not in case of loss of your phone. Another indication, to report the theft of your mobile phone to your mobile insurance, you must have your IMEI code with you.
Renew your SIM card
Once your mobile line is suspended in case of loss or theft of your phone, to be reachable again, you must request a new SIM card from your mobile operator by contacting customer service or ordering it directly from your subscriber area.
Our advice: remember to regularly backup the data stored in your smartphone (photos, contacts, etc.) so that you can recover them in the event of loss or theft of your device. You can back up your important data online via storage services such as iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, pCloud or Dropbox.