Lost your phone ? what to do?

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gnfb

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#138951 22-Jan-2014 21:45

I thought I would pose this as a open ended question

What would you do if you found your phone missing? and for the nit pickers! you've tried ringing it the phone is lost!

Part of the answer might be a contingency plan you already have in place.

Also is your phone insured...... are you sure your contents policy covers it?

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#972498 22-Jan-2014 21:57

Check it's location via GPS.

Report it stolen if that's what happened, or go find it.

scuwp

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#972499 22-Jan-2014 22:00

iPhone...Get a baseball bat, fire up the GPS, and track the scumbags downnnnnn!

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

johnr

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#972505 22-Jan-2014 22:17

Ask your insurance company or check your policy ,The mobile carrier is not going to track your phone cause you misplaced it

nakedmolerat

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#972506 22-Jan-2014 22:18

Report to Telco

Remote wipe

Buy new phone

oxnsox

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#972510 22-Jan-2014 22:28

Contact the Telco and have the SIM cancelled and handset IMEI blocked.

Actually had to do this last year. Found dead handset 2 days later, down the back of sofa at a house I'd visited, but hadn't realised it was 'lost' till after being at a movie so had to take precautions.

rayonline

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#972525 22-Jan-2014 23:59

for remote wipe or tracking do you need to turn on data?

I have my SMS, contacts backed up on cloud. no real personal stuff on it maybe a spreadsheet on prices of engine oil.filters and supermarket lol some music. email access of course auto logins. .. internet banking needs code.

when I lost my Nokia e75 it had a sim code and a phone code still no one handed it in. just bought another phone. we don't have contents.insurance. .. someone generally at home and in the past they just want did.t take tv's. .. plus my computer is 5yr old anniversary was Christmas when I treated myself self.build lol laptop 8yr old. other than my slr some.months old well it'll depreciate my 10yr old still there lol but I prefer film not as clinically as good but it has more character prob spend even less on digital now this o.e should.last me 10yr like the previous unless.it breaks.

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rayonline

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#972527 23-Jan-2014 00:15

if I password the phone maybe then I cannot wipe/ track if data was off and if the guy cannot take.pictures of it. .. I cannot get their photo? they might reset it somehow or root reset if such a thing or simply toss it

nzkiwiman

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#972894 23-Jan-2014 14:50

I have always wondered why you would remote wipe the device if stolen.
If protected by some sort of PIN then doesn't remote wipe remove than PIN and basically hand whoever stolen the phone a brand new device.

ubergeeknz

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#972895 23-Jan-2014 14:55

I'd attempt to track it, and if I thought it was lost then attempt a remote wipe & get the SIM cancelled. Ask work for a new phone.

If it didn't show up in a week or two then I'd ask the IMEI blocked. Cos imagine the scenario that it turns up and you've had the IMEI blocked :)

billgates

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#972898 23-Jan-2014 15:04

I have find my phone setup. Already have a passcode on it. Send a message stating my name and contact phone number. If still no reply then track it and report to police and telco.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Behodar

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#972925 23-Jan-2014 15:18

nzkiwiman: I have always wondered why you would remote wipe the device if stolen.
If protected by some sort of PIN then doesn't remote wipe remove than PIN and basically hand whoever stolen the phone a brand new device.

I guess it depends on the phone/OS, for example if you remote wipe an iOS 7 phone then although it'll remove the PIN it'll also swap to asking for the account password used to wipe it.

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nicnzl

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#972929 23-Jan-2014 15:23

Using Tasker, I set up my phone to send an SMS to a Twitter account with the phones GPS and cell site location when the battery reaches 5%. This was mainly so if I lost the phone, I could get the latest location before the battery died (Has come in handy once already).

It would be handy if I could get the Tasker profile onto the root of the phone so if it was reset, it would remain on the device. Anyone know if this is possible?

Whenever I've needed apps designed for tracking phones, they have always failed on me, hence the use of Tasker.

But if worse comes to worse (it has twice), I buy a new phone, kick myself for not backing up my music better, and move on with life.

garvani

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#972938 23-Jan-2014 15:28

I have a nexus 5 with cerebus installed and an app called smart lockscreen protector enabled with a pattern lock. The smart lockscreen app makes it impossible to get the power toggle menu open while it is on the lockscreen, also if you get the lockscreen pattern wrong 3 times it takes a picture of the offender and emails it to me. Because there is no removable battery it is basically impossible to turn off until the battery runs out, and i get around 2 days on a charge.

So if i lose it i have a decent chance of tracking it down before someone can eject the sim. I havn't lost a phone in a number of years so hopefully i don't have to put it into practice ;)

Check out Cerebus if you havn't already, lots of great features and really cheap too.

gnfb

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#973207 23-Jan-2014 21:26

Due to the amount of intresting responses as well as the fact that I would like to know what to do. I have always assumed that as long as it was under a $1000 my phone was coverded by my contents policy.
There seems to be a lot more to it. So I will put together a Guide when its ready I will put links up for comment

Steps to take when your phone is lost or stolen Contracts and Prepaid
Vodafone
Telecom
2 degrees
Skinny

Did I miss anyone?

I will get responses from the top 5 Insurances companies

See if there are any specialist Insureres

What else should be covered?

Stop me if somone has already done a comprehensive guide

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

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Dairyxox

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#973216 23-Jan-2014 21:42

I try to make sure I've always got 3G enabled, and a reasonable amount of battery before 'going out'. That way if it ends up missing, the other precautions (find my phone) generally work.

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