Each day, smartphones fall into the hands of criminals who in turn, use the data contained in the phones to further perpetuate other criminal activities that might cause the owners pains and further land them in jail for no offence of theirs, as their digital identities are on the phones. Check how to get quick loan by dialing USSD code on your phone.
As a smartphone user, if by any chance you lose your mobile phone to robbery or you unknowingly misplace it by any means, you need not panic because there are ways by which you can safeguard the information on the phone and can restore it on a new phone. But even if you didn’t prepare in advance, you can reduce the damage.
In this article, you will learn the step-by-step processes that you need to follow to keep the information on your phone secured.
Let’s look at the best-case scenario
Say your phone screen was locked, the data on it is encrypted, and the SIM card is PIN-protected before it went missing. This is what to do in this case:
- Make use the Find My Device (Android) or Find My (iOS) option to mark the phone as lost. Ensure the device display an on-screen message with the number of a friend or relative who can contact you in case someone honest finds the device.
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After waiting for long and it is not found, remotely delete all data on the device and contact your operator to block the SIM card.
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Get a new smartphone and restore your data from a backup copy.
If the above scenario fails to address the problem then, follow the steps below to prevent access to the phone by whoever is with it and wherever it is.
Block Your Sim Card
The smartest thing to do when your phone is stolen or you misplaced it and couldn’t find it with reasonable minutes, especially if you are away from your home, is to have the Sim card blocked immediately. This is very important because your Sim card may contain your bank and credit cards’ information that you wouldn’t have anybody tamper with.
Call your service provide to report the Sim as lost and request it be blocked. By so doing, the Sim and the information contained therein will become inaccessible to anyone in possession of it. This is often done within seconds, once you have supplied the identity verification information needed for confirmation of your ownership of the sim.
Warn Relatives And Friends
Ensure that all your friends and relatives become aware that you are no longer in possession of the phone. Report it lost and warn them against like calls and messages from the side line so they don’t fall for any scam that the criminal may want to perpetuate with the sim if it’s not yet been blocked.
Unlink Bank Cards
Ensure you unlink bank cards from your device manually in the account settings. Unless they were stolen along with the phone, you don’t need to block the cards.