Well according to some government sites 1 in 10 smartphone users face the problem of losing their phone due to thefts which is a big problem in India.
Many times while travelling theft keep eye on your mobile phone for a while and wait for a good time to snatch your phone.
Many times if a stolen phone is not that expensive then the user may not file a report and instead buy a new phone then recover his data from Gmail and other accounts easily and forgot that old phone! but listen to us it’s very wrong.
After stealing phones theft can use it in many ways, it can be used in a sale to the next person or it can be used to give threat calls to extort money or a similar way. That’s why it becomes very important for the owner and Police to catch that theft. Otherwise, legal consequences may be faced by the owner of the phone.
What to do if your phone has been stolen in India?
Whenever you discover and confirm that your phone has been stolen/ lost first thing you should do is –
- Deactivating your sim card – To do this go to the nearest sim card service station if it is not possible then do call customer care and explain your fair situation they will definitely help you out through this situation. You may require authentication documents to prove that the sim card belongs to you.
- Disconnecting your Gmail account – if you have important and sensitive information which is accessible by your Gmail then do go here to see how to lock/ disconnect your Gmail which is logged in to the lost phone.
- File a Complaint of the lost phone – Report the theft of your phone to the police station under the area where you think your phone was stolen. keep the copies of this complaint which may help you to block your IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity). We have explained how to block an IMEI of a lost phone.
How do Police trace or find your lost phone?
When you file a complaint about your device, police will now forward the lost phone’s IMEI number to the telecom service providers.
How Long Does It take for police to trace lost mobile phones using IMEI?
Well, it varies with the situation, many times professional snatchers dont switch on the stolen phone instantly they may keep your phone switched off for few weeks or few months and tracking a switched off phone is next to impossible task.
But if all situations favour the search of police then they can find your phone in 2-3 days easily.
How and Why to Block IMEI of a lost phone?
Blocking an IMEI of a lost phone will block the device to use any network in India. But it doesn’t disrupt the search of a stolen phone to the police or Network providers.
Copy of the police complaint and other documents are required to request blocking of your lost phone. To block your IMEI and get more information go to ceir.gov.in. After a successful request to this site IMEI of the lost phone will be blocked within 24 hours.
Lost-Found phone checking and Complaining Government website of different states:
How to prepare your device before it is stolen?
Avast Security –
Avast Security
Avast is one of the known and reputed antivirus company. It provides an Avast Mobile security app for Smartphone’s which have a feature to track your phone. You can easily track your phone from avast’s website, whenever a theft activates the internet to this phone. It works with help of IMEI or the internet and it is difficult to know by theft the phone is tracked by someone or not.
Thief Tracker –
This tracker is free to install and use to use its premium feature you have to pay. It not only helps to track your smartphone but also takes pictures of theft from a selfie camera so that you can know the actual theft. To know more about it and install it go to the trackmyphones.com website.
Mobile GPS Tracker –
Mobile GPS Tracker
This app can be used to track a phone worldwide. When you install this app it will ask you a number of another phone like your brother’s number.
Now, whenever your phone is lost and theft insert a new sim it will start sending an SMS of GPS location or Local area tower code which can be used to track a lost phone.
How to Know If you are buying a stolen phone or not?
Many times in these snatched and stolen phones are sold in local shops and you may buy the stolen phone which will be a scam on you.
To know if you are buying a stolen phone or not, dial *#06# on that phone to know the IMEI of that phone and check on the various websites if it is blacklisted or not. Otherwise, you can try to call customer care of any sim card in India and give them IMEI of phone and ask them if it is reported as stolen phone or not.
Have any questions then do ask in the comment box we will definitely try to solve them as early as possible.