I was searching for directions one moment and the next for the thief who stole my phone. Yes—I’m now one of the thousands of tourists whose phones are stolen every year.
So, here’s what I did immediately after my phone was stolen.
1 Marked iPhone as Lost on iCloud
It’s possible the thief took my phone in an unlocked state, giving them full access to all my data. Even if my phone wasn’t unlocked, the thief who stole it may have the technical know-how to unlock it without my PIN.
Either way, I wasn’t taking any chances.
The very first thing I did after my phone was stolen was log into iCloud and mark the phone as lost. Doing so locked my phone and suspended Apple Pay.
2 Tried to Find My iPhone
At first, I thought I had lost my phone instead of it being stolen.
I logged into iCloud Find Devices, hoping to see my phone in the hotel I was staying in or a restaurant I had recently visited. When I saw it on its way out of the city, I concluded that there was no chance of recovering it.
When you don’t know if your phone has been stolen or simply lost I recommend the utmost caution if you choose to track it down in person.
3 Remote Wiped My Device
Now that I had determined I wouldn’t ever get my phone back, it was time to erase its data. To do so, I again logged onto iCloud Find Devices and clicked Erase This Device.
I wasn’t worried about erasing priceless images or videos of my trip, as everything I needed was already in the cloud. Erasing all sensitive data on my phone allowed me to rest easy, knowing that the thief wouldn’t have access to my personal and financial information.
I didn’t contact the police so that they could launch a massive investigation into getting my phone back. I knew that once it was out of the city, there was no chance I’d ever see it again.
However, I contacted the police because petty thievery is rarely reported. I was hoping that the police might beef up their presence in the area where my phone was stolen so that future tourists like myself would be better protected.
My phone carrier at the time was AT&T. After the theft I called them to let them know my phone was stolen. I did this for two reasons.
For one, I wanted to know if a stolen phone was covered under my plan. I decided to file a claim with AT&T and found out that my phone was, in fact, insured and that they’d provide me with a new phone. Had my phone not been insured, I would have purchased a new phone immediately.
The second reason I contacted them was to disable my account so that my phone could not make calls, texts, or use any data. Disabling an account would also prevent cybercriminals from using SMS for two-factor verification and gaining access to financial accounts.
6 I Changed My Apple ID Password Among Others
At this point, I was just about certain that my most important accounts had been protected. To go one step further in shoring up the security of my data, I decided to change my Apple ID password and passwords used for financial accounts. Luckily, I use a password manager, so logging onto my accounts and making the changes from my friend’s computer was relatively easy.
Now that I had protected myself, it was time to protect my loved ones and friends. I messaged those close to me and posted on IG that I had recently lost my phone and that if anyone had been contacted by me in the past few hours with an odd request or a message containing a link, they should disregard the message.
Getting your phone stolen feels like getting your arm chopped off. You feel paralyzed and lost without your device; I’ve been there. However, having a plan of attack if your device is stolen is crucial. I hope your device is never stolen, but if it is, just follow the aforementioned steps.
