Even the thought of losing a mobile phone can send shivers down our spine. But if someone lost their phone or it was stolen, luckily, there are still ways to locate your device and have it tracked.
No matter how cautious or alert someone is, this can happen to anyone. But don’t worry as we have some helpful solutions to share if your phone is lost or stolen. One of the most effective ways is to track it using its IMEI number.
✨Did you know that?: Every year 70 million smartphones are lost, and only 7 percent are recovered. 4.3 percent of business-issued smartphones are lost or stolen each year.
In this article, we are going to discuss how you can find the IMEI number of your device and how you can locate a lost or stolen phone using its IMEI number. Let’s see how.
What is an IMEI Number?
IMEI stands for International Equipment Identity. An IMEI number is a 15-digit number for each device. To keep track of smartphones that can be stolen, phone manufacturers and mobile carriers share the IMEI numbers of the devices.
No IMEI number can be the same, and each device has its own unique and individual IMEI number.
Used phones sold by third-party sellers are reported and marked as locked or stolen by carrier services. However, there is a way to know if the second-hand phone you are buying is clear of previous registrations or not, and that is through an IMEI check.
If you’ve decided to buy a used phone from a carrier, you’ll need to understand how to locate and verify the IMEI before activating the device on your network.
So if you’re wondering how you can find yours, move on to the next section.
How to find an IMEI number?
Before you buy a refurbished or second-hand phone, you should know exactly what you’re buying. And if it is safe to buy in the first place.
Here are some methods to find the IMEI number of your device:
Dialing the number by going directly to your phone’s dial pad is the easiest way to find your IMEI number. Here are the steps for it:
- Open the dialer on your device.
- Type *#06# and the IMEI number of your device will appear.
Another easy way to find your IMEI number is to go to the About section in Settings. Follow the steps below for the process:
For iOS users,
- Open Settings and go to General.
- Select About.
- Now, scroll down and you can see your IMEI number.
If you are an Android user and want to track the phone using Android IMEI, here are the steps to do it:
- Go to Settings and tap on About device.
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The About option, under which the IMEI number is located, can be named and located differently depending on the device.
- Now you will be able to see the IMEI number of your device as shown below.
If despite following these steps you could not find the IMEI number of your device, you can try following the information in the following section.
Most mobile phone manufacturers provide this number on the back of the phone and next to the battery.
The IMEI number can also be found on the phone’s box and is clearly labeled on the box with a barcode.
Another way to find a lost or stolen device is to track the IMEI number online for free using Google Earth. If you don’t know what Google Earth is, let us give you a brief overview about it!
Google Earth is a free computer program that uses “satellite imagery”, a unique technology that provides access to view the image of any location worldwide and view it in real time.
It allows you to zoom in on any specific location you want, and most of the images are taken via satellites in Google Earth. It acts as a free online IMEI tracker. So now, let’s see how it can help you locate or track your lost or stolen device.
- Go to the Play Store and launch Google Earth.
- Now sign in with your Google account using the account credentials signed in on the lost or stolen device.
- Then you need to enter the phone number of the lost or stolen device and click ‘Send a link to my phone’.
- Now allow the device location to access Google and you will get a text with a link.
- Tap on the link and once it opens in your browser, click Yes to enable the “Allow Google Latitude to see your current location” feature.
- Once you do, you will be able to see the exact location of the lost or stolen device.
Using these methods, you can track the phone using IMEI online for free and find the free online IMEI number of the lost or stolen device and track it. For more methods to locate your lost or stolen device, you can follow the steps in the next section.
How to locate a lost/stolen mobile through the IMEI number?
There are many phone finder apps available on Google Play like IMEI Tracker online free, All Phone Location & AntiTheft App, Find My Device, Find Lost Phone, SeekDroid: Find My Phone, Spylix, etc. Most of these can be activated by sending an SMS, while others support the use of the IMEI number. Let’s take anti-theft app and IMEI tracker all phone locations as an example.
- Open Google Play and search for IMEI tracker online free.
- Then search for “Anti Theft App & IMEI Tracker All Phone Locations” app. After finding it, install the app.
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Make sure your phone is running Android 4.4 or higher.
- After finishing the installation, run the application. Grant all the permissions that the IMEI tracker app asks for (contacts, calls, storage, SMS and location). In order to track your phone, all of these permissions are required to be activated for full functionality.
- Now press “Continue” to move on after watching a short commercial.
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This free IMEI tracker app contains ads that you need to see. Ads cannot be skipped and you will not be able to proceed to the next step if the video is not loaded.
- Enter the IMEI number of your lost phone, verify your input and click “Track”.
- A small window will appear with a list of places, indicating the location and proximity of your phone.
Key takeaways:
Using the IMEI number to track the lost phone is not the only function of an IMEI tracker. To further protect your device, before it’s stolen, there are some important anti-theft features to consider.
- You can set the PIN and make sure you remember it.
- In this way you can control the phone in case of theft, sending the corresponding codes to issue alarms.
- You can also send SMS about your location in real time, sync data with the device you are using and more.
Track your mobile anywhere and anytime using these apps.
What to do if your phone is lost or stolen?
It may seem like nothing can be done now that your phone containing much of your personal or other important information is stolen. But luckily, that’s not the case. There are still some points that you should keep in mind before giving up.
- Call your phone/Use carrier mobile app to send an alert
Since your phone has been stolen or lost, there is only one way for you to do any step: use another device to call your mobile phone. However, this method is of no use if you have your phone on silent. If you’re lucky and it’s on a hard surface, you’ll be able to hear it vibrate, so it’s worth a try. You can also use your carrier’s mobile app to override the ringer setting and sound an alert.
- Text on your cell phone
If you’ve configured settings to allow text message content to display on the lock or home screen, someone with your phone can contact you and return it quickly. Sending a message to your mobile phone to provide instructions on how to contact you, should someone find you, can be very helpful.
- Use the built-in Find My Phone feature provided on the phone
The phones have built-in security measures that allow users to remotely track, call, lock, or wipe them if they have the feature enabled. Both Android and iPhone have their own respective apps for the process. If you want to be safe, always keep such apps enabled on your devices as precaution is better than cure.
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On Android devices, the feature is called Find My Device™ and on an iPhone, it’s called Find My™.
- Remotely wipe your phone data
If you are sure that your smartphone was stolen, you can remotely wipe the data on your device and keep your information safe. And this has to be the first thing to do, once you realize that your device has been stolen. The first thing thieves do as soon as they get hold of their victim’s device is to remove SIM cards or use unique boxes that prevent mobile phones from connecting to cellular networks. This makes it impossible to wipe the device if you delay.
- To clear data on an iPhone:
- Go to icloud.com/find on another device and sign in to your iCloud account.
- Click All Devices, then choose from the list of iPhones you want to wipe.
- Click Erase iPhone.
- To clear data on your Samsung or Google phone:
- Go to android.com/find on another device.
- Sign in to your Google account.
- In the menu on the left, select Wipe device.
- To clear data on an iPhone:
- Lock your phone and change passwords
If your cell phone cannot be located quickly, you can use your phone’s Find My Phone feature to remotely lock your phone from any location. Also, be sure to take this opportunity to change the passwords for any accounts you access regularly or have an app for, especially financial, email, and social media accounts, just in case.
- Contact your mobile operator
If you can’t locate your device, even after wiping its data and remotely locking it, you can contact your carrier to get your consumer cellular plan. They will disable all cellular services on your phone and may even mark the phone as unusable, even with a new SIM card or new carrier. This will not only help protect you, but also someone who may unknowingly buy a used phone that has been stolen.
- alert the police
Whether or not you will get your phone back cannot be determined, but you may need a police report if you have to protest fraudulent charges made with your device.
These points are important first steps you should consider taking if your phone is lost or stolen. With this, you will be able to prevent the situation from getting worse and the phone becoming inaccessible or contactable.
Categories: Technology
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
