iPhone theft is a major problem that unfortunately has spread to all corners of the world, but the iPhone is such a great gadget that it gives us the possibility to lock it, erase it or locate it in the events of theft or loss.
I hope that you’ll never lose your iPhone or worse, have it stolen by someone, but the truth is that hundreds of phones are stolen daily and the price and value of iPhones makes them especially attractive to thieves despite the protection and security options offered by the devices and despite the fact that these anti-theft feats have led to the capture of the thieves in many situations.
Most people are careless when they are using their iPhones and only a small percent of all iPhone 5owners activate and use its anti-theft feats and apps included in their smartphones which is probably why thieves keep going for them. But the good news is that just like the many owners that get careless so do many thieves; they keep the stolen iPhones turned on or they use them, which makes it easier for us to block them and find them. Here is what you can do to prevent losing your iPhone or in the unfortunate case that it happens to you:
Preventing the theft of your iPhone is a good thing to start with. Be aware of your surroundings and your pockets or purse especially when you’re in a crowded place. Don’t think that if you are holding your phone in your hand you can’t lose it; in many cases the thief grabs the phone straight from the oblivious owner’s hands, sometimes while they are talking on it so you should always pay attention when there are people around you.
If you don’t mind having an unlock code on your phone you should use it – it’s a good first step that you can take to prevent the thief from using your phone, but there are more than a few methods to bypass the iPhone’s lock, so you shouldn’t stop here. You can also install a device finding app, you can find them in the app store and some do a better job than the pre-installed app. Device Locator, GadgetTrak and Phone Trace 4 are some good apps besides Apple’s Find My iPhone app that you can find in the iCloud settings menu (make sure you turn it on if you haven’t already). Also, you should perform backups of your iPhone more often, you’ll feel a little better knowing that at least you still have your messages and photos or files saved somewhere.
If the horrible thing does happen to you and someone else takes possession of your precious iPhone you should go to the nearest computer as soon as you discover the theft and log to iCloud.com with your Apple ID. Then you can click the ‘find my iPhone’ icon and wait until your phone’s location appears on the map. Next you can click on ‘remote lock’ to prevent anyone from using it. If the thief turns the phone off this won’t work so in this case you should call your provider to block the SIM card or wait until he turns it on again – you’ll receive a notification if this happens. Other apps offer more options, for example Phone Trace 4 can give you the new number of the phone if someone changes it or it allows you to send remote tasks to the stolen iPhone.
f you keep important data on your phone you can use apps that encrypt it so no else but you can have access to it. Find my iPhone or any device tracking app will allow you to fully wipe your data from your lost phone but this will also delete the apps that can track it so think about it before you do it. Another good idea would be to change all your passwords after the event so the phone’s user can’t access any of your stored accounts.
Once you find your iPhone you should report it to the police, don’t go and confront the thief yourself, this could be dangerous!
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