How to recover lost or stolen mobile phone?

How to trace your lost phone?

Smart phones are no more luxury but have become a necessity nowadays. Aside from communication, it now serves many different purposes – as a planner, a mobile computer with file storage, a camera, a video game console, a library, a music player and even a locker to passwords and personal photos and videos. Even if it’s a cranky, basic, old feature phone, contacts and messages are still very important. Phones have become an essential part of a modern man’s being that even the slightest thought of going through a day without it is just unacceptable. Especially when precious and private data are stored in it.

But as if by magic and inevitable circumstances, they do tend to get lost. It could have been misplaced, stolen or just slipped somewhere out in this big world all alone to fend for it self :) As soon as losing it comes to consciousness, anxiety sets in less due to device's price and more due to the data saved in it. But there is hope. With the advancement of technology, finding a lost mobile phone is possible. Let us look at the available options:

1. Using a friend’s mobile phone, dial the mobile number of the lost phone. Ring it and wait for a response. Try several attempts. If the recipient accepts the call, tell him you’ve lost your phone and you need to have it back. Set an appointment for the return. Offer a reward if necessary. On the other hand, if the phone is left unanswered, and worst, cannot be reached, try the next possible option.

2. Do you remember installing a tracking app on your smartphone? This is the time to put it to good use. Using the application’s mechanics, track your phone and see if it works. Some device manufacturers like Samsung have it installed (Mobile tracker) on devices by default.

3. Rewind your day. Recall where you’ve been and check where the phone had probably slipped off. Trace back your path and check the road for any sight of that familiar gadget. Go back to the office or the restaurant you’ve dined-in or other establishments you’ve been to. Ask any staff or front desk crew for any lost and found items. If you’ve had companions, ask if they have sighted or remember anything about your phone.

4. Smartphones running on Google's Android and Apples' iOS have inbuilt GPS tracker. Log into your Android or Apple account and try to access your phone via the online web interface. Enter your mobile phone details. If successful, this will direct you to a map pointing to the current location of your phone. Plan how to meet your phone then.

5. Avail of lost phone tracking services provided by your mobile phone or network provider usually at a cost. Report the incident to the customer service representative and suspend your account depending on results.

6. If the above steps were unsuccessful then you have no option but to report your gadget as stolen or lost to the local police and get it blocked so that it can no more be used in the country.

If any of the above mentioned steps have been undertaken and yet to no avail, it’s time to accept the truth of the circumstance and move on. Learn the lesson and believe that better things are coming (An unplanned phone upgrade ;) - although not free, until insurance pays). And you now know that you must install and activate apps that will protect your phone from theft and help you recover your phone in case of being lost. The bottom line is that, a little bit of preparation, attention and care are all that a phone needs for it to stay with you to forever.